2012 Programme

Club Meetings at 7pm at Bicker Village Hall

January 19th
"Foraging"  Alan Bycraft

February 13th
Outing to Anglesey Abbey

February 16th
"Iron in the blood"  Bob Oakes 

March 15th
"Soft Fruit Growing"  Trevor Rogers

April 19th
"Re-thinking Your Garden"  Andrew Sankey

May 17th
"Dreaming Spires"  Stuart Dixon 

June
Thursday 14th June
Afternoon car-sharing visit to Harrington Hall & Gardens

Summer Event
Saturday 7th July - Garden Safari

July 19th
Members' Evening

Coach Trip (with Wigtoft Garden Club)
Visit to Cambridge Botanical Gardens 
Monday 30th July

August 16th
Flower and Produce Show 

September 20th
"Winter Hanging  Baskets"  Pauline Harley

October 18th
AGM plus "Strawberry Glass"  Gillian Wing 

November 8th
"Donington in Bloom" Jenny Bailey and friends 

December
Christmas Event - date to be confirmed

Christmas Event

Bicker and District Garden Club held their Christmas Event on the evening of Thursday 8th December. The members enjoyed refreshments and an entertaining talk by Judy Theobald, of BBC Radio Lincolnshire. This was the final meeting of 2011.

Wildlife Gardening

 
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We were pleased to welcome Mary Porter as our speaker, on Thursday 17th November. Mary kindly stepped in, at short notice, when our advertised speaker was unable to attend. We were given an interesting, illustrated talk, which had plenty of ideas for attracting wildlife to our gardens. Many of us were pleased to be told that we should leave our gardens 'untidy' during the winter - thus leaving food and shelter for wildlife.
The Flower of the Month competition was won by Ann Massingham with a carnation.

David Hopkins

We were all saddened to hear of the tragic death of David Hopkins who drowned in a boating accident whilst on a working holiday in Uzbekistan in September. David presented two talks to the Club, one entitled "The History of the Potato in Lincolnshire" and another earlier this year about sweet peas. Both were excellent and very much enjoyed; indeed we had invited him back to address our first meeting in 2012. David was an International Archaeological Illustrator based in Heckington and spent his holidays working in various parts of the world. His death is a sad loss to us all.

AGM and Hedgehogs

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On the evening of Thursday 20th October Bicker and District Garden Club held their fourth Annual General Meeting. The club celebrated another successful year with cheese and wine. They also listened to an informative and entertaining talk presented by Angela Smith, who runs a hedgehog rescue centre. Angela brought a rescued hedgehog to show us. The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Kathleen Boughen, with a cosmos flower.

Harrington Hall Gardens

Bicker and District Garden Club held their September meeting on the evening of Thursday 15th. The members were given a very enjoyable and interesting talk about the history of Harrington Hall and its gardens. The speaker was Philip Maddison who is Head Gardener of the Hall. He illustrated his talk with some excellent photographs.

  © Copyright Stanley Howe and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Pat Blackburn with a yellow rose.

Third Annual Flower and Produce Show

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Bicker Garden Club held their third annual Flower and Produce Show on the evening of Thursday 18th August. Fruit, vegetables and flowers were on show. The members also brought cakes, jams and chutneys for everyone to sample and judge. The winners and runners-up were presented with certificates by Terry. There was also a raffle.

Our Summer Event

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We held our Summer Event - a Garden Party - on Sunday 24th July. This was held in Tony and Kathleen's garden and we were again lucky with the weather. Pimm's and various dainty sandwiches were provided by the Club. A number of savoury foods plus cakes with a fruit theme were brought by some of the members.There were games to play - boules, quoits and croquet - which added to the enjoyment of the afternoon.

A Visit to Norfolk

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Bicker Garden Club had a joint coach trip with Wigtoft Garden Club on Wednesday 20th July. The destination was Mannington Hall Gardens in Norfolk. We were extremely lucky with the weather since the preceding days were really unsettled with heavy showers. Most people were prepared for rain and were thus pleasantly surprised when the sun came out during the afternoon. Many of us were enjoying afternoon tea at that point - as well as a view of the fine old  moated hall.

A Visit to Two Gardens

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On one of the hottest days of the year so far, Sunday 20th June, a group of members of the Garden Club enjoyed a car-sharing trip.We visited two beautiful, well-kept gardens at Holbeach Hurn, which were open for charity. Everyone had a good wander round both gardens, which were quite large. There were plants and refreshments on sale. Many of the group accepted an invitation from Don and Fien to finish the afternoon with a visit to their nearby garden - where we also enjoyed cake and shandy.

Hostas

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At our June meeting on the evening of Thursday 16th we were given an interesting, illustrated talk about Hostas by one of our club members - Pauline Ranson. Pauline has been a member since the club started and is a very keen gardener. She told us how she became interested in Hostas by way of  another of her pursuits - flower arranging. We were told about growing and splitting Hostas plus their preferred positions. Naturally slugs and snails were also discussed, as well as ways of controlling them. Pauline had brought a large number of Hostas for the members to buy. The proceeds from the sale of them were divided equally between the club and St Barnabas Hospice, Boston.

The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Reg Matravers with an alstromeria.

River Witham to the Sea

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The Club were pleased to return to their usual venue of Bicker Village Hall on the evening of Thursday 19th May. The members enjoyed a talk about the River Witham and its journey to the sea, which was illustrated by the speaker's own water-colours. We were fortunate that Jennifer Parker was able to step in at short notice as the arranged speaker was unable to attend. We also had a plant sale - the proceeeds of which were shared equally between the Club and Bicker Parish Church.The tip of the month was about an economical and precise way to use weed-killer with a small brush. This tip was demonstrated by Kathleen, who also won the Flower of the Month Competition with a pink and white aquilegia.

Garden Plants and Shrubs

Tom Holland, who has worked in the garden centre in B&Q for many years, brought a large selection of his plants to show to the club members on Thursday 21st April. Tom had either grown the plants from seed or had grown them on from plug plants . He told us about the suitable positions and soil types for various plants. Members were keen to ask questions and there were discussions about the best types of compost and the effects of the previous winter on people's gardens. The plants were for sale at the end of the evening.
The flower of the month competition was won by Dorothy with a bluebell.

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All being well our May meeting will take place in the village hall. We are very grateful that we have been able to use the Methodist school-room since Christmas.

Joint Visit to Harrogate Flower Show

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On 15th April 48 members and friends from Bicker & District Garden Club and Wigtoft Garden Club visited the Harrogate Spring Flower Show. Those, who enjoyed the Church Flower Festivals ,would have appreciated the similarity but on a larger scale. In addition there was everything for the gardener from plants, tools to accessories and structures. There were many excellent displays of plants especially Hostas and Heucheras plus imaginative and innovative garden designs. The beauty being that each item in the respective displays was labelled and if you were quick duplicates could be purchased form nearby sellers. Although the show was crowded, it was still easy to get to see everything. It seemed as though every other person had at least one but often two or more Clematis in their baskets. The subsequent mass planting of these must surely approach a world record? An excellent day out thoroughly enjoyed by all who went. Service and courtesy shown by our coach company and staff at Harrogate added to the days success.

Report and Photographs by Terry Hill

Attracting birds to your garden

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Our March meeting, on the evening of Thursday 17th , again took place in the Methodist School-room. The speaker was one of our members, Tony Boughen, and his subject was how to attract birds to our gardens. He gave us an interesting and informative illustated talk that was well received. Tony told us about the things that birds are looking for - food, water, shelter, refuge from predators, nest sites and materials plus ways to clean themselves. He then explained how all of these could be provided in our gardens. Many of them were plant, shrub or tree related and were illustrated with photographs. The evening was well attended and we were pleased to welcome three visitors who had not previously been to our garden club.

The Flower of the Month competition was won by Winnie Hierons with a vase of hellebores.

Sweet Peas

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We were grateful , once again, to have the use of the Methodist School-room for our February meeting on Thursday 17th. Our speaker was David Hopkins, who has visited us before. Previously he told us all about potatoes. This time he gave us an illustrated talk about Sweet Peas, covering their history and cultivation as well as some of the science of their colours.He told us about the 57 varieties he grew in 2009 and exhibited at the Heckington Show. Members were pleased to receive a Sweet Pea plant each from David. The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Winnie Hierons with an anemone.

2011 Programme

Winter Jasmine
 
Club Meetings

January 20th
"Winter Colour in the Garden"  Harold Leach

February 17th
"Sweet Peas"  David Hopkins

March 17th
 "Attracting Birds to the Garden"  Tony Boughen

April 21st
"Hanging Baskets"  Tony Holland 

May 19th
"Lincolnshire Waterways"  Andrew Jee

June 16th
"Hostas"  Pauline Ranson

July
Summer Event

August 18th
Produce Show

September 15th
"Harrington Hall Gardens"  Philip Maddison

October 20th - AGM
"Hedgehogs" Rachael Donnahue

November 17th
"Landscape Gardening"  Chris Lawrence

December 15th
Christmas Event
  

Winter Colour in the Garden

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We were very lucky to be able to hold our first meeting of 2011, on the evening of Thursday 21st January, since our usual venue of Bicker Village Hall has suffered frost damage due to the exceptionally low temperatures in December. Consequently we are grateful that we were able to use the Methodist School-room. Our speaker was Harold Leach, who gave us an interesting and informative talk about winter colour. He suggested various ways to obtain it  - berries/fruit, leaves, bark and blooms. His talk was illustrated with slides of each plant or tree. The Flower of the Month competition was won by Pauline Ranson with some wych-hazel.