Programme 2017

Meetings are held in Bicker Village Hall at
7:30pm, usually on the 3rd Thursday of the month

January 19th      Nine Years of Photographing Bicker
                           Tony Boughen


February 16th     An A-Z of Bulbs
                            Johnny Walkers
                            (Walkers Bulbs)


March 16th          Members' Evening & Auction


April 27th            Guided Walk at Springfields, Gardens, Spalding
(NB week later    Guide - Andy Boyton
not at village    
hall)


June 15th             Landscaping & Garden Design
                            Alan Green


July 20th             A Walk Round Some Members' Gardens
(Not at village
hall)


August 17th        Name That Plant


September 21st   Flower & Produce Show


October 19th      A Year in the Life Of A Cottage Garden
                         Andrew Sankey


November 16th   Birds in Your Garden
                          Chris Andrews RSPB

 
December 14th     Christmas Party
(NB Week
earlier)


Additional events - to be arranged


 

Christmas and New Year Greetings!

Bicker & District Garden Club's final event of 2016 was our Christmas party on the evening of Thursday 15th December. A major part of the festivities was a "murder mystery" organised by Lyn. It caused great hilarity and the evening was a definite success.

Getting the best out of your roses

A good number of people turned out on a very cold evening for our November meeting on Thursday 17th. Our speaker was Ian Limmer of Peter Beales Roses in Norfolk. Ian began with a practical demonstration of pruning the various types of roses - telling us not to be too cautious! He went on to show us photos of the many roses that his nursery grow and supply. Ian and his wife,Tina, also brought roses for sale. We had a very enjoyable evening.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Val with a beautiful acidanthera.

  Val's Acidanthera

AGM & Quiz

Bicker & District Garden Club held their 2016 AGM on the evening of Thursday 20th October. Tony stood down as chairman and Lyn was elected in his place. It was agreed that Lyn's role as secretary would be combined with that of chairman. The other two officers were re-elected unopposed. After the official business the members enjoyed a garden-related quiz.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Lyn with a cosmos flower.

Vita, Violets & Verse

We were pleased to welcome back Trevor Rogers as our speaker for our September meeting. Over the years Trevor has given us advice on various cultural and growing techniques. For a change we had a different sort of culture - literary. Trevor treated us to a range of different genres of writing about plants and gardens. It was a very enjoyable evening and Trevor said that it was one of his favourite talks. Carl won the Flower of the Month Competition with a very large begonia.

Annual Flower & Produce Show

We had a very enjoyable evening on Thursday 18th August with around 30 members and friends bringing and judging produce from gardens and allotments. There were a good number of entries in most categories, despite the variable weather conditions that we have experienced this year. As usual we sampled the jams, chutneys and cakes - this being the best way for us to decide on our favourites.

Members' Evening

For our July meeting on Thursday 21st two of our members were the speakers for the evening. We have used this format for a number of years in July. Members can speak about any topic that interests them - not necessarily garden related. Peter gave us an illustrated talk about tyres. Peter spent much of his working life in the tyre industry. For those of us who had not previously given tyres much thought it was a real eye-opener. Peter stressed how tyres are the most important part of a vehicle and must be properly maintained. Everyone found the talk fascinating and Peter was able to answer numerous questions afterwards. Carl's talk was also excellent - and hilarious at the same time. After a potted life history of himself and his wife Chris - which took us around the world and at no time involved gardening - we arrived in Swineshead. There they took on an extremely large garden, full of plants and shrubs, with what I would call a rudimentary knowledge of plants and cultivation. Carl's exploits with brassicas, hollyhocks and parsnips had us all in stitches. Fittingly a beautiful hydrangea from that garden won Carl the Flower of the Month Competition.

Apples & Crab-apples

We were pleased to welcome back Andy Boyton as our speaker on Thursday 16th June. Andy is the Head Gardener at Springfield Gardens in Spalding. The subject of his talk was apples and crab-apples and he gave us an insight into their differences and similarities. He also told us about the development and cultivation of the apples grown in this country - and the countries where they originated.
We were also pleased to welcome two new members to the club that evening, Alan and Joyce.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Carl with a delphinium.

Arts and Crafts Gardens

Andrew Sankey was our speaker for our meeting in May. He is one of our regular speakers and we usually have a good turnout for his talks. Thursday evening was no exception - with a number of non members in attendance as well. Andrew told us about the characteristics of gardens designed for Arts and Crafts houses with plenty of photographs to illustrate them. He also brought plants for sale, which were very popular.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Ronnie with a peony.

Greenhouses and Poly-tunnels

© Oast House Archive:CC BY-SA 2.0                             

Michelle Bolton of Leafy Spaces Garden Design was our speaker for our April meeting on Thursday 21st. The subject was greenhouses and poly-tunnels but Michelle also spoke about conservatories. She looked at various types of greenhouses and poly-tunnels and their relative merits for growing plants. Michelle also discussed which plants could be grown in them. The talk was illustrated with photos of her own greenhouses and poly-tunnels.

The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Wendy with a tulip.

The History and Development of the Japanese Garden

photo public domain

Patsy Rayner was our speaker for our March meeting on Thursday 17th. Her introduction included information about her links with Japan - her son's wife is Japanese and they live there with their family. Patsy and her husband visit Japan twice a year. Patsy is very enthusiastic about all things Japanese and gave us an insight into the significance of gardens in Japanese culture. We were told about the important elements in a Japanese garden and how the gardens have developed. We had a really enjoyable evening and after the talk were able to look at the many artefacts that Patsy had brought for us to see.

The Flower of the Month Competition was won by David with a daffodil.

Harvington Hellebores

Penny Dawson of Twelve Nunns Nursery was the speaker for our February meeting on Thursday 18th. We had a very enjoyable evening. Penny is a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker. She told us why her hellebores are called "Harvington" hellebores. It is because her parents bred them in a place called Harvington in the Vale of Evesham. Penny continues the family tradition and grows them at her nursery near Bourne. She explained the process for developing new varieties and the various methods of propagation. We saw many excellent photos of the different plants available from the nursery and we had a good choice of plants that Penny had brought to sell.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Barbara with some viburnum.

The Humble Spud

Our first meeting of 2016 was held on Thursday 21st January and we were pleased with the turnout for a cold winter evening. The speaker was one of our members, Michael Teasdale. He gave us an entertaining and informative talk about potatoes. Michael spoke about the plant group that potatoes are part of, as well as the history of their cultivation. He also mentioned their value as a food and their versatility. Michael told us about their importance as a crop in our part of Lincolnshire, plus the part played by William Dennis of Kirton - also known as "The potato king".
We were pleased to welcome a new member, Heather.
The Flower of the Month Competition was won by Kathleen B with a periwinkle.

2016 Programme

All meetings are held in Bicker village Hall at 7:30pm on the third Thursday of the month

January 21st
"The Humble Spud"  Michael Teasdale

February 18th
"Harvington Hellebores"  Penny Dawson

March 17th
"The History & Development of the Japanese Garden"  Patricia Rayner

April 21st
"Greenhouses & Poly-tunnels"  Michelle Bolton

May 19th
"Arts & Crafts Gardens"  Andrew Sankey

June 16th
"Apples & Crab-apples"  Andy Boyton

July 21st
Members' Evening

August 18th
Flower & Produce Show

September 15th
"Vita, Violets & Verse"  Trevor Rogers

October 20th
AGM and Quiz

 November 17th
"Getting the best out of your roses"  Ian Limmer

December 15th
Christmas Party

Additional events - to be arranged                

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Bicker & District Garden Club had a very enjoyable Christmas party for their last meeting of 2015. A number of members had previously got together to make and then put up decorations - which made the village hall look very festive. As usual a lovely selection of food was provided by the members. We were treated to a recitation by Lyn of the Twelve Days of Christmas, written by John Julius Norwich. There was also a chocolate quiz, compiled by Lyn and Tony.