Bridport Gardening Club

Bridport’s looking just Bee-looming Lovely

You may have noticed that the planting boxes and troughs are now full of summer plants and that this year they look slightly different. Bridport & District Gardening Club, Groves Nurseries and Bridport Town Council have teamed up to replace the usual summer bedding plants with polinator-friendly perennials. Around 20 flower boxes around Bridport town centre have been turned into ‘pollinating patches’ to help with the pollinating insect population. Whilst these flower boxes are usually full of flowers for the[…]

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Visit to Powerderham Castle

Toby’s Garden Festival Lush Devon the hedgerows resplendent in leaf; coloured patchwork of seeded sand and deep red soil; florescent yellow rape in bloom.Balancing stones from Bodmin. Art, botanics, ceramics, and socks from MelplashFrench, Thai and Persian cuisine, cones of vivid colour on earthenware dishesAnyone for a cuppa:into marquees from damp weatherQueues for coffee and delicious hot chocolateSucculent cakes with succulents in icing. Farm produce, hot cheese rolls, and unusual ice creamsPacked marquees, entertaining lectures and samples to taste.Rusted metal[…]

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Bridport Planters Planted in time for the Coronation

We have been advising Bridport Town Council on replanting most of the Town planters in East and West Street in time for the Coronation. Led by Monique and facilitated by Daryl Chambers, the Town Surveyor, we advised on some significant changes to the planting approach. With advice from Becky Groves we drew up a simple plan for a range of perennials. Inspired by King Charles’ dedication to sustainability and biodiversity, our criteria is to plant mainly reliable pollinator-friendly plants with[…]

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Visit to Yeo Valley Organic Gardens in March 2023

Primroses pale under distant hedges and roadside banks, magnolia trees beginning to bloom. Bright daffodils and pasture turning emerald green, flock of blackest sheep, and trees waking up, some orange and others acid green. Tamed Somerset, county of dairies, mistletoe hung trees, lush hedged fields leading to gentle wooded ridges. Plant stalls: gentle hues of blue, white, pink and green behind which is the all-important compost zoning.  Raised beds and hard landscaping softened by spring bulbs and vegetable planting.  Rusting[…]

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Melplash Agricultural Society 2023 Garden & Allotment Competition open for Entries

The Melplash Agricultural Society are delighted to open entries for their 2023 Garden & Allotment competition.  Judging will take place on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st June and the judges this year are Nick and Jen Tett (Small Garden winners in 2022) and Kevin and Deanna Trott (Allotment winners in 2022). The competition is open to all gardens and allotments located within 12 miles of Melplash Church.  The competition is FREE to enter, and the only stipulation is that you[…]

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Daffodils, mimosa, primroses and more at the Spring 2023 Show

Photograph by Philip Grey Despite cold weather and an earlier than normal date, the Bridport Spring Show attracted over 175 entries with some magnificent daffodils and other spring flowers from Mimosa to primroses. Perhaps the most eye-catching flowers were the unusual lime green Hellebores exhibited by Kiera Roth. Other entries ranged from intricate sugar-craft figures, photographs, homecraft, vegetables and the decorated Easter eggs. Outside on East Street the plant stall raised nearly £220 from sale of plants donated by members[…]

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Survey on making your lawn a better place for insects

Morgan Morrison is a PhD student at Royal Holloway University Of London. He is asking for help on his Optomow study. The link ‘mark brown lab optimow’ has been checked  and it looks fine. Contact him direct if you are interested in participating in his study. Are you interested in helping to save important flower visiting insects all from the comfort of your garden? My name is Morgan Morrison, and I am a PhD student at Royal Holloway, University of[…]

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Bridport Christmas Tree Festival 2022

Once again we were lucky to be allocated a tree in the United Church Christmas Tree Festivallast December. Pam Cant, assisted by Sue Langdon, Susan Solomon, Sue Day and Margaret Genender created a display entitled ‘Nature’s Bounty ‘. Hand-made bees, honeypots, knitted veg, fabric fruit and peppers made an eye catching display, Thank you to all who supported this. A donation has been sent to Perrenial.

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