July News
Next Meeting
Our July meeting is on Thursday 2nd July when the speaker will be Francis Burroughs and his subject is Illegal Immigrants (of the plant variety!) We will, as usual, have the raffle, free tea and coffee, the informal competition and the sales/swap table.
Taunton Flower Show Trip - Friday 7th August
There are still some seats left for this great day out. The venue is Vivary Park in Taunton which is right in the centre of the town. The cost is £38 and can be paid by cash or credit card at our next meeting or by bank transfer. The bank details are:
Plympton Gardeners
30-94-58
00930198
Quote your surname in the reference field.
Coach departs Plymstock at 8.00am, Plympton at 8.15 and Ivybridge at 8.35. we depart Taunton at 4.00pm.
Non-members welcome.
Lamb Feast
Held on Saturday 20th June on Castle Green, Plympton St. Maurice, the day proved to be a great success with many hundreds of people enjoying the sunshine and the various attractions. Our plant stall raised over £300. We are extremely grateful to all those members who helped on the stall and to those that donated plants. The Lamb Feast is always held on the third Saturday of June.
Annual Show
Our highlight of the year is the Annual Show on Saturday 15th August. Schedules are available at Thursday’s meeting if you don’t already have one. An electronic version is included at the end of this newsletter. Now is a good time to start planning your entries.
We would welcome any donations of bric-a-brac for the show which can be brought along to the July or August meetings. We will also have a plant stall at the show so please bear this in mind if you are carrying out any propagation in the next few weeks.
Hamper Draw
As the show costs a lot to put on (mostly the hire of Harewood House) we are introducing a Hamper Draw to help off-set the cost. It’s a single, but substantial, prize and well worth winning. Tickets are £1 each and will be available at the show. We are also selling them at our next two meetings. If you don’t, or are not able, to attend the show we would be grateful if you would consider supporting the event by buying a raffle ticket. See Phil Warren on Thursday.
Pig Racing Evening
The Plympton Stannator, Lloyd Hills, is organising this fund raiser which will be held at Harewood House on Thursday 16th July. Please get in touch with Lloyd if you would like to attend the Grand National of the piggy world which is great fun.
Open Gardens
Keith Willey’s Wildside garden is open From Thursday 9th July to Sunday 12th. If you’ve not been before it’s well worth a visit – the garden is in the village of Buckland Monachorum and the entry cost is £12.50.
Other gardens open in July are:
Sunday 5th Gunnislake Village Gardens
Sunday 12th Sommerswood Lakes
Sunday 19th Lower Coombe Royal
Sunday 26th Flete Gardens
Open Gardens | St Luke's Hospice Plymouth
The sales team on the PGA stall at the Lamb Feast. Thanks to everyone who donated plants & who helped on the day.
PGA Chairman John Gilding has been maintaining the planters on the Ridgeway. They are looking very colourful and we are grateful to John for all his hard work.
June News
NEXT MEETING
· THURSDAY 4th JUNE, 7.30pm, Harewood House, Plympton (doors open at 7.00)
· The talk is “Sensory and Therapeutic Gardening” presented by David Curry
· Free tea and coffee
· Sales/swap table
· Informal Competition
· Annual Show Schedules will be available on the night.
ANNUAL SHOW
· SATURDAY 15th AUGUST
· A digital version of the show schedule is shown below.
· Sponsorship
Our main sponsor is Moorland Heating. They would be grateful if any of our members who have used their services would write a short testimonial that they could use for promotional purposes. No names will be published.
LAMB FEAST
· SATURDAY 20TH JUNE
· Castle Green, Plympton St Maurice
· 12 Noon – 5.00pm
· Free Entry
· PGA Plant Stall
o Once again, we are having a plant stall and we would be very grateful for any plant donations. Please bring them along to Castle Green on the morning (from 9.00am), or we can, if necessary, arrange to collect from you.
COACH TRIP TO TAUNTON FLOWER SHOW
· FRIDAY 7th AUGUST
· £38 includes coach and entrance
· Held in a lovely location in the centre of Taunton
· Coach drop-off and pick-up right on the doorstep of the show
· Open to members and non-members
· Pick-Up points at Plymstock, Plympton and Ivybridge
· Return from Taunton at 4.00pm
· Pay by BACS or by credit card at Thursday’s meeting.
· Plympton Gardeners Sort Code 30-94-58 Account 0093 0198 Reference quote Taunton & your surname
· There is a possibility this could be the last ever Taunton show.
· Contact Phil Warren for more details 07892 623991
CHARITY PIG RACING NIGHT
· As you are probably aware Lloyd Hills is the Plympton Stannator for the current year. As part of the fund raising for his chosen charity – “The Ocean Conservation Trust” he is organising a Pig Racing evening. (not real pigs you’ll be pleased to hear!!!) See the poster below. Please get in touch with Lloyd if you are interested. Lloydhills10@gmail.com
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The sun came out for the PGA visit to Toby's Garden Festival and members enjoyed the opportunities to hear excellent speakers and to buy new plants and accesories for their gardens. The ice cream was good too!
Lorna Rogers was judged to be the overall winner in the daffodil classes at the 2026 Spring Show.
She was presented with a certificate by Youth Ambassador Grace Nicholls and PGA President Natalie Harrison.
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