Events 2014
Duchy Nursery and Pinetum Park Gardens
Wednesday 10th September 2014
See the Duchy Nursery and Pinetum Park Gardens Visit page.
Open Gardens in Support of St Luke’s Hospice
Sunday 29th June 2014
Len and Viv Slaughter manning the gate On the Sunday 29th June, Kay Moore and 5 of her neighbours, opened their gardens to the public in support of St Luke’s Hospice. The event was very well attended, with 364 people passing through the gardens.
Several people provided refreshments and sold plants to raise extra funds. Kay spent the week before baking and made 18 cakes for the event, which were well received. Several visitors asked for recipes! She was supported by family and friends who volunteered to help with gate keeping, plant sales and serving the teas and cake.
Overall, the residents of Yelverton raised a total of £4025.00! St Luke’s were thrilled and said this was the largest total raised in a day for a garden event. It was exhausting, stressful but also very good to give so much pleasure to so many visitors and to raise money for a worthy cause.
Mick Beeby (Kay's brother-in-law) selling tea and cake.
For photos of Kay Moore's garden, see the From Our Gardens page
(coming soon!) 
The two Janets! Janet Jones and Janet Moore selling plants and home-made
jams and chutney. Kay would like to thank all her helpers (including her husband Gary who spent the afternoon washing up!) and all the friends who came and supported her and the event.
Meavy Oak Fair - MGS Stall
Saturday 21st June 2014
Peter Argles from Champerknowne Nursery once again came up trumps and kindly donated 37 plants for the plant stall to sell at the fair. Three members of the Meavy Garden Society manned the stall - David Winter, Janet Jones and Kay Moore.
The weather was fantastic for the fair but a little too hot for the plants and we had to move the stall from the full sun into a more shaded area, along side the parish hall. Peter had supplied a good variety of shrubs and perennials which were quickly snapped up by the visitors to the fair. The Australian Bottle Brush plants were very popular and we could have easily have sold more of them. Other popular plants were the Arbutilon and the Jasmin.
People were happy with the prices and liked being offered advice on the ideal growing conditions for their purchases. Altogether 21 plants were sold and we have been allowed by Peter to keep the remaining plants to sell at our Summer Show, in August. David will be taking care of them until then.
Without the donation from Peter Argles, it would be difficult to provide sufficient plants to sell at the Meavy Oak Fair, so we would like to express out thanks to him and to the members of the Meavy Garden Society for their hard work in managing the stall.
Members visit Andrew’s Corner at Belstone
May 2014
Recently a group of members visited Andrew’s Corner, at Belstone. Blessed with glorious weather this beautiful garden enchanted in its splendid setting, 1000 feet above sea level overlooking the valley of the Taw and facing Cosdon Hill. Robin Hill, the owner, gave an excellent introductory talk on his unusual plants followed by a guided tour while he explained the planting requirements of each species. Later, his wife Edwina provided excellent tea and homemade cakes.
Chelsea Flower Show
Friday 23rd May 2014
Meavy
Garden Society's roving reporter, Janet Jones, went to the Chelsea Flower
Show and sent these photos.
Guess which one made her think of Meavy!
MGS Social Evening
Wednesday 21st May 2014
Here
are a few photos of the MGS Social evening on Wednesday 21st May and hosted
by Jean and Malcolm Edwards and held at their house "Albedo" in Burrator
Road in Dousland.
Meavy Parish Hall Quiz Night
Friday 16th May 2014
On Friday 16th May, 4 members of the Meavy Garden Society made up a team for the Meavy Parish Hall Quiz night. The team consisted of David and Kirsty Winter, Janet Jones and Martin Burt. An enjoyable evening was had and the team came 5th! Well done to the team.
Andrew’s Corner at Belstone
Wednesday 14th May 2014
The sun was shining and the sky was blue when Robin and Edwina Hill welcomed 25 MGS Members to their open garden. Robin greeted us all, along with his lovely dog and two very friendly cats, who joined in the stroll around the garden in anticipation of extra attention (which they got!). Robin began by telling us the history of Andrew's Corner.
He said it was originally built for a Paignton Butcher who wanted a holiday home for his family, in 1930. Robin's parents bought it in 1967. They were originally hoping to buy a place by the sea but as Robin said "you know what estate agents are like!" His father was a keen gardener and Robin has followed in his footsteps.
Robin had gathered a few samples from the garden for us to view and he gave us the names and growing conditions required of the many shrubs on display. He said that he will try to grow anything, so never excludes an interesting plant. His special interest is in growing the Meconopsis Poppies but also had a large and interesting collection of Rhododendrons, Magnolias - some of these had creamy coloured flowers instead of the more usual white or pink varieties. One particularly interesting one was the Butterfly Magnolia, which had gorgeous creamy petals and some resemblance to a butterfly.
Robin led us around the garden telling us about the unusual trees and shrubs and we were able to see so many different aspects of the garden. There was a large pond, a coup with chickens happily clucking away happily. Robin showed us several varieties of his Meconopsis and explained that they must never be allowed to dry out but equally don't like sitting with their roots in water. He recommended that they are planted in a raised area with lots of organic matter and leaf mould.
The colour in the garden was magnificent, especially the contrasting deep reds and vivid acid greens of the Acers. As we strolled around the garden, we were enthralled as we approached the kitchen garden at the bottom because there is a stunning view of Cosdon Tor directly in front of you and Robin said they have a gate way which allows them to walk from their garden, directly onto the moor, which was particularly handy for the dog!
Robin explained that he likes to work with nature and showed us a tree that squirrels had stripped the bark from and Robin was unsure what to do with it, but was going to try and cut in back in the hope that it would re-grow. He also pointed out a low lying maple which the rabbits had stripped all the lower leaves from. Robin said it was a mystery to start with!
The garden had a very pretty area with Pink Purslane which provoked a good discussion. Some members had actually planted this common weed (or wild flower, depending on how you view things) and others had spent years trying to eradicate it! Robin mentioned the bane of Ground Elder and we also discussed Wild Garlic (which he didn't have).
Robin then allowed everyone who wanted to, to go back round the garden and explore further on their own, and then join those who were ready for a cup of tea, and enjoy a cuppa and some lovely home made cakes provided by Edwina. Brenda Burt thanked Robin and Edwina for making us all so welcome. Robin said that it is a good opportunity for the MGS and the Garden Society he belongs to, to swap names and numbers of speakers, which is great as we can share ideas and opportunities.
All who attended, this car share trip really enjoyed the afternoon to Andrew's Corner and Robin and Edwina's hospitality was wonderful. Thank you to Janet Jones for organising this fantastic day out.
Trago Mill’s Garden Park Anniversary Event
Monday 5th May 2014
Kay and Janet Moore went to Trago Mills to join in their 5 year Garden Park Event.
Carol Klein and Pippa Greenwood were there giving talks. Carol spoke about the propagation of plants and seeds and demonstrated her technique of making “plants for free” using cuttings taken from a shop bought plant. Pippa demonstrated growing vegetables in containers and gave tips on how to make them look attractive. For example, she suggested peas could be grown in a container, along side of sweet peas which would attract pollinating insects. She also showed that a tomato plant could be grown in a container and planted lettuces around the edge of the pot. She recommended using nematodes to eradicate slugs but an alternative suggestion was to use copper tape around the tops of the pots.
Both presenters were very friendly and were very happy to answer any questions. Kay and Janet were lucky enough to have their photo taken with Carol Klein who was very happy to pose along side of them. On the right is Pippa Greenwood.
As well as the guest speakers, Trago had a super range of good quality plants (some for as little as 25p each!). There were also pony rides and face painting for the children and the Stilt walkers that were present at Toby Buckland's Garden Festival event. There was a BBQ and Pims and Lemonade was served with diced strawberry and cucumber with fresh mint leaves. The weather was kind and the event was very enjoyable.
Fund Raising
Sunday 4th May 2014
We had a fund raising event Sunday 4th May. Mike
Ashton and Kay Moore did a car boot sale at the Yelverton Cricket Field to
raise funds for the society.
They were pleased to be able to use the new banner which has been produced for the MGS using money donated from last year's Meavy Oak Fair. Kay and Mike were also able to promote the MGS and handed out fliers advertising our speakers and meetings.
Toby Buckland South West Garden Festival
Friday 2nd May 2014
Janet Moore with Jim Butress and Toby Buckland A few members of the MGS went to the new Toby Buckland South West Garden Festival. It was very good value for money at just £5.00 per ticket. There was a lot to see and we were able to attend some interesting talks. One was about cooking with wild flowers by Sally Harvey, an expert forager. We were able to sample some gorgeous dishes containing wild garlic.
For those members who have been watching the “Big Allotment Challenge” on BBC 2, Jim Buttress (Judge Dread) gave a talk. He is a very interesting gentleman and has a great sense of humour. He talked not only about his life but also about the programme. He revealed that another programme is already being made, so look out for that.
The last talk we attended was Dr Todd Gray and “The history of the Devon Garden”. Again, an interesting and informative talk.
All who attended enjoyed the day very much.
Powderham Castle
Two photos of the Garden festival at Powderham Castle. On the right is the Green Man and Mother Nature Stilt Walkers, on the left is Brenda Burt and Janet Moore at Powderham Castle Garden Festival.
