NOTES FROM THE GARDEN CLUB

BY ALAN MCLAY

t the November meeting of the Garden Club, Linda Thorne of Thorne and Co took us on a delightful illustrated tour of fourteen gardens in England and Wales. She provided us with a colourful kaleidoscope of images: historic houses and castles surrounded by walled gardens, courtyards, terraces, ornamental ponds with classical temples, yew hedges and elaborate topiaries, and a profusion of flowering plants and shrubs. Since the pictures were taken in May, spring flowers, climbing roses, azaleas and rhododendrons in full bloom offered a wide palette of colours.

The medieval house at Great Dixter, the famous "white garden" at Sissinghurst where the gardens are divided into "rooms" and the splendidlaburnum arch at Barnsley House with long yellow racemes hanging down from the branches were among the highlights. The chapel and monastic ruins at Sudeley Castle were covered in climbing roses. In North Wales, the magnificent terraces and vistas at Powys and Bodmin Castles looked across the valleys to distant hills, while the grounds around the house at Chatsworth were laid out in a formal design of grand scale.

The tour concluded with slides of the Chelsea Flower Show in May 1998. The audience were enthusiastic in their applause.

The next meeting of the Garden Club takes place on January 11 and will feature a workshop "Starting Seeds". Join us at the Firehall at 7 pm.