The Hardy Plant Society (HPS) Monmouthshire Group is for people who love plants and gardening and enjoy sharing their enthusiasm with other like-minded gardeners in the county and beyond.

Non-members are very welcome to most events.

Why not take the opportunity to meet people with similar interests in a friendly atmosphere, listen/ask questions, and chat while enjoying refreshments.

Later in the spring, there are also plants for sale, grown by members.

The group, covering postcodes NP4 to NP44 and bordering areas, is part of a network of 45 local groups throughout the UK registered with the national Hardy Plants Society (HPS) and is also an Affiliated Society of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

The group meets monthly in Little Mill Village Hall from September through to May and also organises garden visits, gardening discussion dinners and a plant sale.

The last few months have been busy and enjoyable months with talks in the hall (‘The Well Gardened Mind’ by Sue Stuart-Smith and ‘Tales from Long Ago’, a festive event with storyteller Daniel Morden), a Zoom talk (‘Gardening in South Africa’ by Michael Hogan, live from SA - we’re lucky here not to have to contend with crocs and poisonous snakes!) and our Members’ Winter lunch.

The group would like to thank all those who’ve been able to attend, whether in person or online, as well as our speakers and hosts of course.

On Saturday, February 11 in the hall at 2.30pm, we welcome back Dean Peckett who will advise this time on ‘Gardening under cover’, for example using porches and conservatories, cloches, frames, polytunnels and/or greenhouses throughout the year.

Dean has many years of experience in RHS and private gardens and will run through how to use these areas for growing and propagating, and for storing tender plants through the winter.

Places are £4 per person for HPS members and £6 for non-members.

Then, in the next few months (all except the Zoom talk being in the Hall at 2.30pm):

- On Saturday March 11, Paul Green of Green’s Leaves will describe those plants which give real ‘Sensory Sensations’ and bring a selection of such plants to experience and perhaps buy.

- On Saturday April 1, Nick Macer of the specialist nursery Pan-Global Plants, at Frampton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire, will reveal his ‘Confessions of a Plant Freak’, explaining his lifelong horticultural passions as someone completely obsessed by plants!

- On Wednesday April 19 via Zoom at 7.30pm, Howard Drury, a horticultural lecturer/advisor and ex-TV presenter, will discuss the topical subject of ‘Gardeners and Climate Change’.

How will climate change affect the decisions we make as gardeners and should we be choosing plants able to survive greater extremes here in the UK?

- on Saturday May 13, Cheryl Cummings, a Monmouthshire-based garden designer, will describe ‘The Naturalistic Garden’, showing how to improve the relationships between our gardens, the wider landscape and the wildlife around us.

If any of these events are of interest, the group would love to hear from you. For more details and to book your places, please see www.ticketsource.co.uk/The-HPS-Monmouthshire-Group

Alternatively, you may prefer to turn up at the door.

To keep in touch with the latest group news and receive early notice of future events, just send an email request to [email protected]

The group website, www.hpsmonmouthshire.co.uk, also gives the latest programme news and other interesting plant-related links.