Sunday 23rd  March

Thriplow Daffodil weekend 

(near Royston)

The whole village is open and car free for 2 days, full of stalls, rides and tasty treats. Hundreds of varieties of daffodils  will be on display, along with dog agility shows, Morris dancing, steam engines, classic cars, traditional craft displays, live music, open gardens, street food and beer tents.

Depart 50 Weston Way  9.30 am

(just past Ridgeway, church end)

(please note new departure point)

Leave Thriplow 4.00 pm

ETA Home 5.20 pm

WFGS Members - £26  

 WFGS non  members - £28

Tickets available January and February, 

final date for tickets is on 18th February, at the meeting.

Breezy Knees Garden, York

If you were at the May meeting where Don Witton gave his excellent and amusing presentation on ‘Once Seen Never Forgotten’,  you too may have been interested in hearing about Breezy Knees Garden near York.

We happened to be spending a few days in Flamborough, Yorkshire the following week and by altering our route home only slightly maaged to fit in a visit to this fascinating garden.

Quirky is the word which comes immediatley to mind, interesting and unusual also fit the bill. We spent several hours there and it was nowhere near enough, we had to rush to get our delicious cream tea in before closing time. (The café, visited several times during our time there) was excellent and unlike so many places stayed open almost until the gardens closed. There was a superb nursery too, for once selling many of the plants we saw around the gardens instead of the same as every Garden Centre in the country and prices weren’t too expensive either!

It was quite a long walk along ‘The Rabbit Path’ to the garden proper and they do try to keep the rabbits out! A splendid gate allowed you in to start on a circuit of the garden rooms, which seemed to get bigger and bigger as we went on. They had some lovely names such as Stonehedge, a version of Stonehenge made up of pillars of clipped beech, and plenty big enough to lose yourself in. A June Garden a May Garden, a September Garden, Rock Garden, Pond and Shade Garden, Cottage Garden and many more, 20 in all. There was a garden with fountains in which started up every 4 minutes and performed for 2 minutes with different patterns and comfortable seats to sit and watch from too.

There was a 15 foot sculpture of a pair of wellington boots in one garden and a matching 15 foot trowel in another. Lots of metal sculptures and other interesting features all around.

One place I was determined to see before we left was ‘The Rogues Gallery’, I could not imagine for the life of me what would be in there. It turned out to be an area planted up with all those thugs of plants you planted because they looked so nice but then wished you hadn’t because they take over your garden, we have quite a few of those ourselves! Their sign read’ Rogues Gallery, so called because all the plants here, whilst attractive, are very invasive and if planted in normal borders would soon swampeverything around them. However, hopefully here they will meet their match – their neighbours may be even bigger thugs than they are!’ Love it! We must go back and see who wins.

The garden was started on arable farmland in 1999 and was planted first with a framework of trees, hedges and shrubathamanta turbiths and then as those began to provide some shelter work began on the borders and garden rooms and is still ongoing. It is called Breezy Knees because it is very exposed “and if you stood there in January, you wouldn’t ask why it was called that!” It is only open from May through to September for that reason. It is one of only a handful of British gardens with a current 5 star Trip Advisor rating and is situated on the eastern outskirts of York, some 5 miles from the city centre.

Thank you Don, for enthusing about it in your talk, and introducing it to us, a place well worth a visit by anyone. But leave plenty of time!!

Sue and Trevor Wray

Autumn Trip to Wisley

Despite starting our Autumn trip to Wisley in the pouring rain, playing speedboats on the motorways and having to take a long detour because Junction 10 on the M25 was closed we had a lovely day out in mostly warm, glorious sunshine.

It was their Taste of Autumn festival with some lovely displays of Autumn fruits and colours near the entrance and then the totally natural glory of Autumn leaves and late flowering plants to feast our eyes in the rest of the garden.

I don't think anyone managed to visit more than a small part of the gardens in the 4 1/2 hours we finally spent there but all voted it a wonderful day out. Several of us enjoyed looking around the wonderful, not so very old, house which used to be the Old Laboratory and now open to the public for the first time, and a few even found time to visit the wonderful Library in the Hilltop building.

All in all a very good day out for our free entry visit this year because we are affiliated as a society to the RHS. Back to Hyde Hall next year as we have found the other three RHS gardens at Rosemoor, Harlow Carr and Bridgewater have proved too far to travel comfortably in one day.

WFGS Outings for 2024

Bluebells at Coton Manor Thursday April 25th at 2.00pm

On Thursday 25th April we have booked a self drive visit to the glorious bluebell woods at Coton Manor, where you will not only get the chance to immerse yourselves in the sea of bluebells but to look round the rest of the garden and enjoy some of their luxurious cakes as well.

Hill Close Gardens near Warwick

(Saturday 15th June, with Michael Heseltine's garden in Thenford)

Rare survivals of Victorian gardens once used by townsfolk living above their business to escape from the crowded town, now lovingly restored and nationally recognised. Discover how owners came here after work or on Sundays to tend their plots or to relax…

The restored gardens at Hill Close, Warwick, offer an extremely rare opportunity to visit sixteen hedged Victorian pleasure gardens, which capture the planting and personalities of their original owners.

The plots are very varied and individual, as would have been the case more than a hundred years ago. Generally there is a mixture of flowers, fruit – such as apples, pears, plums and soft fruit – a grassed area and a range of vegetables, mostly heritage varieties seldom seen nowadays. Artists experiment with different materials to represent the Victorian era in another plot.

The Victorian-styled glasshouse is used to raise plants for the garden and for selling in the nursery. In the summer there is a display of exotic plants such as Hedychiums, Eucomis and Pelargoniums. Hill Close Gardens has an extremely wide range of horticulture with many rare and ‘at risk’ plants, particularly in Plot 17 and the glasshouse. Every year, many different cultivars are offered or received under the Plant Heritage plant exchange scheme for ‘at risk’ plants.

Our Visitor Centre which is environmentally friendly in design and structure, has recently been extended to give visitors their own dedicated space with all the information they need to enjoy their visit. The Tea Room has a more extensive range of refreshments, including locally sourced cakes, and cream teas. To take home a memento of the visit, there is the opportunity to buy garden-themed merchandise as well as plants, seasonal produce and fruit grown in the Plant Nursery.

 Michael Heseltine's Garden (Thenford near Banbury)

                                              (Saturday  15th June, with Hill Close Gardens)

Michael Heseltine’s Garden is in Thenford , near Banbury.

We visited it in 2017 and everybody agreed it was a wonderful garden.

A visit to Thenford is a must for all gardening enthusiasts. The Arboretum is spread over seventy acres, and features a collection of more than three thousand different trees and shrubs, together with extensive herbaceous borders, water gardens, an alpine trough garden, a sculpture garden, a rose garden and a rill. Thenford has something for every gardening enthusiast.

We intend to visit Hill Close Gardens near Warwick in the morning.  We will be given a guided tour and plenty of free time to look round on our own. Tea/coffee and cake is included in the ticket.

We will then travel on to Thenford near Banbury for Michael Heseltine’s Open Garden Day starting at 2.00pm.

You will need a packed lunch to eat in Hill Close Garden or on the coach in between Warwick and Banbury, about 1/2 hour.

On Arrival at Thenford you will be given a map showing the layout of the garden and arboretum.

There will be tea, coffee and cakes available during the afternoon in the Church Barn, at extra cost.

Wisley in Autumn 

(October 19th)

To end our visits for the year we plan  to take our free (just coach to pay for) RHS visit to Wisley once more,  enjoying the glorious Autumn colours in October and all the things that the gardens there now have to offer, which seem to change rapidly each year, there is always something new to be seen.

 Christmas Lights Trail

November 28th

 Lights Trail at Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace is a place where new memories are made as a multitude of glowing lights and Christmassy sounds fill the air with festive fun.

Firmly positioned as one of the UK’s leading illuminated trails and unmissable within the seasonal calendar, this has everything you need for an unforgettable time with friends and family, including a magical glimpse of Father Christmas along the way.

Christmas Market in The Great Court.

The seasonal village of wooden chalets offers everything from inspired Christmas gift ideas to tasty treats, and if you have worked up an appetite, there is a tempting selection of street food stalls to share with loved ones under the stars.

Please note that the entire trail takes place outside (obviously during winter and after dark). It will be cold, dark and often wet! Please wrap up warm and wear sturdy footwear. A torch might be a good idea too.

 Spoiler Alert 2025

Another trip to Thriplow Daffodil Weekend

Sunday March 23rd (tbc)