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With summer out of the way, autumn brings a new season of events, talks and meetings organised by Pershore staff and by many of our local groups

Online talks

We start our online plant lecture series this Thursday evening with a talk by Chris Gardner on the plants he has encountered over the years while travelling along the Silk Road. If you can’t make it, don’t worry as the talk will be recorded, with members being able to watch it on our website at a later date.

Tickets cost £7 but AGS members can attend for free.

September 16th, 7.30pm BST Chris Gardner - Flora of the Silk Road

In October Ian Young will give a practical talk on Troughs, and in November Jim Almond will discuss his bulb choices for year-round colour. For details on how to book and to see the complete list of seven talks going into April 2022, visit our website.

A list of other zoom talks organised by local groups can be found here.

Seed exchange

We hope you have been busy over the last few months saving seeds to share with members in our Seed Exchange. If you are already a member, find out how to donate seeds here. There are changes in the regulations for international donations and orders, follow this link to find out more.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Next week, for the very first time, the Chelsea Flower Show will take place in autumn. Our Society will be represented with a display of alpines in containers in the Flower Piazza at the heart of the Great Pavilion. If you are planning to visit the show, please come over and say Hi!

Mardale mountain meadow planting day

Since March 2017, the Alpine Garden Society has been supporting an exciting conservation project at RSPB Haweswater in the Lake District. The project is dedicated to restoring native alpines to the fells around Haweswater reservoir. We’re proud to be one of four partners involved, alongside the RSPB, United Utilities and Natural England. This month you have the chance to give a helping hand by planting plugs into the Mardale Mountain Meadow enclosure.

When: 23rd September, 9.30 am to 3pm. Meet at Mardale Head Car Park (Penrith, Bampton, CA10 2RP) for a short induction at 9.30am with Warden Spike Webb and Tree Nursery Officer Jo Chamberlain. You are welcome to stay the whole day (until around 3pm) or leave earlier. What to bring: Suitable clothing and footwear, packed lunch and water. If attendees have their own trowel and gardening gloves they can bring, this would be helpful. If you are planning to attend, please send Spike an email to let him know. Email: Spike.Webb@rspb.org.uk

AGS autumn shows

At the time of sending this out, two autumn shows are planning to go ahead. Mark these dates in your diary: October 9th at RHS Harlow Carr garden in North Yorkshire and October 23rd at the RHS Hyde Hall garden in Essex. Members and non-members are invited to visit and enjoy beautifully grown alpines and also buy plants from the specialist nurseries attending. AGS members will benefit from free entry on the day at these RHS gardens. Updates on these events will be posted on our website.

Marquee at Harlow Carr where the autumn show will take place

If you can’t make it to these shows, why not take part in our Online Autumn Show which is organised by Ray Drew, and will take place on our social media channels, Twitter in particular. The competition will open for entries on Monday 11th October at 11am. It will close for entries on Saturday 16th October at 2pm, with the final 3 winners and 3 runners up (1 winner & 1 runner up for each of our 3 categories) being announced at on Tuesday 19th October.

Photographic Competition

Members’ photographic skills are showcased and rewarded in our Photographic Competition. There are 9 different classes to enter before the 24 December deadline. Further details, rules and examples of previous years entries, visit the dedicated page.

Book offer

Our latest book offer is ‘Bulbous Plants of Turkey and Iran’. This is the much anticipated new edition of Peter Sheasby’s photographic field guide. The book has been fully revised with brand new text by Dr. Christopher Grey-Wilson. An additional 150 species have been included alongside 350 new images. As always members can purchase this title at a special rate.

Social Media

On Thursdays we have a new feature called 'Let's meet our members'. If you would like to be included, get in touch with our Social Media Manager at digital@alpinegardensociety.net. Check out the previous seven members and their stories on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Also make sure to join our growing Facebook members group, an online community for AGS members to keep in touch and talk about alpines!

Switch to Direct Debit and save on your membership

If you switch to paying your annual subscription by Direct Debit, you can save money – for yourself and also for the Society as Direct Debit payments are cheaper and easier to process than other payment methods.

As a special bonus, if you make the change now you can benefit from an additional 10% discount for the first year of your Direct Debit. What’s more, as a thank you, you will receive a free book (value £25rrp) from the AGS bookshop.

Annual subscription prices were increased in September 2021, making the change to Direct Debit payment even more attractive. For details and DD form, please contact the office by phone at 01386 554790 or email: ags@alpinegardensociety.net