RHS Summer Bulb Weekend and Competition

RHS Garden Bridgewater –  5-6 August 23

The RHS Bulb Committee and the RHS Horticultural Competitions team are holding a Summer Bulb Weekend at RHS Garden Bridgewater on the weekend of 5-6 August 2023 and would love to receive entries from RHS Affiliated Societies for the Summer Bulb Competition.

The weekend will include displays of summer flowering bulbs, four specialist nurseries, a quiz, experts to answer your questions on these amazing plants, plus a competition open to anyone who grows summer flowering bulbs, and a free talk from summer bulb expert Lady Christine Skelmersdale:

“Celebrating the South – the wonderful South African legacy”

2pm, Sat 5 August, In the Learning Centre at 2.00pm on Saturday 5 August.

Why South African bulbs are so good to add colour to our summer gardens. How to grow and how to use them: Agapanthus, Eucomis, Nerine and more, from their wild origins to our garden hybrids. 

Summer Bulb Competition

The competition will be held in the Middle Woods Event Marquee. Everyone is welcome to take part, you don’t have to be an RHS member or an expert grower, and there are 44 classes for bulbs, corms and tubers to suit all gardeners. Please take a look at the entry form by clicking the PDF below.

Summer Bulb Competition Entry Form 2023.pdf

Exhibitors are allowed free entry to the garden and will be sent details about how to access the site with their exhibits to stage them for judging and at the weekend.

The competition will be judged on the Saturday morning and will be open to all from lunchtime onwards, and on Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

With time to bring your Summer-flowering bulbs to look their very best for the competition, we hope you will enjoy summer in the garden and will come and show everyone your best blooms!

 Teresa Clements

Chair, RHS Bulb Committee  

Hermitage Village Jubilee Fun Day

The HHS contribution to the Hermitage Jubilee Event was considered a big success.

Planting Dwarf Beans

Heather Whetter and her daughter Amber were kept very busy, Amber making origami newspaper flower pots (and demonstrating the method) and Heather sowing dwarf bean seeds with the visitors. An estimated 50 young people and adults visited the stand.  As dwarf beans are very easy to grow, the idea was that everyone take their planted beans away, watch them grow and hopefully harvest some beans before too long.  This provides a very simple introduction for young people to growing plants from seed.

Heather also provided visitors with information on recycling plastic pots and guidance on gardening for wildlife together with a list of bee friendly plants, which can be viewed below.

Planting dwarf beans

New Memberships

Three new Members were recruited to the Society at the Jubilee event and several other visitors expressed an interest.  Together with new recruits at the Plant Sale and elsewhere, a total of eight new Members have joined the Society recently.