A GROUP of borough gardeners is pulling the stops out at the start of this, its 70th year, with two exciting events in March.
A visit from BBC Radio4’s Gardener’s Question Time, and the group’s annual Spring Show have given members of Twyford & Ruscome Horticultural Association (TRHA) much to celebrate this month.
On Tuesday March, BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time recorded two episodes of the programme, hosted by TRHA, at Loddon Hall in Twyford, where a celebrated panel of gardening experts tackled questions put to them by local gardening enthusiasts.
The radio programme attracts two million listeners a week, and has answered well over 30,000 questions since its inception in 1947.
The panel of experts never see the questions before the recording, and their spontaneous answers reveal their huge experience and depth of gardening knowledge.
No doubt gardeners attending the event made notes on how to achieve last minute improvements to their produce and flower entries to TRHA’s Spring Show, one of three it holds each year.
The Spring Show includes classes for daffodils, tulips, and other spring flowers, early vegetables such as rhubarb, and domestic items such as marmalades and jellies and bakes.
Spring themed floral art exhibits, photography, handicrafts, and children’s competitions complete the itinerary, with show winners receiving cups and trophies for their prize efforts.
The group is a ‘not for profit’ organisation, run by volunteers, to promote gardening and allotment cultivation to members of all ages in the local community.
Its members receive a monthly newsletter, can join day trips to regional gardens, take part in shows, and help run a Loddon Hall Road store that sells garden products on Sunday mornings.
They are currently looking to welcome new members interested in gardening and who want to meet new people.
TRHA’s Spring Show will take place at Loddon Hall, Twyford, on Saturday, March 22, and opens to the public at 2pm.
Its store in Twyford next to the GP surgery on Loddon Hall Road is open on Sunday mornings, between the months of February and November, from 9.30am to 11am.
For more information, visit: trha.org.uk and bbc.co.uk
