The Group meets once a month, usually on the second Saturday at 2pm in St Peter’s Church, Worcester, WR5 3TZ. Our venue is conveniently located close to Junction 7 of the M5 and has ample parking. Talks are free for Worcestershire HPS members, and £5 for visitors.

Saturday 14th February 2026 2.00pm

‘VIEWS AND VISTAS – A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON GARDEN DESIGN’– Carol Smith

Join us for an afternoon with garden designer, lecturer and author Carol Smith who has run her own garden design business for the past 22 years. She has designed medal winning show gardens at Chelsea, BBC Gardeners World Show and Malvern Spring Garden Show.

In 2009 ‘The Tree of Life Garden’ designed by Carol was re-built at St. Richards hospice, to be used by staff, patients and their relatives. And in 2010 she worked with St.Peters Garden Centre and BBC Hereford & Worcester, to design a showcase garden for the ‘Love Lives On’ appeal for the Noahs’ Ark Trust. Whilst lecturing at Pershore College, Carol was commissioned to write a book on her specialist subject: Planting Design. Her latest book, Gardening On A Gradient was published in 2022.

Saturday 14th March 2026 2.00pm

‘AN ARMCHAIR WALK THROUGH THE GARDENS OF BLENHEIM’ – Andrew Mills

Having worked for most of his horticultural career caring for heritage gardens, Andy joined Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire as the Head Gardener in 2022. Blenheim Palace has 90 acres of formal gardens that are embedded with history, much like the palace itself. Parts of these gardens have been buried for centuries, and Andy has been working to bring these features back to life.  He will be telling us about the work that has already taken place, and his plans for the future.

Saturday 11th April 2026 2.00pm

‘THE PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIC GARDENING’ – Garden Organic

Garden Organic is a charity based at Ryton in Warwickshire which promotes organic growing and composting. They also encourage citizen science and research, and seed conservation through their Heritage Seed Library. If you want to find out how to garden ‘the organic way’, using natural methods to promote healthy, productive, sustainable gardens – make sure you don’t miss this talk!

Saturday 9th May 2026 2.00pm

‘FIRST-RATE PERENNIALS’ – Val Bourne – President of the HPS

Val Bourne is well-known as an author and gardening writer featuring in The Daily Telegraph, The English Garden and Country Life, amongst others.

She recently took over from Roy Lancaster as the President of the Society. Val has been an HPS member since the 1970’s, freely admitting it was initially for the free seeds but with the added benefit of making many friends along the way.

One of the secrets of gardening successfully is choosing the best plants and this lecture selects some of the best doers in the garden and it also explains to gardeners why they are such good plants.

Saturday 13th June 2026 2.00pm

ANNUAL PLANT SALE

Saturday 11th July 2026 2.00pm

‘THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH – TRAVELS IN JAPAN’ – Diane Clement

Diane has been visiting the Alps for over 40 years, and has specialised in growing alpine plants for over 20 years.  She is a keen exhibitor and judge for the Alpine Garden Society.  She has a wide range of plant interests, in particular hepaticas, cyclamen, bulbous plants and woodland plants which she grows in cold frames and in her shady garden in Wolverhampton. 

Diane believes it’s really important to understand where our garden plants originally hailed from – to help us to give them what they need and to become better growers.  

Saturday 12th September 2026 2.00pm

‘THE CARE AND CULTIVATION OF PENSTEMON’ – Julia Mitchell

Julia runs a nursery near Upton selling a wide range of cottage garden plants, as well as some shrubs, alpines and herbs. They supply quality plants, and also recommend varieties that they think will thrive in your garden.

Julia is a Penstemon specialist, and in recent years she has built up an impressive collection of unusual and interesting penstemon varieties. The nursery has done exhibits at RHS Shows for many years – and they have been awarded several RHS Gold Medals, including a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021.

Saturday 10th October 2026 2.00pm

‘BORDERING ON INSANITY – CREATING AN ALL-YEAR-ROUND BORDER’ – Timothy Walker

Timothy needs no introduction, having enthralled and delighted us with his erudition and enthusiasm over the years. He is a lecturer in Plant Sciences at Oxford University and a Fellow of The Linnaean Society. Prepare to learn and laugh in equal measure.

Saturday 14th November 2026 2.00pm

‘PLANTING TREES AND BAREFOOT HEDGING’ – Aaron Pleciak

Aaron began his horticultural journey in 2011 with Mill Lane Lane Nurseries, a family run wholesale business specialising in garden plants, trees and hanging baskets where his passion for plants was ignited. He moved to the retail sector joining David’s Nurseries at Martin Hussingtree to expand his experience and continued his horticultural education.

In 2016, Aaron joined John Richards Nurseries as Sales Manager gaining more experience travelling the UK, visiting garden centres and nurseries.  In 2019 Aaron returned to Mill Lane Nurseries as Horticultural Manager where he heads up a dynamic team offering planting consultation, contract growing and landscaping services. Aaron and his team pride themselves on giving sound advice to help gardeners get the best out of their planted areas. Keen to share his plant passion, Aaron is a regular speaker giving talks to various gardening groups, charities and societies – and we are delighted to welcome him back to the HPS Worcestershire Group to share his knowledge and experience.

Saturday 5th December 2026 2.00pm

‘THE VINTAGE GARDEN STORE’ – John & Carol Matthews

John and Carol run the Vintage Garden Store in Redditch. They will be sharing with us some of the history behind the manufacture of vintage garden tools, and how they have been used. They’ll bring with them a wide selection of tools and interesting items – and some hands-on participation is welcome. You’ll also get some good ideas for festive gifts – maybe three vintage hoes for Father Christmas!?!