OUR August meeting was a club visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

This was a conducted tour on a warm sunny evening and was enjoyed by everyone.

This month we welcomed Len Salt, a lifetime gardener who gave a talk and slide show on Creating Interest in the Garden.

Len was head gardener at Birmingham Botanical Gardens for 30 years and also as advisor to the National Trust gardens holiday guide and has organised more than 100 holidays. Besides all this, he runs evening classes at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which he has also been doing for the past 30 years.

He gave an interesting talk with slides showing various small private gardens with a variety of interesting features, including statues, topiary, seats and even toilets! He is encouraging people to use the old country names for plants and pass them on - such as Patties Pincushion for Astrantia - so they don't die out.

The October meeting will be the club's AGM, after which there will be quiz conducted by Mel Matthews. We meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm at The Village Hall, Alcester Road, Wythall, near Beckett's Island. Visitors are always welcome.