Spring Newsletter 2026                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Spring is such a joyful season, full of hope and anticipation as we see spring bulbs and early flowering shrubs come to life and once again plant seeds and plan for the growing season ahead. Whether you are planning to have a few more pots near the doorstep or rethinking the layout of your borders, may colour abound in your garden space in the coming months.                                                                                                                                                                      Our Spring Show - The Spring Show is on Saturday 28th March with staging from 8am to 10:45am. We would be grateful if you can spare twenty minutes to help us set up in the hall on Friday at 4pm. Have a peep in the schedule or look on our website. There are classes for daffodils, tulips, other spring flowers and flowering shrubs, and of course our Spring Bulb Challenge, as well as pot plants, home produce and floral art. If you have not entered before, do have a go, there are stewards on hand to help with staging and any queries you may have. The judges are most encouraging and delighted to see your entries and of course our visitors get much pleasure in looking round your exhibits when doors open at 2:15pm.                                                                                                                                                                                                  April meeting Don Whitton is coming on April 1st to present his talk ‘Great Yorkshire Gardens’. Don will be enlightening us about many of the great gardens in this glorious county. The  table top competition is ‘A Vase of Spring Flowering Shrubs’.                                                                                                                                                                                                            May Social Evening and Plant Sale At our meeting on May 6th we will have our annual plant sale. Please bring along your seedlings, cuttings and divided perennials to the plant sale table. It would be helpful if you labelled your plants. All plants are reasonably priced and monies raised provide valuable funds for the society to run the shows.  Liane Smith of Goldford Wines is coming to tell us about how her family has established a two-acre vineyard on the slopes of Larkton Hill along the sandstone ridge in South Cheshire. Carefully selecting four grape varieties to suit our climate and landscape, the harvested grapes produce a range of distinctive sparkling and still wines. Our table top competition is ‘A Vase of Spring Flowers’. Tea and coffee will be available, or you may wish to purchase a glass of red or white wine at £3 per glass.                                                                                                                                                                                                      June: 80th Anniversary Celebration We are having a special 80th Anniversary Celebration, exclusively for members, at our meeting on June 3rd, to include a three-course served meal with wine or soft drink as well as musical entertainment provided by the Time Bandits. It’s going to be a wonderful evening and tickets at a cost of £30 will be on sale at the April meeting. Laura Sams, a committee member, is selling the tickets. Her contact details are Tel: 07912290517 Email: laurasams100@gmail.com . Our chef Sophie Fearnall has prepared a great menu and when you purchase your ticket we will need to know your selection of starter, main course and dessert, and any dietary requirements or food intolerances you may have. Due to limited capacity within the hall we can only accommodate a maximum of 96 members.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Trips Looking ahead we have planned a couple of coach trips during the summer. On June 17th we will visit Bodnant Garden following on from the talk we had last year by Head Gardener, Ned Lomax. On our visit Ned is providing us with an exclusive tour of the garden and you’ll have free time to explore the garden for yourself. Tickets for return coach travel and the tour are £20. Members of the National Trust will enter the garden with their membership card, non-members will pay the usual entry fee. Then on July 12th we are going to RHS Bridgewater for their sweet pea show. As the society has RHS affiliation we gain free entry into the garden so the ticket cost at £12 is for return coach travel. Tickets for the trips will be on sale from April.                                                                                                                                                                                Nick Bailey of BBC Gardeners’ World The presenter is coming to our meeting on October 7th to present his entertaining autobiographical talk ‘Confessions of a TV Gardener’. Tickets will be available soon so please have the date in your diary.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Planting the bed at Upton Pavillion Our proposal to plant up the pavilion bed near Upton Library has been gratefully accepted by Upton Parish Council. We have offered to plant the area, as part of our 80th Anniversary Celebrations, with slow growing dwarf evergreen shrubs. If you have any suggestions of flowering shrubs or would like to get involved with the project, please contact Debbie, our Communications Secretary (Uptonhs80@gmail.com).                                                                                                                                                                                  Running UHS You are most welcome to join the society’s committee or if you prefer you can join our group of willing helpers to provide occasional cover when needed. No matter how small the task your willingness to help makes an enormous contribution to making the society run well and is much appreciated.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Looking forward to seeing you there!                                                                                      All good wishes,  Susan