Val Bourne has been a member of the Hardy Plant Society for over 50 years and has been outstanding in her support of the society and its work. We are delighted that she accepted the role of Vice President of The Hardy Plant Society. Our President, Roy Lancaster and Chair, Pamela Clark, look forward to working closely with her.
‘I am delighted to hear that Val Bourne is to become the Vice President. I have known Val for many years and have long admired her knowledge, her passion, and her gardening skills. She is one of our most successful communicators in sharing and spreading the excitement and joy of plants and gardening.’
Roy Lancaster, HPS President
Val is an award-winning garden writer, lecturer and organic gardener and shares the values of The Hardy Plant Society including stewardship of the natural world, sharing knowledge and our passion for plants. Val met Alan Bloom, a Hardy Plant Society hero, at the beginning of her writing career in the mid-1990s, the society was very close to his heart, so becoming vice president means a lot to Val because he was such a valued and loved friend. Val explains:
“I joined the hardy plant in the late 1970s for the free seeds – but I made lots of friends as well.”
Val became an ambassador for the society in 2017, during the Hardy Plant Society’s 60th anniversary year. She is always enthusiastic, and our members look forward to seeing her at HPS shows and events.
She gardens on the wind-swept Cotswolds at Spring Cottage – high above Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire. Her third of an acre garden is managed without using chemicals – something Val has always believed in. She is a hands-on gardener and a committed plantaholic.
She has written nine books including ‘The Natural Gardener’ and ‘The Living Jigsaw’ both of which advocate gardening without using chemicals, for wildlife’s sake. There’s a new one on the way ‘Tough Plants’, out in January 2025.
For more information about Val Bourne visit https://www.valbourne.co.uk/about
Photo of Val courtesy of Lyn Keddie
