Happy New Year! Here we are in 2026 looking forward to a new gardening year. I hope you were able to have a break over the festive season and are now primed and ready for whatever this year has in store for us all.
Watch my video for the usual round up of what’s coming up across the HPS this month including some new member benefits (don’t forget to check out the website for the full list of discounts available to you) and appeals for volunteers for various roles including a new group to think about how the Society can celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.
The most important announcement, however, is of our first Tom Fenton Memorial Lecture on Zoom on January 27th at 7.30pm . Named after our trustee and Treasurer, who died in November, this is the first of what we intend to be an annual event and we’re delighted that our inaugural lecture is being given by landscape architect and garden designer Tom Stuart Smith, who will be talking about his Plant Library and garden at Serge Hill.
More information on the lecture can be found here.
The event is free to attend for all HPS members and if you can’t attend live, the recording will be available for 14 days afterwards. Booking will open later in the month and we’ll send you another email when you can secure your ticket but please put the date in your diary now. We’re looking forward to bringing together members from across the Society for an entertaining and educational talk to brighten up the dark nights.
Steve Bustin, Chair HPS
If you prefer to read Steve’s message in the video, the transcript can be downloaded here.
News
- Member benefits
- New Journal Editor
- Tom Fenton Memorial Lecture
- Seed Scheme Take Up
- Legacy Giving
- New Appointments
- Help needed
- 70th Anniversary
New Member benefits
Since our last email, we’ve added FewerFew Gloves and Touchwood Plants to our list of benefits. Click the button below to see more details.
Our new trustee Samantha Cook has negotiated amazing discounts for our members which are now available on the website. These include:
- Niwaki tools
- Abimax water treatment
- PlantGrow feeds and composts
- Copper and Green, hand made copper products
- AutoPot watering systems
- Genus gardening wear
- Fothergills plants
- Hootton Walled Nursery
- Feverfew Gloves
- Touchwood Plants
All these are found by using the button below and making sure you are logged in to the website. More will be coming soon, so keep an eye on that page and your member emails.
For Hootton Walled nursery you may be obliged to show some evidence of your membership, which you can do using this online membership card which you can show using your phone or print and take with you.
Both the member benefits page and membership card are on the Join Us menu if you need to find the in future.
Tom Fenton Memorial Lecture
On January 27th Tom Stuart-Smith will present the first Tom Fenton Memorial Lecture (via Zoom) on The Plant Library and Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health. Booking details will be sent to members later in January, for more information on the event click the button below.
Seeds for Charity
Once we complete the distribution of seeds to members, the surplus are available to charities for free. Why not nominate a charity to receive these, just get in touch and let us know?
New Appointments
The HPS Journal: We are pleased that Drew Swainston has been appointed as the new editor of the Journal. The next edition is due in March and by that time Drew will be fully involved, with Carolyn White looking after the immediate work to get the next edition to print shortly.
Treasurer: Rob Swallow from HPS Worcestershire will be taking up the role of society Treasurer.
Legacies
Many members will be familiar with the Kenneth Black Bursary scheme, and some members have asked about leaving a legacy to the society in their will. The society would welcome support via legacies and have a short leaflet with ideas on how it might work, on this page.
If you feel you can benefit the society this way then please get in touch and we will provide guidance on how to go about it.
Help Needed
We are looking for volunteers to help with a number of roles including:
- Social media
- Marketing
- PR & Publicity
- Shows & Events
Social Media: Marina Lindl has done a great job of promoting the society and our groups online, but now has to focus on other commitments. If you are confident with Facebook and Instagram and feel able to make posts to engage the public then please get in touch.
Other roles: We would love some help to promote the society in a variety of ways, to the public, to journals and at events during the year. If you think you could spare some time, then please get in touch to find out more.
Steve Bustin, Chair.
70th Anniversary Celebration
In 2027 the HPS will reach 70 years since foundation – and we’d like members to suggest how we celebrate this event both nationally and locally. If you would be willing to take part in a discussion group to develop ideas then please get in touch.
Steve Bustin, Chair.
New on the website
If you haven’t already please take a look at a new articles from our contributors:
Mini Blog – Kevin Line
Linking in with our plans for Hardy perennials, which is uppermost for the HPS, autumn/ winter bulb planting is an enjoyable and essential task. I’m certainly planning/ ready to plant spring displays in our new home garden. At the Lakeside, I’m well underway, Croci species along the rockery edge, and Alliums in front of the Rosa Rugosa.
On a Chalk Hillside – December 2025
Unlike last year, this was a good tomato year – they loved the warmth and the sunshine, and with the mild autumn were still ripening and producing a great amount of tasty fruit throughout October, though with the severe cold spell at the beginning of November I had to remove all the remaining fruit from the vines and have been ripening them inside ever since.
We always want to hear from anyone who can write about plants and gardening. If you have something you’d like to see published, please get in touch.
Events at Local and Special Interest Groups
Below is a listing of Local & Special Interest Group Events around the Country. Most are open to guests for a fee. For more details click the link below and check with the organisers of the specific event for more details including the venue location.
- Thu 1st Jan at 0:00 Galanthus group: NGS 2026 Opening Dates SNOWDROPS!
- Sat 3rd Jan at 14:00 Hertfordshire group: 52 Weeks in the Shade Garden – Lynne Moore
- Sat 3rd Jan at 14:00 Northamptonshire group: A Tapestry of Foliage – Geoff Hodge
- Sat 3rd Jan at 14:30 Devon group: Snowdrops at Westcroft – Lyn Miles
- Sat 3rd Jan at 14:30 Shropshire group: A Year in John’s Garden – Nigel Hopes
- Sat 3rd Jan at 19:30 Western Counties group: My Woodland Garden: A Robinsonian Dream – Edward Flint
- Fri 9th Jan at 19:30 West Yorkshire group: AGM followed by Sissinghurst – Troy Scott Smith
- Sat 10th Jan at 14:00 Worcestershire group: Stockton Bury Gardens Through the Seasons – Tamsin Westhorpe
- Tue 13th Jan at 19:15 Berkshire group: Snowdrops need Friends too – helen Picton
- Tue 13th Jan at 19:30 Scottish and Northern Borders group: From the Ends of the Earth – Richard Barnes
- Fri 16th Jan at 19:30 Staffordshire group: Gardening Without Peat – Richard Cave of Melcourt
- Sat 17th Jan at 14:00 South Wales group: Celebrating the South – Christine Skelmersdale
- Sat 17th Jan at 14:00 Cumbria group: HPS Cumbria Gardener’s Question Time
- Sat 17th Jan at 14:15 Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire group: The Blitz as a Catalyst for Greening London – Katherine Woods
- Sat 17th Jan at 14:30 Hampshire group: My Woodland Plants – Jimi Blake
- Sat 24th Jan at 14:30 Dorset group: Woodland Gardening – Saul Walker
- Sun 25th Jan at 14:00 Sussex group: Cyclamen in the Garden – Paul Whitlock
- Sun 25th Jan at 14:30 Kent group: The Gardens of Hever Castle – Neil Miller
- Tue 27th Jan at 19:00 Ranunculaceae group: The 3-Year RHS Trials at Wisley Gardens on Delphiniums From Seed – Roz Marshall
- Tue 27th Jan at 19:30 National HPS group: The inaugural Tom Fenton Memorial Online Lecture, given by Tom Stuart-Smith The Plant Library and Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health.
- Wed 28th Jan at 19:30 Galanthus group: Managing the Thenford Snowdrop Collection over the Years – Emma Thick
- Sat 31st Jan at 13:45 Western Counties group: Bourne to be a Galanthophile – Val Bourne (HPS President)
Join the Hardy Plant Society
Help us spread the benefits of plants and gardening. Our members tell us they feel relaxation, happiness, satisfaction, calmness and love from plants and gardening. We want to see these benefits reach everyone, and at the same time improve our environment.
Since 1957 we’ve been promoting plants and helping our members adapt to changes in our environment. Entirely member funded, we run a network of local groups around the country and are always looking to start more.
All memberships provide many benefits including
- The option to join any of our local or special interests groups
- Three copies of The Hardy Plant (in full colour, by post)
- Immediate access to the members area of our website with access to all our news and articles
- Free plant advice through our advisory service
- Participation in the Conservation scheme
- Participation in the Seed Distribution Scheme
- The option to subscribe to Cornucopia for an additional fee
Thank you for reading!
