Talks 2026
Members Free. Non-Members £4.00 on the door.
All talks take place at Dulverton Town Hall, Fore Street, Dulverton.
7.00pm for 7.30pm start unless shown otherwise.
Light refreshments on arrival.
15th January - Ben Candlin - ‘Adventurous Plants’ Sub Tropical Gardening
Ben has been working professionally in horticulture for 17 years. He runs a mail order nursery specialising in rare, unusual and inspiring plants. Experienced in a range of garden styles he has had work featured in the English Garden Magazine. He will have items for sale on the evening.
19th February - Andrew Tolman - ‘The Art of Topiary & Ornamental Hedges’
Andrew is making a return visit and was formerly the senior gardener at Highgrove. He specialises in garden restoration and pruning.
19th
March -
Toby Thomas - ‘RocketGro’
- Peat-free compost
Toby is the Managing Director and
co-founder of the Somerset based organic, carbon negative compost and fertiliser
company and will teach us how to make the most of peat-free and why peat is so
precious to the environment.
16th
April -
Alan French - Seasonal Interest – ‘What Looks Good Now’
Alan has been running his stall
‘Okehampton Plant Sales’ for over three decades. He knows what looks good and
when and how to fix it if it doesn’t! He’ll be bringing a large selection of
his own quality plants and will show us how to get the best out of them. He’ll
have plants for sale on the evening.
21st
May -
Sara Rittenhausen, Burnham Nurseries
- ‘The Wonderful World of
Orchids’
Sara comes from a family of orchid
growers spanning 75+ years. She will speak on growing orchids, demonstrate how
to care for them and diagnose any problems. Bring a specimen or photo, if possible.
There will be items for sale on the evening.
18th
June -
Caradoc Doy - ‘Plants Behaving Badly’
An illustrated look at a range of
popular and well-known garden plants which
can easily cause much trouble in the
garden to the unaware. This practical talk highlights many such plants to be
cautious of planting or giving away, unless you want to become unpopular with
friends and family alike! It is
surprising how many commonly offered plants fall into this category. This
humorous and informative talk illustrates some of the better known plants to be
cautious of but also covers practical solutions to the challenges.
16th
July -
Peter Cantrill of Dayspring Plants – ‘All About Herbaceous Plants’
Peter runs the wholesale nursery
Dayspring Plants near Exeter which supplies plants to National Trust gardens,
amongst others. With a lifetime’s experience in the business his horticultural
knowledge is second to none and the plants he brings to sell have been known to
cause a rush to buy at the end of his lectures!
17th
September - Claire Forster -
‘Winter Container Gardening’
An experienced, creative and
passionate horticulturalist, Claire specialises in creative restoration and
will show us how to breathe new life into the container we may neglect after summer’s
blooms have finished.
15th
October - Saul Walker
- ‘Woodland Gardening – The Art
of Growing in Shade’
Saul was head gardener at Stonelands
House, National Trust and is Kew trained.
He has been on the show management team for RHS Hampton Court and the
Chelsea Flower Shows. He is a lifelong horticulturist and plantsman and is host
of ‘Talking Heads’- a gardening podcast since 2020. He sits on the trustee
board of the Hardy Plant Society.
19th November - Emily Charlton of Ravensfield Flowers & Foliage – ‘Growing Flowers & Foliage for Cutting’
Emily runs a micro farm of flowers and foliage from her home to benefit both wildlife and people from field and beyond. She uses no chemicals and no digging to better benefit the environment.