February Talk

A bumper crowd came to see Head Gardener of Marwood Hill Gardens, Malcolm Pharoah at the first meeting of 2009. His talk about Marwood and its plants was enthusiastic and illustrated with slides taken over the last 50 years which showed how each part of the garden had been developed by Dr. Smart and his team.


Malcolm explained how Marwood, with the love from Dr Smart, has become one of Devon's beautiful gardens. Dr Smart fell in love with camellias and introduced them into a special greenhouse in the 1960's. This created bigger blooms, but now the greenhouses provide shelter for tender plants.


He told the history of the garden and explained with illustration how the garden is in a valley setting, only 4 miles from the sea, with a natural stream running through it. The old rose garden has been replaced by herbaceous borders which gives maximum colour. There are areas laid out for the three national collections which they hold. One collection is Astillbes, of which they have over 150 varieties which bloom from June to August. He explained how the plants love to be dug up and divided every 5 years to provide re-growth. These should be in full flower at the time of our planned visit in July.


The two lakes have been the major development at the garden over the last 50 years. A JCB dug out the area to form the lake and it has a natural liner of blue clay. A bog garden was created in 1980 and this is surrounded by Primula and Iris. The area on the hillside looking up to the church has been planted with trees with open vistas. This now gives glorious autumn colour. Hostas can be found with no holes in their leaves and Malcolm believes that this is down to wildlife in the garden and no stone walls. There is an original John Robinson statue on the island in the middle of one of the lakes and a beautiful Cherry tree which stands beside the pathways around the lake.


The current house was built around 1970 and overlooks the valley and lakes. It now houses a tearoom and right outside is a beautiful deep pink Magnolia named Marwood.


To mark the Millennium, Dr Smart's nephew, the current owner of the garden, had a statue of Dr Smart made and this now stands overlooking the lakes and bog garden.


A new waterfall was created about 4 years ago. There is a new area being developed for new summer grasses and a camellia walk. The garden is continually being developed through self finance.


The garden is open all year round and has something special to see in every season.It has 3½ employees and 20 volunteers. They have just held two successful Sunday Snowdrop & Hellebore weekends.


For more information about the garden visit their website - there is a link to it in our Recommended Websites section.

The man from Marwood

Malcolm Pharoah from Marwood Hill Gardens visits tomorrow evening to give his illustrated talk on Camillias and a background to the gardens at Marwood.

Come along to the Memorial Hall at 7.30pm if you are interested. Guests welcome at a nominal charge of £1 or why not join the club for an annual fee of £3.

Report of the Annual General Meeting

The Chairman, Tim Nichols, reported on a successful 2008 programme for the Garden Club. When reviewing the year he said that it had been a difficult year with a number of members being ill and absence and wished them well in 2009. He then gave a brief preview into the programme for 2009 before thanking members and the committee for their continued support.

Reports from the Treasurer, Show Secretary and the Tours sub-committee were all well received.

All the officers and committee were re-appointed and two new committee members were elected: Margaret & Jim Grose join the team in 2009.

The evening ended with a digital slide show of the Club's Mid Devon Show exhibit and five garden visits from 2008.

4 days to the AGM

Yes, the paperwork is now all in place from the Secretary's point of view! The programmes have been printed and collated. The membership cards printed and laminated.

There are some exciting new and returning speakers for the evening talks. New and returning yet exciting venues for the garden visits. Find out more at the AGM on Tuesday evening at The Memorial Hall at 7.30pm

See you there!

Don't forget the AGM

Which is on Tuesday 27th January. If you can't make it to the meeting please send your subscription of £3 with a correctly stamped addressed envelope to the Chairman - contact us for the address. The 2009 programme and membership card will then posted to you after the AGM.

Christmas Luncheon

A visit to St Johns Nursery Barnstaple for Coffee preceded the Christmas Luncheon held at The Imperial Hotel, Barnstaple.

After the meal we moved into the lounge for a festive prize draw and social chat:

Christmas Social Evening

The Christmas Social & Prize giving evening was a great success at The New Hall.

The evening started with the tradional Quiz to guess who was who of the committee's baby photos was won by Peter Billing and caused great discussion and amusement.

The Best Decorated Parcel Competition was well supported and won by Mrs Pat Cyprus.

A box full of gifts were delivered to Age Concern, Tiverton the next day.

Runners up made by Rachael Hart & Emma Nichols

The Prize winners were given their cups and trophies by our President, Lady Amory.

After a scrumpious supper provided by Mrs Barbara Chamberlain, the entertainment was supplied by local barber shop quartet Inachord.

Here are some photos of members enjoying the proceedings.