April 2021 News

Hi Everyone,

What a mix of weather we have been having! The garden has really benefitted from the warmer, sunny days, and then we got hit with a cold snap. I can see some signs of damage to new growth, but hopefully everything will be able to recover. We shall have to wait and see whether there are any cherries – but the blossom has been fabulous!

an April posy amid the Banksia rose

I look forward to seeing what is flourishing in your gardens this month, as you share your photos for our Calendar Competition. We have some super entries so far.

Don’t be worried about having special equipment, you can take a perfectly good photo with your phone, like this, which will be of sufficient quality for printing, as long as you share it full size.

I have had a sneak preview of the prizes, and they are fabulous! So get snapping, and start sharing.

Our next meeting

is on Tuesday 13th April at 2pm. This will be our AGM, which was deferred from it’s usual slot in February. Due to the ongoing restrictions, we will be holding this by Zoom. Do please make every effort to join us, this is an important occasion for the club, especially this year, when the members of the Admin Group get elected for the next 2 years. You should all have received an Invitation, along with all the supporting documents, in a recent email from our Secretary, Edwina. Do please read them. The info is also available here, apart from the Finance Report (I will see if I can add this). We will be able to take your anonymous votes online during the meeting. The meeting info is Meeting ID: 827 2649 9311 and Passcode: 82110 or just follow this link: Join Zoom Meeting. If you need any help with getting Zoom working, or would like to try it out beforehand, just let me know, I will be happy to help.

I will be reviewing all the interesting things we have managed to achieve last year, despite the health crisis, and looking forward to the year ahead. Please come with your Questions – about the Club, or about gardening, and your ideas for what things you would like us to do together.

Normally, you would be renewing your membership at the AGM, but you don’t need to see us in person to do that, we have made it as easy as possible by creating an online form for you to fill in, and you can either pay by sending a cheque to our Treasurer, or using the details in the AGM invitation to set up a ‘virement’ using online banking. Please do keep your connection with us, and help to keep the club active, by supporting us with your 10€ subscription.

Recent Meetings

In February, Julia and I shared with you about “How to Plant for Flowers in Succession“. We had some super feedback on this and we hope you found it informative and inspiring. The first parts of the presentation have been made available in the Members Only area of our website (the password is the initials of our club, in lowercase, followed by the Lauzerte postcode). Or you can view or download the whole Powerpoint presentation from Dropbox.

In March, Julia demonstrated the techniques of Seed Sowing, to help you all get started with growing your own veggies and flowers. Following on from this a few members were able to visit Fiona’s polytunnel for a practical session on Pricking Out. These sessions are something we will repeat in future, when we can have a hands-on workshop for everyone.

Upcoming activities

We were looking forward to the opportunity of seeing some of you at the Place aux Fleurs in Lauzerte on Sunday 18th April.

The event is still going ahead, but sadly, only the commercial growers are permitted to participate in the open-air market. So we will not have a stand this year.

Those that live within 10km of Lauzerte will be able to enjoy visiting and buying plants, shrubs and trees.

It will take place as usual at Place des Cornières, from 9h to 18h.

On Saturday 5th June, as part of the weekend of activities Rendez-vous aux Jardins, in Lauzerte, the club will be holding a Vide Jardin from 9h to 13h.

This will take place opposite our usual meeting room the Salle de l’Éveillé, next to the War Memorial in Lauzerte.

Do you have (or perhaps someone you know has) some spare gardening tools or equipment? Some garden decorations? Can you divide some plants, take cuttings, or raise some extra ones from seed? Please think ahead and start putting things aside for us, for this event, and let us know what you will be able to donate.

All the funds raised will be for the benefit of the club – we would like to organise an outing, once such things become possible again.

Please put Sat 5th June in your diary, we will want volunteers to help us on the day, and of course, we will want to see you!

Future Meetings

It will be lovely if we are able to visit Liz Mitchell’s garden on Tuesday May 11th, but we may need to delay this depending on the restrictions in force at that time.

With the vaccination programme accelerating, I am sure that many of us will feel more confident about meeting up as the year progresses, whilst of course continuing with appropriate measures such as masks and hand sanitising. Perhaps some smaller gatherings in each other’s gardens will be possible.

Open Gardens

Some of the Open Gardens scheme gardens, including Sue Sargeant’s, are opening to smaller groups on a regular basis, rather than on a single day. If you are within 10km of a garden, you will still be able to enjoy a visit, but pre-booking is generally required. For more information please go to the Open Gardens site – this link will take you directly to Sue’s page, with dates. Her gardens will be open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but other dates can be accommodated by request. Please email Sue to book.

Publicity and Social Media

Are you a reader of The Connexion? Look out for the article about the club on the Community pages in the April edition! We are also now in their Community Directory (under Environmental/Nature/Green), as well as in The Buzz directory.

We have produced new A5 flyers, to bring all our information up to date, so we will be looking for places to put these, where potential members may see them, so if you have a local noticeboard or a venue where you think they would be appropriate, please let us know.

Are you a user of Instagram? We welcome additions using the hashtag #cjl_82 – here is a snapshot of our recent info and you can click on it to visit our page.

Stay safe, and enjoy your garden!

Belinda xx