SEPTEMBER
24 September
Burgess Hill Horticultural Society presents An Evening with Pippa Greenwood. Illustrated talk followed by a question and answer session. Tickets £10 (01444 242888; placesforpeopleleisure.org/centres/martlets-hall). 7.30pm-10pm. The Martlets Hall, Civic Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9NN
24 September
Flower Show 45th Anniversary - ‘Jewel in the Crown’. Exhibits, Refreshments and Raffle. Free admission & parking (01252 612746; fleetflowerclub.co.uk). 11am-4pm, Crookham War Memorial Hall, Sandy Lane, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hampshire GU52 8LD
24 September
Bournemouth Orchid Fair and Show, exquisite and intriguing orchids on display. Free advice and orchid clinic, potting demonstrations. Plants for sale, repotting service from £1. Refreshments. Entry £3, children free (07712 479056; bournemouthorchidsociety.co.uk). 12 noon-4pm, Allendale Community Centre, Hanham Rd, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 1AS
24 September
The Hardy Plant Society’s Somerset Group Autumn Plant Fair at Forde Abbey. Specialist nurseries, unusual plants, rural crafts. Tearoom. Visit the Abbey’s own nursery and colourful gardens. Entry £5 (incl. __garden entry), under-15s free (01460 220231; somersethps.com). 10am-4pm, Forde Abbey, Chard, Somerset TA20 4LU
24&25 September
Plant Fair in beautiful 18th century walled garden. Plant nurseries from across East Anglia; stalls for pots, compost and labels, craft and artisan hand-crafted accessories. ‘Gardening Masterclass’ talks on ‘Plant Propagation’, ‘Latin Labels’ and flower arranging demonstration. Fair tickets £2.50 adults, £1 under-16s (holkhamwalledgarden.co.uk). 10am-5pm, Holkham Estate, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk NR23 1AB
25 September
The Hops Festival celebrates the harvest of the hops grown on site at Ventnor Botanic __garden as well as the tradition of picking them by hand. Live music all day and evening with sizzling barbecue and real ales. Free entry, with £5 donation (01983 855397; botanic.co.uk). 11am-11pm, Ventnor Botanic Garden, Undercliff Drive, Ventnor, Isle of Wight PO38 1UL
Until 25 September
Be inspired the Surrey Sculpture Society Trail, at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. It features more than 60 inspirational sculptures ranging in style from contemporary to traditional designs by some of South East’s finest artists (rhs.org.uk/wisley).
28 September
Workshop: Starting with Fruit and Veg - with Tony Chalcraft. For beginners who want to learn how to prepare their garden for fruit and vegetable growing in 2017. Learn how to design and plan, improve the soil and build fertility, easy crops to grow. Tickets £30 incl coffee & biscuits, garden visit (01904 728506; stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk). 10am-12.30pm, Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens, Stewart Lane, Stillingfleet, Yorkshire YO19 6HP
Until 29 September
Bat walks: spend an evening with rangers at Polesden Lacey to listen out for bats swooping across the sky. Families can get up close and personal with the creatures if one of the bats fly into a moth “trap”. Adults £8, children £4, 8-10pm, Surrey (nationaltrust.org.uk; 01372 452048).
30 September
Trustees’ Charity Ball: special guest speaker, Botanist and broadcaster James Wong. Tickets £75pp, £750 per table (0121 454 1860; birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk). 7:15pm-1am, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3TR
October
1 October
Public auction of several thousand rare and unusual woody plants; sizes 2-50lt; young plants in 9cm pots. Japanese maples, rare oaks, unusual sorbus, flowering dogwoods, cercis, liquidambars, berberis, viburnums, hydrangeas, sarcococas, hollies, ferns. Large quantity of Cyclamen coum, C. hederifolium and Rhodohypoxis. Viewing 30 Sept, 10am-5pm and morning of sale (chris-pattison.co.uk). Chris Pattison Nurseries, Brookend, Pendock, Gloucestershire GL19 3PL
1 October
Somerset Plant Heritage Autumn Day with Guest Speaker Timothy Walker, former Curator of Oxford Botanic Garden. Talk on Euphorbias, workshop on Plant Botanics – practical investigations with humour. Bring and share lunch. Guests £6 (nccpg.com). Edington Village Hall, Broadway, Bridgwater, Somerset TA7 9HA
1&2 October
Apple Affair, West Dean Gardens, garden tours with Sarah Wain, talks on heritage varieties, cider making demonstrations, bring apples for ID, approx 30 stalls and cooking demonstration with chef Jean Christophe Novelli. Entry £12.50 adult, £1 children (01243 818283; westdean.org.uk). 10.30am-5pm, West Dean Gardens, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0QZ
3 October
Capability Brown’s Unfinished Garden. Bunny Guinness uses plans and the latest technology to understand what Capability Brown’s own garden in Fenstanton might have looked like, had he lived to complete it. 9pm, BBC Four.
2 October
London Greenwich Park Harvest Festival; talks on bees; candle making and honey tasting. Pond dipping for children led by experts from the Field Studies Council; orchard themed arts and crafts stall (0300 061 2380; royalparks.gsi.gov.uk). 11am-4pm, The Queen’s Orchard, Greenwich SE10 8QY
1-16 October
Exhibition of botanical watercolours by Leicestershire Society of Botanical Illustrators: 'A Medieval Cornucopia’ in Great Hall and entrance hall of Burghley House. Free entry to exhibition (lsbi.org.uk). 11am-5pm, Sat-Thurs, Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 3JY
1-16 October
Cornwall Heligan Harvest Celebration 2016. Try some rare heritage produce at daily harvest taster sessions; feast nights on 8 & 15 Oct with live music and 3-course meal by The Idle Rock’s Guy Owen and Heligan Kitchen. Must book (01752 845100; heligan.com). The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Pentewan, St. Austell, Cornwall, PL26 6EN
6 October
Ornamental Grass masterclass with Neil Lucas. All you need to know about grasses and how to use them in a garden, maintenance tips. Tickets £35 (01202 873931; knollgardens.co.uk). 2pm-4.30pm, Knoll Gardens, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7ND
8&9 October
Autumn Extravaganza; local food producers, craftspeople, independent nurseries; cobnut and cobnut products, Kent apple juice; bespoke hand-crafted metalwork. Entry £8 adults, children £3, under 5s free (01732 885094; greatcompgarden.co.uk). 11am-5pm, Great Comp Garden, Comp Lane, Platt, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 8QS
8&9 October
Autumn open weekend at The Place for Plants, talks, tours, displays and activities. Garden open for NGS, Sunday, 1-5pm. Free events, see website (placeforplants.co.uk). 10am-5pm, East Bergholt, Suffolk CO7 6UP
9 October
Autumn Food & Country Fair, dog show, rare breed cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, food, drink and shopping, Shire horses, baking competition. Entry adult £8, concs £6, child (5-16) £4 (01733 363500; autumnfoodandcountryfair.co.uk). 8am, East of England Showground, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE2 6XE
11 October
The Cornwall Garden Society presents a lecture by RHS Executive Vice-President, Jim Gardiner: In the footsteps of Wilson, Forrest and Rock in South West China. CGS members free. Non-members warmly welcomed; donations gratefully received (07743 164434; cornwallgardensociety.org.uk). 7.30pm-9.30pm, Alverton Hotel, Tregolls Road, Truro TR1 1ZQ
22-30 October
Halloween Half Term at Forde Abbey. A spine tingling week of Halloween fun in the grounds of this 900 year old Abbey. Haunted trail, pumpkin rolling and lots of hands-on Halloween craft. Entry £10 adults, under 15s free (01460 220231; fordeabbey.co.uk). 10am-4pm, Forde Abbey, Chard, Somerset TA20 4LU
