meetings

The Next Meeting:

Our next meeting is on Monday 1st April, when Maren Talbot will be our guest speaker. Maren has visited us before and told us all about Pleiones, a lovely genus of small orchids from the Far East. This time her subject is a bit closer to home - the Native Orchids of the British Isles, some of which can be found in Bedfordshire.

Meetings are from 19:30 to 21:30, with the speaker beginning at 20:00. Entry is £2 for Group members, £3 for visitors and free for children and students; this fee includes refreshments.

Classes for the April monthly competition:

Class 1: One pan planted as a miniature garden or small trough (for small troughs, the longest external edge should not exceed 45cm)	Class 2: One pan Saxifragaceae
Class 3: One pan rock plant in flower exc Saxifragaceae	Class 4: One pan rock plant for foliage effect
Novice 1: One pan rock plant in flower	Novice 2: One pan rock plant for foliage effect
Artistic 1: One entry from the Art 1 (cut flower) section below	Artistic 2: One entry from the Art 2 section below

Art 1 (cut flowers) section

· Four to six cut flowers from the exhibitor's garden displayed in vases (supplied). Not limited to a single bloom of any one plant.

· An arrangement of cut flowers or foliage grown in the exhibitor's garden, including dwarf shrubs, to be judged for quality, delicacy and artistic arrangement. No accessories allowed.

Art 2 section

· One photo of alpine(s) in the wild or in cultivation (can be submitted in advance by e-mail to mail@bedfordshirealpines.com).

· One picture of alpine(s) in any medium.

· One piece of needlework depicting or inspired by alpines.

Monthly Meetings for the 2018 / 2019 Year:

Please note that the May meeting will be on the second Monday to avoid the Bank Holiday.

Date	Speaker	Talk
5th November 2018	Jon Evans	Blackthorn Nursery Part 1 (January - May)
3rd December 2018	Liz Livermore	Carl Linnaeus and Uppsala Botanical Gardens
4th February 2019	Simon Wallis	Growimg Alpines at Cambridge University Botanic Garden
4th March 2019	David Haselgrove	Western Australia
1st April 2019	Maren Talbot	Native Orchids of The British Isles
13th May 2019	Jim Almond	Fritillarias and Other Choice bulbs
3rd June 2019	Vic Aspland	Evia: Greece's Forgotten Island
1st July 2019	Razvan Chisu	Romanian Alpine Plants
5th August 2019	Members Evening
2nd September 2019	Paul Cumbleton	Alpines of the Wasatch & Ruby Mountains, USA
7th October 2019	AGM