With trepidation, we took the decision to carry on with the meeting scheduled for February 12th, in spite of fears regarding flooding at Le Café Pluche and worries about low attendance.
​
Since then, we have seen less rain and some sunshine and I, for one, have been enjoying the opportunity to get out into the garden to start some much-needed work.
Fingers crossed that the current, drier weather continues for a while and allows us all to engage in some happy gardening.
Ian
I’m so glad we did!
We were heartened by a turnout of over 30 members for my presentation on ‘Winter Jewels: Plants That Shine When Days Are Grey’.
In addition to many photos in my PowerPoint, I had brought a selection of flowers, stems and leaves for display that were currently shining in our garden and one or two other members brought along some bits and pieces to add to the table.
Thank you, Mel, for your generous gift of free seeds!
I talked about the joy of some of the plants which offered winter colour, including snowdrops, hellebores, crocus, cyclamen, clematis, winter heathers, narcissus and various shrubs and and offered some advice on good cultivars to try as well as hints on growing them successfully.
A hot drink before my talk and lunch afterwards were especially enjoyed by those members who were suffering from power cuts at home and I have subsequently thought how lucky we were, given that the ‘Buro’ of Le Café Pluche were obliged to cancel the Saturday event because of flooding fears and a power cut.
To open the Winter Flowering
Plants list click this .pdf
What a superb way to begin IGC activities for 2026 and I am so sorry that several of you were ill and therefore unable to attend the wonderful lunch which we enjoyed at L’Ogrillon in Douchapt on the 8th January.
The food was delicious, the service excellent and the ambiance superb. Many thanks to brother and sister owners, Julien and Héléna, who were welcoming, obliging and flexible during the course of the lunch. Héléna told me that ours was the most organised group they’d ever had there, and they very much appreciated it.
NEXT MEETING FEBRUARY 12
Return to Le Café Pluche, when I hope to introduce you to several garden-worthy plants, some of which might be old friends, which could brighten your winter months.
MARCH 12 – AGM AT CAFÉ PLUCHE
March brings our AGM, when we will review 2025, make an assessment of our financial situation, elect or re-elect our officers and look forward to what we have planned for this year.
I do hope that as many of you as possible will try to attend, to support your committee which works very hard for the benefit of all members.
After the considerable frosts (we recorded -10° here on one overnight occasion!), although at this time of year the rain isn’t especially welcome, it’s good to worry less about whether semi-tender things are likely to survive or not.
Between showers and during the odd sunny interval, it’s also possible to get outside to do a bit of tidying up or potting, since the ground is no longer as solid as rock. As in many of your gardens, we have some hellebores and the odd snowdrop showing flowers, heralding what, for me, is the most exciting time of year – spring. The plant photos attached to this newsletter were taken by me on the day of writing it and some of them show the delight of variegation in winter.
FACEBOOK AND WEBSITE
Do keep posting photos on Facebook of your plants and seedlings as they appear and do visit the website, which Jacquie keeps up-to-date.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our February meeting and, until then, happy gardening, Ian