Future events
Here you can see all the events that we’re organising, including Friends lectures, the schedule for our public tours of the Gardens, and any planned plant sales. You can find more details on the lecture programme and on our tours schedule.
For information on public courses and workshops, visit the official website for the Gardens.
Type of Event
Fran Halsall ‘The Edible Herbal Wildlife Garden’ live lecture
Fran will look at 30+ trees and plants that are easy to grow in UK gardens and provide details about their traditional and contemporary uses and their wildlife benefit.
Isobel Denton ‘Growing for Dyeing’ live lecture
Textile practitioner Isobel Denton will share details of plants that can be grown for their natural dyeing properties and provide advice on planting and growing a dye garden.
Dr Michael Klemperer ‘The History and Restoration of the Victorian Gardens at Brodsworth Hall’ live lecture
Dr Klemperer will focus on the gradual restoration of certain key elements within the Brodsworth site, making it one of the most unique Victorian Gardens in the country and the challenges of undertaking accurate restoration and interpretation as fashions change in horticulture .
Geoff Hodge ‘Happy Healthy Houseplants’ live lecture
Houseplants are a great way of bringing joy to you and colour to your home; they help lift the spirits – as well as helping to create a healthier environment, but they don’t always live up to our expectations. Garden writer Geoff Hodge will provide hints and tips to keep your plants in very good health.
Rob King ‘My Sheffield Garden’ live lecture
Rob King will share how he has not only created a beautiful garden for adults, but for children to enjoy too! He will speak about his gardening influences, how he created this garden from scratch on a shoestring budget, and how he manages to have colour all year round.
Natasha Johnson ‘Managing a Heritage Garden- Gunby Hall Estate and Gardens, National Trust and other Horticultural Tales’ live lecture
Senior Gardener Natasha will describe how her team keep, maintain and manage eight acres of garden at National Trust, Gunby Estate, Hall and Gardens in Lincolnshire.
Ollie Pike ‘Creating the Psalm 27 Garden And other stories’ live lecture At Sheffield General Cemetery
Sheffield landscape architect Ollie Pike will describe the inspiration for and implementation of the Bible Society’s Psalm 27 garden at Tatton Park, its relocation to Sheffield General Cemetery and some future plans and projects
Doug Kemp ‘From Grass Field to Organic Farm in 5 Years’ live lecture
Doug Kemp, Farm Manager of Regather organic farm and community benefit society, describes his journey from desk job in London to organic farming cooperative on the outskirts of Sheffield. (THIS LECTURE REPLACES THE ADVERTISED TALK BY SHEFFIELD FRUIT TREES)
Richard Brown ‘ThE Therapeutic Benefits of Horticulture and the Quest for the Hero of Lockinge Melon’ live leCture
In this talk Richard Brown aims to explain why horticulture is good for our physical and mental health and takes us on his own therapeutic gardening journey, to find the lost Victorian melon, the ‘Hero of Lockinge’.
Alison Hunter ‘ A Gardens Trip Down Memory Lane’ live lecture
Using previously unseen slides from a private collection, FOBS Gardens historian Alison Hunter will examine the more recent history of the Gardens, including the National Heritage Lottery funded restoration project and the role of the various partners who are responsible for the ongoing development and maintenance of the Gardens.
Claire Margetts ‘My Time as the National Trust’s first ever Sissinghurst scholar’ online lecture
National Trust scholar, Claire Margetts describes what she has done and what she has learned in her 18 month scholarship at Sissinghurst Castle Gardens in Kent and beyond.
Prof David Rankin ‘ The Yellow ‘Lampshade Poppy’ Meconopsis: botany and gardening’ live lecture
Not all Himalayan blue poppies are blue! By drawing on the wealth of information available, Professor Rankin will help us to understand the wonderful yellow Meconopsis - and to explain how relationships between different kinds emerge, and sometimes names have to change.
Catherine Howell ‘Seed Sovereignty - a Food Revolution Starts with Seed!’ online lecture
As northern region co-ordinator for the Gaia Foundation's Seed Sovereignty programme, Catherine Howell will examine the history and politics of seed production, the importance of diversity, and some simple 'next steps’.
Margaret Boulton ‘A History of Allotments in Sheffield’ live lecture
Author and keen allotmenteer Margaret Boulton describes and celebrates the history of allotments in Sheffield from the 18th century to the present day.
CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS Catherine Horwood ‘The Cutting Garden’ online lecture
CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS Author and biographer Catherine Horwood explores the origins of the cutting garden and reveals its fascinating links to a social history involving walled gardens, plant introductions, commercial floristry and flower arranging.
Wild, Wet and Windy - creating the garden at Kerrachar
Trish and Peter Kohn will give an updated talk on the establishing of their garden at Kerrachar in the far north-west of Scotland. This talk replaces the publicised ‘Cutting Garden’ talk due to illness.
Christmas mini market and Social
FOBS members, new and old are invited to join our Christmas festivities.
Film Screening at the Education Centre
Join us for a viewing of a gardening themed film at our informal movie morning
AGM with simon olpin ‘Creating a hardy ‘subtropical’ garden - plant history and present challenges’ live lecture
Following the business of the AGM, retired NHS consultant Simon Olpin will share the challenges of establishing a range of hardy ‘subtropical’ plants in his Sheffield back garden.
Rod Weston ‘Composting for Enthusiasts’ live lecture
Master Composter Rod Weston will look at different approaches to making compost and provide hints and tips on composting successfully.,
CANCELLED: Linda Heywood ‘Echium World: In the land of the Giants’ live lecture
We regret that due to illness, Linda is unable to deliver her talk and our meeting scheduled for Monday 9 October has been CANCELLED.
Pam Smith ‘Skills, stories, dilemmas and ambitions of caring for our National Trust Gardens’ live lecture
Pam will explain the work, conservation dilemmas and future ambitions of working with over 400 years of garden history, over 200 gardens and the largest plant collections in Europe.
Darren Myers ‘My Year in Sweet Peas’ Live Lecture
Award winning sweet pea grower Darren Myers will provide hints and tips on growing better Sweet Peas, whether it be for garden decoration, cut flower or exhibition.
New talk: Laura Alston and Jill Sinclair ‘Celebrating Marnock’ live lecture
Jill Sinclair and Laura Alston will explore the life and career of Scottish landscape gardener, horticulturalist and writer Robert Marnock (1800 - 1889) as well as some of the unusual and engaging events that have been happening around the country as part of this summer’s Marnock Celebrations.
Diane Clement ‘The narrow road to the deep north - travels in Japan’ live lecture
Diane Clement will share details of her trip to Japan and the flora she found there - some surprisingly familiar, others less so…..
Neil Timm ‘The World of Ferns’ live lecture
Fern expert Neil Timm will share his passion for ferns covering natural history, folklore, growing and more
Arcadia Landscapes ‘From Graze to Green: experiments in horticulture in a peri-urban paddock’ Live lecture
Doug Baker of Arcadia Landscape and Design will share details of the work they have done turning an empty, over grazed field into a productive and wildlife friendly space.
Haddon Hall Team ‘Haddon Hall’s Medieval Park’ live lecture
Colleagues from Haddon Hall will provide a historical perspective of the Medieval parkland, alongside an overview of the current regeneration project to return the parkland to its original, productive, beneficial state.
Celebrating Marnock Weekend
The middle weekend in June will see talks, walks, workshops, displays, exhibitions and even a Pocket Pollen market in the Gardens, all celebrating Robert Marnock (1800-1889), designer of the Gardens. See the Celebrating Marnock site for details of the weekend, and all the other Marnock activities taking place in Sheffield and elsewhere.
Michael Bate ‘Gardening the Weleda Way’ live lecture
Michael Bate will share his experience of growing over 200 plants for natural medicine and bodycare during his 30 year career as Garden Manager with Weleda (UK)
Hilary Hutson ‘The colours of the Garden’ Live lecture
Botanist Hilary Hutson looks at how we see colour, why colour is so important to plants and how we can use colour in our gardens for best effect.
Paula Dyason ‘The day of the DayLily’ live lecture
Day Lily national collection holder, Paula Dyason will introduce new varieties of daylillies (hemerocallis) in a huge array of forms, size and colours - from fiery hot to cool and serene.
Stephanie Hafferty ‘Why Dig when you can ‘no dig’?’ Online lecture
No Dig expert Stephanie Hafferty will cover how to set up a no dig garden in a home garden, allotments and smaller market gardens, looking at different methods and techniques.
Ann Treneman ‘Changing Careers - growing up (again) in your 60s’ Live Lecture
Ann Treneman reflects on the life lessons that she learned when she moved from being an award-winning journalist to a brand new career in horticulture
NEW TALK: Catherine Horwood ‘Beth Chatto - a life With plants’ online lecture
Catherine Horwood, official biographer of plantswoman Beth Chatto, provides an insight into this inspirational plantswoman and author.
CANCELLED - Harriet’s PLANTS ‘Sustainability with Houseplants’online lecture
We regret this talk has been CANCELLED - please see replacement ‘Beth Chatto - a life with plants’ online at 7.30pm Monday 13 March
Jonathan sheppard ‘from Parliament to plants’ live lecture
Political lobbiest Jonathan Sheppard describes his journey as an amateur into establishing two National Plant Collections, exhibiting at RHS Hampton Court, while all the while trying to grow in a sustainable way