Our next online lecture is on Tuesday 5th October at 10.30. Join Gail & John Summerfield of Westshores Nursery in Lincolnshire, who will explain how versatile and adaptable bulbs can be. They’ll be able to suggest bulbs for every month of the year.

Many thanks to Trisha, expert propagator and Friend of the Gardens, for stepping in at short notice and providing a lively and informative talk on the history and origin of many garden plants.

The planned lecture by Advolly Richmond on Tuesday 21 September has been postponed. So instead we are pleased to welcome Trisha Kohn to our lecture programme. Trisha will give an introduction to the origins of some of our garden plants.

We’re currently (September 2021) looking for a new Chair for the Friends, to work with an experienced and supportive Executive Committee.

We’re running two events this year for Heritage Open Days, both linked with our partner site at Sheffield General Cemetery.

Thanks to young horticulturalist James Miller for his talk on establishing a new Astilbe collection at the RHS garden at Wisley. A copy of the recording is now available to watch on the password-protected Friends Area of the website.

Our next online lecture is by horticulturalist James Miller on Tuesday 7th September at 10.30am. He’ll tell us about the creation of a new Astilbe National Collection at RHS Wisley garden.

In a recent survey, the Botanical Gardens were ranked the fifth most popular garden in the UK, based on internet searches. Parks and gardens have of course proved enormously popular during the pandemic, and the Gardens have been a refuge and haven for many of us.

We’ll be at this weekend’s Art in The Gardens (4th & 5th September). Come and say hello at stall G25, where Friends will be on hand with information plus books, bags, mugs and more available to buy.

Join us for what may be our last pop-up plant sale of the year, this Saturday (28th August) from 2pm to 4pm. It will take place at 47 Slayleigh Lane, Fulwood S10 3RG. We’ll have a range of unusual garden plants, most in 2-litre pots. Payment by cash or card. Advice will be on hand about siting and cultivation.

Join us on Tuesday 24th August at 1pm for a public guided tour of the Gardens. Meet at the Main Gatehouse on Clarkehouse Road at 12.50. There’s no need to book. You can just turn up. All tours include a range of sites in the Gardens with a special monthly focus. For August we’ll be exploring the new South Africa garden in Osborn’s Field.

Thanks to Dr Ken Thompson for a thought-provoking and highly entertaining lecture on the myths and emotions behind our classification of plants and animals as ‘native’ or ‘alien.’ A recording of the lecture is now available to view on the password-protected Friends Area of the website.

Our next online lecture is by Dr Ken Thompson on Tuesday 17th August. In a talk entitled Where do Camels Belong? Ken will discuss a number of questions: Where do plants and animals belong? And is that the same thing as where they’re native? What does ‘native’ mean anyway? Does it have any kind of time limit? Should it? And what should be our attitude to natives and aliens?

We’re delighted to have a small number of the Florilegium Society’s new book available for purchase in our online shop. Called A Florilegium: Sheffield’s Hidden Garden, the book celebrates some of the plants at the Botanical Gardens in beautiful illustrations by members of the Society, alongside informative plant profiles.

Thanks to the 260 people from around 25 countries who signed up for our Urban Planting symposium. Tickets sales have realised over £6,300 towards the restoration of the James Hitchmough prairie at the Gardens. The event was very well received and, in response to several requests, we are now offering access to the recording of the four talks for a limited period.