Join us this evening (10th April) for a Zoom talk on the merits of the ‘No Dig’ approach to gardening. 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.

Thanks to our new Events Co-ordinator Lorraine for organising a splendid trip and guided tour of the gardens at Brodsworth Hall. Twenty-four Friends turned up for a lovely day in the sunshine.

Join us on Tuesday 28th March for a pair of events in the Gardens - a fabulous session with former Times theatre critic turned garden designer Ann Treneman in the morning, followed by a lunchtime tour of our magnificent magnolias and Spring bulbs.

The recording of Catherine Horwood’s excellent lecture on Beth Chatto is now available to view in the password-protected Friends Area. It will be available for ONE WEEK, until 21 March.

Our planned speaker for next Monday (13 March), from Harriet’s House Plants, has had to cancel. But instead we have a treat of a Zoom talk on Beth Chatto by her biographer Catherine Horwood.

Thanks to political lobbyist Jonathan Sheppard for a highly entertaining talk on his national plant collections, appearance on Gardeners’ World and other experiences as an amateur grower. A recording is available to hear in our password-protected Friends Area.

Our Education and Engagement Programme for the Gardens is now in full swing! Coming up next month is the start of a splendid set of workshops on practical horticulture and floristry, run by Bloom Sheffield.

Thanks to Gwendolyn van Paasschen for a fascinating talk on the history and restoration of the garden at Denmans in Sussex. A recording of the talk is now available for Friends in the password-protected Friends Area of the website.

We’re delighted to be starting up our Day Trips for Friends again, after the hiatus caused by the pandemic. We have four trips planned for this year; two are self-drive and two will be by coach. Details are on the back page of the latest News Shoots, or you can find information in our Events Calendar.

We’ve just published the latest version of our regular newsletter. It contains news and views of the Gardens, our plant of the month for February, news of four day-trips being offered to Friends, the chance for volunteers to sign up for some free training, and much else.

We’re planning a summer celebration of Scottish designer and horticulturalist Robert Marnock, the designer of the Botanical Gardens and our first curator. Events will take place throughout June this year and will be a mixture of online displays (focused around Marnock's Floricultural Magazine) and in-person activities in the Gardens and elsewhere - talks, walks, exhibitions, plant sales, art sessions, plays, volunteer training, kids’ activities and more.   

We welcome photos of the Gardens from Friends, to include on our What’s Looking Good page. Views or pictures of individual plants allow us to celebrate aspects of the Gardens over the seasons and to point visitors to particular places to visit.

Join us this Tuesday (24 January) for our first live lecture of 2023. We’ll be joined by two local Master Beekeepers, who will share their experience of keeping bees and the importance of providing bee-friendly plants for forage.

We’re looking forward to the arrival of a local company, who are taking over the curator’s café in the Gardens. They have the keys and are currently refurbishing the café and toilets with the aim of opening in the Spring.

Come and say hello at the Sheffield Heritage Fair over the last weekend in January. We’ll be one of more than 40 heritage groups offering information and merchandise - including some of our Christmas cards at half-price!