The Garden Gang

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On Wednesday, 11th December the Garden Gang gathered in the upstairs room at Fairfull’s Café for our second ‘proper’ meeting.

If any of this has whetted your appetite for visiting a garden or two, then get in touch and give us a go.And the good news is that I have been in touch with them, and we will be given an introduction to the gardens by Dougal Philip, the original founder of the business!

First is news about two Easter TV programmes that you could tune into. On Friday, which is of course Good Friday, at 1.40pm on BBC 1 you can watch 'Alexander Armstrong's Heavenly Gardens'. This is the first of two programmes over which Armstrong will visit six gardens of reflection and contemplation. The first three can be seen in this show - Sudeley Castle, Pluscarden Abbey and Cambridge University. And on Easter Sunday the second programme will air at 1.50pm and will feature, among others, the garden of the Bishop's Palace at Wells in Somerset. Online, I have been alerted by Kathy to the virtual tours of Kew Gardens. If we can't physically go and wander around a beautiful garden, we can at least do it virtually. At the age of 9 years, Jayne was the youngest author to ever write for Ladybird Books. [2] [3] Her writing and illustrating has been an inspiration to others. [4] [5] Books [ edit ] The introduction of Capability Brown’s rural idyll style occurred in the mid-18th century, leading to vast re-landscaping schemes – local examples being at the Inch in Renfrew and Castle Semple in Lochwinnoch. Castle Semple also boasted a fine walled garden where gardeners manipulated the climate by growing fruit trees along differently facing walls according to their individual needs – south-facing for apricots or north-facing for cherries for example.

I thought the art looked like it was drawn by a child, and it turns out that it was -- the Garden Gang series was both written and illustrated by a nine year old. I didn't really enjoy them, as the author/illustrator wasn't *my* nine year old. Our January indoor meeting was spent in the company of Douglas whose illustrated talk took us through the history of gardens in Scotland from the earliest evidence, through to about 1800. He began by making the point that gardens are fashionable constructions and that they change. But just as some people continue to wear the clothes that they had been comfortable in the young days, so some gardens were so liked by their owners that they didn’t update them. Garden Gang Leader ] Valerie Reilly, Group Leader for the Garden Gang group, explains what is involved in membership of the Garden Gang group.(Approx 2:18 mins} The idea for the group came about through some of the outings undertaken by the Paisley u3a as a whole, where conducted visits around gardens – such as those at Cambo and Dumfries House – were much enjoyed by those taking part.