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About our meetings
Past meetings
See Past, present and future meetings for brief details of all past meetings.
Future meetings
Autumn 2026 meeting
The Autumn 2026 meeting will be on Sunday 25th October 2026 at Heath End Village Hall, Heath End Road, Baughurst (near Tadley, between Basingstoke and Reading) RG26 5LU https://www.heathendvillagehall.co.uk/
In the morning, Jonny Hartnell will talk on “An overview of the Nerine genus including cultivation and propagation”.
Jonny has always had a real passion for plants and this really took off following retirement from a fascinating career in the nuclear industry. A relocation back to Somerset (close to where he originally grew up) has given him the space and time to really expand his horticultural interests. He grows a huge range of plants in various greenhouses, polytunnels, indoors and in the garden. The range includes South African bulbs (he has previously been chairman of the Nerine and Amaryllid Society and continues to be heavily involved as treasurer and organising the bi-annual bulb and seed exchange), orchids (including both hardy and tropical, showing at Devon Orchid Society shows), woodland plants including snowdrops, tree ferns, as well as trying to be self sufficient in fruit and vegetables. He gives a range of talks to garden clubs on his interests including his travels to various parts of the world visiting botanic gardens and nature reserves.
In the afternoon, in addition to any other short talks which are offered or discussions which happen, our new Treasurer Mark Wessels will give a talk on “The life and plants of the Hutton’s – 19th century Cape Colony plant collectors”.
Mark’s interest in South African plants was initiated following a holiday to the Western Cape a number of years ago. Since that time, he has taken a special interest in geophytes from the region and enjoys the challenges of growing Gladiolus and Moraea species, and has just started collecting Nerine species. Although most of the collection of bulbs are winter growing, he is interested in growing summer flowering species for garden planting. Mark also has a small collection of pelargoniums and ‘mesembs’. Having moved to North Yorkshire from Norfolk the change in weather/climate has meant new ideas and practices have had to be adopted to ensure success with the South African plants. He has an interest in plant collectors and exploration along with botanical illustration although he is a ‘hopeless’ painter! [Mark’s words, not mine!]
Further details will be posted here in due course, including Directions to the meeting hall.
The provisional timetable is: The doors will open at 10.00, and the meeting will close at about 15.00. SABG and NAAS members, their guests and visitors are welcome. There will be a small admission charge. Parking is free.
As in previous meetings, there will be a display table for any plants that you bring along for others to see. We will have time for some informal discussion during the afternoon, so that members can point out their plants and answer any questions. If you have any slides or computer images that you would like to show, please bring them along.
All who are interested in growing these plants will be welcome. Doors open at 10:00 a.m. and the meeting will finish at approximately 2:30 p.m. There is an entry fee of £3.00, but parking is free. There will as usual be a plant display table, plant sales (a good reason to arrive soon after 10:00!), and tea and coffee with biscuits. There will also be some books for sale. You are encouraged to bring along any plants you wish to display or sell, or digital photos to share with the audience. Bring your own lunch, or pop into Sainsbury’s next door for a sandwich.
The timetable we plan is as follows:
| 10am | Doors open for Plant Sales. Tea/coffee available |
| 11am – 12.00 | Jonny Hartnell on “An overview of the Nerine genus including cultivation and propagation” |
| 12.00 - 1 pm | Lunch |
| 1pm - 2pm | Mark Wessels on “The life and plants of the Hutton’s – 19th century Cape Colony plant collectors |
| 2pm – 3pm (approx.) | Any other short talks and discussion |
More details of our meetings are given on the meetings page.
Directions to the meeting hall
Our next meeting on Sunday 25th October is at Heath End Village Hall, Heath End Road, Baughurst (near Tadley, between Basingstoke and Reading) RG26 5LU https://www.heathendvillagehall.co.uk/
Heath End Village Hall, Baughurst
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available. Bring your own lunch, or buy something at Tesco just down the road.
Badger Farm Community Centre, Winchester
Directions for meetings at Badger Farm Community Centre, Winchester, Hampshire SO22 4QB (U.K.)
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available. Bring your own lunch, or buy something at Sainsbury’s next door.
In addition to the next SABG meeting described above, the following events are planned:
(to be updated)
- 19th October 2025: The Autumn 2025 SABG meeting, details to follow.
Doors open at 10.00, with our invited speaker normally taking the stage at 11.00. The meeting will close at about 14:30.
There is a charge for attending the meeting of £3.00 (GBP) for each person, payable at the door, which covers the cost of hiring the hall. You do not have to be a member to attend the meeting, but if you join, you can receive our newsletters and take part in our on-line forum (coming soon).
The date of the Autumn 2026 meeting is shown on the SABG home page, and also on our list of Past, present and future meetings.
The display table at our Spring meeting in March 2014, showing a number of Lachenalia species and other plants [Click on the image for a larger version, which might let you read the labels, especially if you click again to enlarge the resulting image further]
Richard White, 23 March 2014
There will be a display table for any plants that you wish to bring along to show to other members. There will also be a sales table where you can offer material for sale on an 80:20 Member to Group basis (in other words the Group takes a 20% commission in return for providing this facility). Please include a second label in the pots, showing your initials and the price so that we can settle up easily at the end of the day.
We usually have an informal discussion period during the afternoon, so that Members can show their plants and answer any questions other might have. If any of you have slides or digital photos of plants that you would like to show, please bring them along (with a slide projector if you bring 35mm slides; we normally have a lap-top computer, digital projector and screen).
There will be a lunch break from approximately 12:00 until 13:00. Many members bring their own food so that they can have the opportunity to chat to others over lunch. Alternatively, the Sainsbury’s supermarket is based on the same site (you can even fill up with petrol before driving home!)
NOTE: As our meetings are usually quite close to the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, they occasionally occur on the day the clocks go forward or back an hour, which could possibly cause people to arrive an hour late or early. In many European countries including the UK, and elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, the clocks go forward 1 hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back 1 hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October. See the official information.
[Copyright © 2026 by the Southern African Bulb Group and Richard White.]
meetings/start.txt · Last modified: by Richard White
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