Speakers 2026-2027
Oregon or Bust: New Plants from the Pacific Northwest
Tuesday 6th October, 2026
7.30pm
Sean Hogan - Horticulturist, Plant Hunter and Co-founder of Cistus Design Nursery
Sean is an avid plant hunter and collector. His passion has been for the native plants of western North America.
His design work has included planning for both public spaces and private gardens.
The Cistus Nursery is known world wide for its collection of rare plants, and most notably its concentration on introducing climate-adapted species.
He has published a wide variety of horticultural and botanical literature.
Sean will talk to us about the introduction of new, appropriate and unusual plants to western North America.
A Life in Gardens
Thursday 26th November, 2026
7.30pm
Tom Stuart-Smith - Garden Designer and Landscape Architect
Tom established his design studio in 1998. The studio's work includes private gardens, large gardens and parks open to the public, as well as his twelve gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Of these, ten won gold medals.
Tom will reflect on his career to date, from his early experiences of gardening to the creation of some of his best known sites. He will also discuss his current work and the projects he is developing closer to home, including the Serge Hill Project.
Creating Beautiful Borders
Monday 14th December, 2026
7.30pm
Laura Willgoss - Co-Owner of Wildegoose Nursery
Jack and Laura Willgoss established their nursery in 2011.
Initially specialising in hardy and perennial violas it was soon expanded to offer a wide range of different grasses and herbaceous perennials.
Having moved in 2013 the couple have been busy growing more beautiful and interesting plants as well as developing the walled garden (which is open to the public).
Laura will be talking about the principles of good border design: structure, balance, maintenance and above all the plants themselves - which to choose and inspiring ways to combine them.
Royal Parks: Gardening for People and Planet
Monday 5th January, 2027
7.30pm
Matthew Pottage - Head of Horticulture and Landscape Strategy, The Royal Parks
Matthew's passion for plants started with a cacti collection in the East Yorkshire seaside town of Withernsea.
From there he trained at Bishop Burton College and became the RHS' youngest curator at Wisley.
There are eight Royal parks in London. The 5,000 acres are varied. Some are SSIs while others are immersive green spaces in the most central of city settings.
Matthew will talk about the difficulties in keeping our parks, horticultural areas and green spaces flourishing in this changing world, while still doing our part by doing it sustainably.
Welcoming the Wild: Lessons from a Greek Hillside
Thursday 11th February, 2027
7.30pm
Lucie Willan - Former Head Gardener at Sparoza, MGS's Garden
Lucie is now based in Athens but has worked in several historic gardens including Sissinghurst, Hidcote and Monk's House.
Alongside tending Sporoza's renowned drought-tolerant plant collection she is active in landscape design.
The garden was created by Mary Jacqueline Tyrwhitt, an early advocate of choosing plants to fit the conditions. It is now the headquarters of the Mediterranean Garden Society.
This experimental garden is on the outskirts of Athens where they have savage summers and enormous biodiversity.
We will hear about Lucie's experiences working in this unique hillside environment.
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Dyeing to Garden
Wednesday 10th March, 2027
7.30pm
Tania Compton - Garden Designer, Writer, Natural Dyer
Tania is a garden designer, writer and contributing gardens editor for The World of Interiors.
An afficionado of natural dyeing Tania seeks out petals in her garden to whip up batches of vivid shades - the inky indigo of bearded irises, sunshine yellow from ruffled tickseed heads, the peony's deep scarlet for dyeing silk.
Tania will share her knowledge of this age old custom
Photo Sabina Ruber
Gardening Knepp Walled Garden
Monday 12th April, 2027
7.30pm
Charlie Harpur - Head Gardener at Knepp
Charlie is a plantsman and landscape designer. He trained as an architect at the University of Bath and then worked for Tom Stuart-Smith.
Having trained at Kew he returned to Tom's team for a while.
He is now Head Gardener at Knepp Castle Estate, where he oversees the pioneering rewilding of the Victorian walled garden.
Charlie believes that rewilding a garden does not simply mean 'letting go' . Focusing on the gardening rather than design he will show us how he and his team steer the direction of Knepp's Rewilded Walled Garden as well as how they monitor and learn from the experiment.
Photo Andrew Montgomery
Behind the Scenes of The Hepworth Wakefield Garden
Thursday 20th May, 2027
7.30pm
Katy Merrington - Cultural Gardener at The Hepworth Wakefield
Katy initially studied Fine Art before retraining in horticulture..
As Cultural Gardener she has cared for The Hepworth Wakefield Garden since its creation in 2019.
This much needed urban oasis is open 24 hours a day and is free for all to enjoy. Katy is responsible for the day-today management of the planting and liaises with learning and events teams to develop creative activities.
We will hear the inspiring story of this pioneering garden in West Yorkshire. Designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, the mixed perennial planting is set for a resilient future and culture is integrated with community life,
AGM