Societies & Associations
Faversham Horticultural Society, founded in 1863 by the gardeners of Faversham in Kent.
Before the Second World War, various societies founded by the gardeners of Faversham and the surrounding areas were in existence. However, in 1948 all the separate societies amalgamated and the present Faversham Horticultural Society was formed.
The society aims to encourage the cultivation of flowers, fruit and vegetables by holding exhibitions and other activities. Members include gardeners, allotment holders, smallholders and cottage gardeners.
The society, affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society, has a full programme of shows, together with monthly meetings on a range of gardening topics plus a number of social events. Annual subscription is £5. For full details of membership, contact the secretary.
Garden Club Listings has been created to connect Horticultural Speakers, Horticultural Judges and Gardening Clubs or Societies throughout the UK.
Gardening Clubs often struggle to find new speakers so with Garden Club Listings you will be able to search for speakers where ever you are located in the UK. But we have a dual purpose as we also offer all Gardening Clubs or Societies a FREE listing to help promote their club too.
If you are a Horticultural Speaker and or Judge then we can offer you the opportunity to promote your talks here too.
In 1927 Hilda Leyel founded the Society of Herbalists, which would later become the Herb Society, with the aim of supporting the practice of herbal medicine in Britain.
The Herb Society is an educational charity which aims to encourage the use and delight in herbs for all ages. To this end we work with a number of school and community groups throughout the year to support their herb related activities, whether it be creating a garden or herb use in cookery.
The inaugural meeting of the Irish Garden Plant Society took place on 7th July 1981, a draft constitution was discussed, amended and adopted and a committee elected.
We take the lead in researching, finding and propagating Irish plants to ensure their survival.
We research great Irish gardens and garden history.
We have a hands-on role in a number of garden restoration projects.
We actively promote Irish horticulture, with recognition for our exhibits at major international shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show.
Last but not least, we enjoy Irish gardens through regular talks, lectures, workshops and garden visits.
Membership of the Irish Garden Plant Society is open to anyone interested in its work, living in Ireland or abroad. Members are enthusiastic gardeners, many of whom have a special interest in Ireland’s great horticultural heritage.
The Lambeth Horticultural Society was first established in 1951. The Society is run entirely by volunteers whose aim is to promote horticulture by:
Organising flower shows in Spring and Summer and running the Flower Show section of Lambeth Country Show on behalf of Lambeth Council.
Running day trips by coach to important gardens in the South-East of England.
Organising talks on horticultural subjects.
Running a shop (The Hut) staffed by volunteers and open only to members where garden supplies are available at discount prices.
Publishing a Newsletter three times a year.
There are now about 500 members who pay a fee of £7 per year. Membership is open to anyone – you don’t have to live in Lambeth.
Only members are able to use The Hut (the Society’s shop) and only members receive the Newsletter (electronically or physically) and the monthly e-mail giving details of Society activities. Some activities are open to non-members (the Talks programme and the Flower Shows in particular) but Members get priority for bookings on visits to gardens.
The Little Common Horticultural Society is a warm and friendly society devoted to providing an interesting and enjoyable experience for all our members. We are active in the Little Common and Bexhill communities of East Sussex.
We very much welcome visitors and new members, whether experienced or novice. Do come along and try us out one evening, it costs only £2 as a visitor. Our annual membership is fantastic value at only £7 – this gives you free entry to all our monthly shows and meetings.
Our members range from those with decades of professional horticultural experience, talented amateur gardeners to complete novices who simply enjoy gardening, being in gardens, trips out and cream teas!
It isn’t only gardening. There are also craft, photography and domestic categories in both the monthly and annual shows.
Visit the Scottish branchNational Auricula & Primula Society – Auriculas are members of the Genus Primula which is a large family of plants comprising over 425 species and many thousands of hybrids.
The auricula first appeared in European gardens around the middle of the sixteenth century. The cultivated forms which we grow today have been developed for over 350 years as Florist Flowers. The word florist, used in this sense, refers to a gardener who grows and raises plants to agreed standards. The use of the word to mean a flower seller is a relatively recent development.
The different types comprise Show, Alpine, Double and Border auriculas. Show types include green and grey edged, selfs, stripes and fancies. Alpines are either gold-centred or light-centred.
In addition we also grow the gold-laced polyanthus, the only member of the primrose family grown to florists’ standards.
Although originally formed purely to grow auriculas and gold-laced polyanthus the three independent sections of the Society, all based in England, cover the whole range of primula species and hybrids including such popular plants as primroses and polyanthus.
The National Dahlia Society was formed in 1881 and for over a century has given unbroken service to gardeners interested in this wonderful flower. We are now a registered charity, which seeks to promote the dahlia by means of exhibitions (shows), trials and conferences. We are the world’s largest all-dahlia society and annually hold our main exhibitions at RHS Wisley and the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, Yorkshire, with reduced admission for members of course!
Twice a year – with our Winter Bulletin and summer publication, The Dahlia Annual – we keep members informed on every aspect of dahlia news, with items covering culture, trials, shows, cultivar selection, etc. These books are issued free to members, and in addition, on enrolment, our current Classified Directory (containing lists of recommended cultivars) and ‘Dahlias For You’ by Ted Collins are also sent free of charge to the new member.
Other events are organised annually, like our conferences, held around the country in March. Mention must be made of the Society’s unique information service, that helps members with any problems they might have and provides for personal contact with our representatives in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. We also have linking contacts with international dahlia societies, this forming a chain of information for our members that spans the globe.
Norfolk Organic Group is a membership organisation of about 200 gardeners, smallholders, farmers and others interested in organic food.
We are affiliated to and act as a local group for Garden Organic, the national charity for organic growing (formerly the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA), www.gardenorganic.org.uk) and the Soil Association,who campaign for planet-friendly food and farming (www.soilassociation.org).
Norfolk Organic Group aims to promote the organic movement in Norfolk by encouraging people to grow organically and to use resources sustainably, maintaining the link between people, food and the soil.
The Lily Group is the oldest of the RHS plant groups of the Royal Horticultural Society and is based in London, UK. Formed as a Committee in 1931 and as a Group in 1932, we celebrated our seventy fifth anniversary in 2007.
Lilies in the wild are distributed across the Northern hemisphere- China, Korea, Japan, Siberia, Asia, the Caucasus, Europe and North America. Yet given the right conditions they will grow in many other parts of the world. It is a love of Lilies and the challenge to grow them which unites the Group’s few hundred members of all ages, of whom approximately a third are from overseas. Apart from the UK they are scattered throughout Europe, in Canada and the USA, in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, in Japan and Asia. Thus the potential for exchange of knowledge and seed is considerable.