Hardy Plant Society
Encyclopedia
The Hardy Plant Society is a British charity that promotes the cultivation of hardy
herbaceous plant
s. The Society was founded in 1957 by a group of gardeners and nurserymen. It has approximately 10,000 members and provides information about familiar and less well known perennials, how to grow them and where they may be obtained. The Society also works towards ensuring that all garden worthy perennial plants remain in cultivation and have the widest distribution. Its President is Roy Lancaster
.
study days to residential weekends to garden
visits. The Society also organises overseas garden tours. The Society exhibits at major shows throughout the country to stimulate interest in hardy plants. Visitors can see hardy plants in bloom
and leaf
in their natural season and find out more about the work of the Society. An extensive library of slides covering a wide range of hardy plants is available to members on loan. Slides have been donated by photographers in the Society.
. The Seed List offers over 2,500 varieties of rare, unusual and familiar seeds and is sent to every member in December.
s.
Within the Society there are specialist groups that members can join. They produce their own newsletters and organise meetings and events for fellow enthusiasts. The Correspondents Group ensures that members who are unable to attend meetings can remain in touch with one another and exchange gardening ideas and information.
The Hardy Plant Society produces a twice-yearly journal, The Hardy Plant, with contributions from leading UK and international plant enthusiasts. It contains articles on hardy perennials and gardens as well as contributions from members. A newsletter is circulated three times a year that provides information on all the Society's events, activities, interests and group contacts. An annual leaflet lists the private gardens of members that can be visited and a register of lecturers.
Hardiness (plants)
Hardiness of plants describe their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered measurements of hardiness. Hardiness of plants is defined...
herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
s. The Society was founded in 1957 by a group of gardeners and nurserymen. It has approximately 10,000 members and provides information about familiar and less well known perennials, how to grow them and where they may be obtained. The Society also works towards ensuring that all garden worthy perennial plants remain in cultivation and have the widest distribution. Its President is Roy Lancaster
Roy Lancaster
Roy Lancaster, OBE is a British gardener and broadcaster.Charles Roy Lancaster was born in Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire and best known for his work on the long running BBC TV programme, Gardeners' World...
.
Activities
The Society aims to inform and encourage the novice gardener, stimulate and enlighten the more knowledgeable, and entertain and enthuse all gardeners bonded by a love for, and an interest in, hardy perennial plants. Throughout the year there is a wide range of events hosted by local group members, from plantPlant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
study days to residential weekends to garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
visits. The Society also organises overseas garden tours. The Society exhibits at major shows throughout the country to stimulate interest in hardy plants. Visitors can see hardy plants in bloom
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
and leaf
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
in their natural season and find out more about the work of the Society. An extensive library of slides covering a wide range of hardy plants is available to members on loan. Slides have been donated by photographers in the Society.
Conservation
The Hardy Plant Society is concerned about the conservation of garden plants. Countless fine plants have totally disappeared from cultivation and remain but a memory. The Society is working towards ensuring that older, rarer and lesser-known perennial plants are conserved and made available to gardeners generally.Seed distribution scheme
Every member can join in the annual Seed Distribution Scheme by obtaining or donating hardy perennial seedSeed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
. The Seed List offers over 2,500 varieties of rare, unusual and familiar seeds and is sent to every member in December.
Membership
National membership of the Society gives members the opportunity to join a local group and take part in a range of activities. There are around 40 local groups across the UK and national members are invited to join the group nearest to them. Each group offers a range of gardening activities including lectures from gardening speakers, garden visits, plant sales and educational and social events throughout the year. Most groups produce their own newsletterNewsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
s.
Within the Society there are specialist groups that members can join. They produce their own newsletters and organise meetings and events for fellow enthusiasts. The Correspondents Group ensures that members who are unable to attend meetings can remain in touch with one another and exchange gardening ideas and information.
The Hardy Plant Society produces a twice-yearly journal, The Hardy Plant, with contributions from leading UK and international plant enthusiasts. It contains articles on hardy perennials and gardens as well as contributions from members. A newsletter is circulated three times a year that provides information on all the Society's events, activities, interests and group contacts. An annual leaflet lists the private gardens of members that can be visited and a register of lecturers.