National Trust top gardener pays visit to Newcastle group

2 December 2015

NATIONAL Trust gardener, Averil Milligan, was the guest speaker at a recent meeting of Newcastle Gardening Club.

Averil, head gardener at Rowallane Gardens, in Saintfield, focussed on her recent travels to the foothills of the Himalayas on a plant hunting trip with a group of expert botanists.

As well as seeing photographs of some of our ornamental plants growing in the wild, Averil expanded her lecture to include many aspects of the culture and lifestyle of the local population there.

Club members were delighted to see photographs of huge drifts of blue polyanthus growing in the wild, almost as native bluebells grow, further enhanced by the wonderful back of the Himalayas.

The Rowallane Christmas Fair will be on Saturday, December 12, when some members of the gardening group will be performing with the Voices of Lecale Choir.

The last meeting of the year will be on Wednesday, December 16.

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