God's Own County

RHS Britain In Bloom

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) organise and judge the annual Britain in Bloom competition. Over 2000 communities and 13,000 schools take part in various levels of the competition from small villages to large towns and cities. RHS is a mega charity and Britain in Bloom spawns many smaller local charitable efforts.
Local council parks and gardens teams support the efforts of numerous volunteers and major improvements to the environment often arise. Even if your area has not been a ‘Gold Medal’ winner in the past you can get involved for 2012.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr

The former home of the Northern Horticultural Society prior to merging with the RHS, the Harlow Carr Gardens are in Harrogate, long famous for it’s interest in horticulture.
The garden has been in a state of flux but the new developments have now taken shape and the RHS investment in the gardens is clearly visible. The RHS says ‘Harlow Carr is a garden dominated by water, stone and woodland and is very much part of the surrounding Yorkshire landscape’.

RHS Membership and Publications

The RHS is the UK’s top publisher of Books on gardening and related matters. There is scarcely a Yorkshire book shop without several of their titles for sale.
In addition the RHS publishes a monthly members magazine thoughtfully called ‘The Garden’ and a quarterly horticultural gem called Plantsman. Yorkshire folk can save money by reading these publications and most of the books at the RHS library in Harrogate. Members can take out up to 8 books on loan or use the library for rest and shelter from the showers whilst visiting the gardens..

RHS Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers available from amazon

RHS Plant and Garden Societies and Groups

Of interest to serious gardeners and specialists is the range of auxiliary special interest groups:-

Alpine and Rock Garden Group
This Group meets on three Saturdays a year at the Study Centre. Illustrated talks are given on alpines in their native habitat or in cultivation. Speakers vary from alpine experts to nurserymen or keen amateurs. Plants and information are exchanged.
Bonsai Group
The Group meets monthly in the Study Centre where talks, demonstrations and workshops are aimed towards learning both bonsai and horticultural techniques used in creating nature in miniature. At each meeting members exhibit their trees on a set theme.
Bulb, Lily and Hardy Plants Group
Meetings are held three times a year and take the form of lectures (both specialised and general), garden visits and the distribution of seeds, bulbs and plants.
Fern Group
The Group is part of the British Pteridological Society and has the object of promoting the study and conservation of ferns. Most meetings are field studies at various locations in Yorkshire and Lancashire (occasionally further afield).
Harrogate and Ripon Beekeeping Group
The Harrogate and Ripon Beekeepers Association provides beekeeping demonstrations to visitors on Saturday afternoons in the summer months. These have been extremely popular, particularly with children. The group also runs practical beekeeping courses. If you would like to know more about these and other courses then e-mail us.
Heather Group
The Heather Group helps maintain the National Collection of Calluna – looking after planting and regular maintenance. The Group holds regular talks, walks around Harlow Carr and its collection, and visits to other gardens.
Library and Museum Groups
A rota of volunteers enables the Library to be open five days a week (six days in summer) during the most popular visitor hours. The Museum Group meet weekly to deal with the many tasks involved in the running of the Museum.
Northern Fruit Group
The Group has two main aims – to encourage the growing of fruit in our northern climate and to help individual members to grow their fruit as well as possible.
Opportunities are provided for members to share their experiences and expertise with each other at informal meetings.
Rhododendron Group
There are three meetings with speakers each year at the Study Centre and an outside visit to a garden noted for its rhododendrons. In addition, in early May each year a weekend of visits is arranged in various parts of the country to private gardens not usually open to the public.
Rose Group
The Rose Group has occasional meetings throughout the year on Saturday afternoons in the Study Centre. All RHS Members and their friends are welcome to attend any of the Group’s meetings.

Other RHS Yorkshire Activities

Welcome to Yorkshire’s Rhubarb Crumble & Custard Garden
The RHS is a charity working intensely with schools. A recent project was designed to link Ripley Village School in North Yorkshire with Iringa International School in Tanzania.
Many Yorkshire gardens open during the summer are supported by or supporting the RHS.
The Harrogate flower shows are not RHS events.

Credits
DSCF1374 by m111er CC BY 2.0

The lower slopes of the Yorkshire moors can be thickly covered with bracken (one of many ferns). Despite some belief to the contrary it has been shown that any increase is slow but it is still an invasive species. Gone are the days when it was valued and cut as bedding for horses and cattle, now it only seems fit for breeding insects.

Among several Yorkshire ferns are the attractive upland Lemon-scented Fern and the beech fern Phegopteris connectilis which is now very rare in West Yorkshire.

Ferns Growing in Yorkshire

• Bracken fern
• Broad Buckler-fern Dryopteris dilatata
• Hart’s-tongue fern grows on the limestone pavement in the Yorkshire Dales
• Lady Fern Athyrium felix-femina is one of the larger ferns
• Lemon-scented Fern
• Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas found in woods and under shade.
• Adder’s-tongue Fern which grows in old grasslands, hillsides, woodland and on sand dunes

Fossil Fern of Yorkshire

• The North Yorkshire coast is one the most important sites for fossils from the Cretaceous and Jurassic period.
• Many of the plant fossils from North Yorkshire belong to the group of the ferns.
• ‘One of the most common ferns is Todites williamsonii, a representative of the Osmundaceae family, which includes also the living Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis)’ Read more and see photos
• From whitby you can reach the Saltwick Formation and between Middlesborough and Bridlington other plant fossils can be seen at the Claughton ‘Gristhorpe Member’ and the ‘Scalby Formation’.

Credits
Fern in sharp lighting by Mirror | imaging reality CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Bracken by Anita363 CC BY-NC 2.0 Bracken growing like swathes over the hills
Fossilised frond from a seed fern, Alethopteris, GL1339 by Black Country Museums CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Ferns by amandabhslater CC BY-SA 2.0