WINSHAM HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
 
WHS-Annual Show
The full report
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Keen Gardeners Sought by Hospice!

We hope you may have managed to visit some of our beautiful gardens that have opened their gates for us this summer-it had been hugely successful season, raising over £27,000 for your local hospice. St Margarets Hospice has been serving the Somerset Community for 45 years, providing free compassionate clinical and supportive care to people facing life limiting illness and their families in Somerset.

We are already looking ahead to Summer 2026 – and we’re on the hunt for more glorious gardens to join the line-up! All gardens are welcome – big or small. Visitors love to see spaces they can draw inspiration from, so while large country gardens make for a wonderful day out, a beautiful English back garden can be just as inspiring (sometimes even more so!). We welcome all outdoor spaces – allotments, school or church gardens, woodlands, farms… we love an eclectic mix to offer our visitors

If you’re worried your garden might be too small, why not ask your neighbours to join in with you, or perhaps hold a small garden party, or plant sale? We would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to take part, have any questions regarding our support for the gardens taking part, or have any ideas of your own.

Holly Hackett, Community Partnerships Fundraiser & Glorious Garden Coordinator

01823 333822
Winsham Horticultural Society 'Open Gardens' 2025

Winsham gardeners opened their pride and joy for the third biennial Open Gardens day on Saturday 28th June.  On another of the recent hot summer’s days, 343 visitors came to look at the varied gardens, oddly exactly the same number as came in 2023. This year 16 gardens were open, with four new to the event including ones as far out as Ammerham and Leigh Lane. The day started at 10.30 and continued right the way through to the last arrivals just after 5 for the close at 5.30. For added entertainment, especially  for younger visitors, a full cast of scarecrows was also on the tour map, and a number of spots had garage sales en route to the various gardens.

The range of gardens ran the gamut from intimate, closely planted spaces right in the village to prairie-style planting with wide-ranging views across the meadows and the Axe valley. There was a style for almost every taste, including hot terrace planting, herb gardens, woodland dells, sweeping meadows, raised bed vegetable planting, artists’ gardens, secret spaces, lawns, natural and wildflower areas, and of course tea and cake. 

Alerted by Debbie Murray’s massive poster campaign in the area, people came from far and wide. Prize for the longest journey went to the family who planned a visit from Australia to coincide with the day. Comments from happy tourists included ‘This is my favourite house in the village and now it’s my favourite garden too!’ and ‘That was the best cake I’ve ever had -  a totally balanced, really English tea!’. For the record, the cake was carrot, walnut and banana.

With unusual plants from Yorkshire on sale at Higher Wynyards and Combe Dingle nurseries joining the fun with a plant stall by the lych gate at St Stephens, money was raised for the Horticultural Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Huge thanks to all the gardeners and everyone who joined in making this such a happy event. Biggest thanks to Debbie Murray- organiser extraordinaire!

Sandy Crole
  Just some of the gardens!


Thank you letter from Alzheimer's Society...
 

 A message from Sandy Croll, the new Chairman of Winsham Horticultural Society...

The benefits of joining the Winsham Horticultural

 Society. 

If you love gardening and live in the parish of Winsham and surrounding areas, joining the Winsham Horticultural Society is a great idea. For £4 a year each or £6 for a joint membership, you get reduced price entry to our regular garden talks through the year, discount on plants at Groves and Little Groves nurseries, as well as at Combe Dingle nursery, the chance to join trips and visits to gardens in the area, and the opportunity to share tips and seeds with like-minded gardening fans.

We have a raffle at all the events, tea and homemade cakes and there’s even a free buffet at the AGM! The society organises a very popular plant sale in May, our big annual horticultural show in August and a fantastic open gardens event every two years. Enjoying the support and enthusiasm of gardeners of all ages, we’d be thrilled if you joined us in this sustainable and long-standing village society. To apply, email the secretary at lrcopas@btinternet.com

 Click HERE for Membership Application details needed. 
The origins of the Winsham Horticultural Society are shrouded in the mists of time. In such a rural community, it was certain that most homes would have grown their own vegetables for domestic consumption, with no doubt bartering or swapping anything that was surplus to their immediate needs, or could not be pickled, bottled or somehow preserved. It seems likely that Winsham Horticultural Society was formed sometime between the two World Wars, emerging in its present form sometime in the 1950s. Interest in the cultivation of flowers, among ordinary people, probably grew as more people had the leisure and money to indulge in such interests, as standards of living improved, and hobby gardening became a topic of television programmes. But that can only be speculation.

In recent years, Winsham Horticultural Society has organised an annual Summer Show at the end of August. Located on the Upper Recreation  ground it is housed in a large marquee, and offers many categories of exhibits, with a large number of trophies which have been contributed over the years.
The Winsham Open Gardens Exhibition has also taken place in recent years, alternating with the Winsham Street Fair event at the end of June. This is linked to a display of Scarecrows made by village residents to the delight and amazement of all.
It also holds an annual plant and garden accessory sale in the Jubilee Hall every year on the first Saturday in May, together with numerous outings and talks throughout the year, culminating in the AGM in November.

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