HELP GARDENING CLUB SPEAKERS.

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dottyone1, Dec 6, 10:01pm
For North shore garden club. Wondered if anyone had a list or reccommendations. I would be very interested. People who have an interest in anything to do with gardening . Members are mainly women an occasional male
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 6, 10:53pm
x1
You checked with Council? Some of their parks & reserves people are very personable and knowledgeable. (The rest do the work, lol!) Might be worth asking.
I'd also like to hear the people in charge of some of our swanky retirement village gardens speak. Those gardens can be magnificent - they must have good advice for home gardeners.
dottyone1, Dec 6, 10:59pm
I was hoping for a list of people, not a lot of possibles which I have chased after and been let down. May be I was not precise enough . I am wanting speakers who have been heard and know their stuff people who are experienced and who can be recommended. by you. the public. Please if you know of a knowledgeable eloquent gardener please let me know.
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 7, 7:09am
Wow.

You know, when people ask others for help, it'd be really nice if they said thanks before they knocked their suggestions.
maclad, Dec 7, 7:12am
Yes, that did not come across as being very nice, sorry. Take info given then continue to research it yourself. Everyone has to do the hard yards, there are no free rides.
dottyone1, Dec 7, 7:28am
dear hunnihunni. never expected you to be upset.and I do appreciate your input. I have been given such a lot of suggestions, phone numbers of people whom I have rung, emailed and written, and had no replys or they were not what members expected. I am not an Aucklander so am not knowledgeable of stuff in North island. so am asking for recommendations from people who have heard a speaker. That they have enjoyed.
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 7, 8:30am
Apology accepted.

I'm assuming you have asked your members for suggestions, if the offerings so far have been unsatisfactory. Especially if you have no local knowledge - it must be very challenging. Where on the Shore are you dotty?
gem661, Dec 7, 9:35am
A horticulture tutor from a polytech or uni?
A community garden co-ordinator?
A flower show exhibitor?
A floral art club member?
A landscape gardener?
A nurseryman?
junie2, Dec 7, 10:52am
I'm part of a team of garden writers, I ( and probably the others ) get asked to speak quite a bit. I'm always grateful to have lots of notice ( ie some of the garden clubs arrange bookings 6-8 months ahead ) They take responsibility to remind me a week away as well, I'm told many have a back-up system, where they can bring a speaker fwd a month if there is some problem with the booked speaker. Maybe try the Herald?
dottyone1, Dec 7, 9:11pm
Browns Bay Torbay area. I have asked Members who have lots of suggestions. but actually locating people capable of holding their interest on those subjects is another matter. I am enjoying challenge and, and am capable on computer and telephone. I have list from Auckland horticulture but is 1998. and our club is not a member and not likely to be. So Here I am putting it out there for 2016 will be another good year.
kateley, Dec 7, 9:18pm
Have you asked Maggie Barry?
samanya, Dec 7, 11:05pm
Are you asking for names of specific speakers?
What about asking 'special interest' societies? The eg rose society, herbs,aquatics, rhodies, camellias etc?
A thought . I have spoken to several garden clubs in my area & the one slight gripe I have is being asked to judge the competitions as I find it so difficult to choose between a perfect rose & a perfect violet & I'm no expert on floral arrangments!
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 8, 1:02am
Browns Bay is an old haunt of mine. It'd be interesting to hear and speak to whoever manages the plantings round the library and park. I remember those in the early days and they are stunning now - a credit to whichever team looks after them. Maybe a guided tour could be arranged, with a shared picnic lunch under the trees. You could even combine it with a talk from one of the librarians who might be persuaded to put on a garden book/resource special display for your members.

That'd be a bit different - and the librarians are always very helpful with community stuff.
dottyone1, Dec 8, 1:40am
thanks for the contributions .most of which we have already done over last year, so now must up my game. The gardens round librairy were re done last winter. We have a member who does garden book display at start of spring. every year.
dottyone1, Dec 8, 1:44am
Please give me names and reccommendations of speakers you have heard and can recommend, I have been down the path of most of the suggestions which I do appreciate . We also have trips about every eight wks on a tour bus, always well supported. although can be costly for some.
piquant, Dec 8, 2:33am
You know, people's expectations about what could and should be done for them is becoming slightly out of whack. The need to be entertained (with only the most interesting and best of) is all very nice - but those people are in demand and command large fees for their time. My experience is that the "viewers" rarely want to pay much (if anything) for the experience. They often expect gardeners to host them in their gardens and possibly provide morning or afternoon teas in the process and take the attitude that "it's only their garden - why should they pay" Well, those people who do open their gardens for whatever purpose are usually fussing over if it is good enough and spend an inordinate amount of time and sometimes money in order to make it as pleasureable as possible.
The recipients are often elderly, have no garden (or very little) of their own - would certainly not think about doing anything collectively or individually to further their garden club cause and just basically want to be entertained for a few hours. Unfair you think - sometime ago, I would have thought the same - but not now. Peoples expectations have largely become unreasonably excessive.
Have yourself a quiz - or an ID session. Get people to bring along a branch or a leaf and try and ID it. Get people INVOLVED and THINKING rather than sitting and often critiqueing others' work. You must have members who know the botanical names of things. Even if they don't know the reasons why. There are books that explain those names and how you can identify plants by their latin names. This is what garden clubs used to be about - not about keeping members amused for a few hours once a month. Get down to some real nitty gritty.!
dottyone1, Dec 8, 4:15am
Thank you piquant,What excellent ideas. We have some excellent members .
Also we do pay our speakers a fair price, and have increased membership.Where I came from we had very few clubs still continuing after disaster. many were limping along before too.
oh_hunnihunni, Dec 8, 5:23am
That's been my experience with garden clubs, lots of self education and sharing. Guest speakers were usually arranged through members family connections or social circles. Good teachers, our fellow gardeners.

Our local club has an aging membership, maybe that's part of it. New generations, different needs.
dottyone1, Dec 8, 6:08am
I found in other club I belonged to a few older members had a wealth of knowledge.as they had only been stay at home mums. Members up here do have lots of knowledge too but members only want to listen to people outside club. and I am only trying to do what I am asked to do.
junie2, Dec 8, 6:55am
Oooops . "only been stay at home mums" eh?
piquant, Dec 8, 9:18am
OK. Another idea. Set them into teams - try and do it so there are some more experienced in each group. Give them a basic house plan with directional aspects (N,S, E, W,) and get them to design a garden layout. Hard landscaping, Trees, borders and kitchen garden. There may or may not be a pool and a brief for the owner. 1 might be a young family with a dog, another might be a retired professional couple with no 4 legged dependants but a penchant for zebra finches! (you get the picture)
You are going to need someone with a good deal of design knowledge to know if where someone has placed a large growing, evergreen tree is actually going to give the required shade or effectively block the light from one of the most important rooms in the house. Things like this can be enormous fun - it can be hillarious to see folk arguing over where to place things and why and who eventually wins the argument. And - more importantly - whether or not they are right or just think they are. But the important thing is - it gets people working together for a common good. Most design is actually just plain common sense - you have to look at the site, realize the aspects, know what the use will be, know what plants and trees will be right for the site (soil type, moisture requirement, aspect, etc)
I mean you could do the design one week and then sort the planting the next time. Give them a purpose - might be a prize for the winning team - and even the less experienced will pick up and learn heaps from the more experienced. There's no real interaction between a group and a speaker, often. This way everyone plays a part. And more importantly - everyone learns something - however small.
summersunnz, Dec 8, 10:57am
I've seen in the NZ Gardener magazine that Editor-at-large Lynda Hallinan speaks at garden clubs, you could contact her through the magazine. Maybe other writers in the magazine might be interested too?
gem661, Dec 8, 9:23pm
Cet in touch h with some schools/colleges growing food gardens.
Elderly and experienced meet young And enthusiastic. ,plenty of admiration,ideas and useful exchange to be had by all.Uplifting, interesting and constructive talks and event. Good for the young ones confidence building and further their learning.Every chance the club will be in the company of journeymen destined to become future horticultural accredited individuals. even the ability to grow food for family is fantastic and is the platform many a good Gardener has furthered their horticultural acheivements from.Grass roots stuff.
Why do the club members have a passive, observational expectation, time to give something back to others, impart knowledge before they become compost.
piquant, Dec 8, 10:56pm
How true, how very, very, true! A knowledgeable friend of mine did just that - as there were no (other than very specialist) groups around anymore, she decided that she needed to pass on her knowledge to the next generation who were interested in gardening. She got an initial good response - but all they wanted to do was have someone organise trips to gardens (at little or no cost as they were on very limited incomes, you know) and lots of them were, in fact, living in retirement villages. Their gardens are done for them. So the upshot was - they just expected to be entertained for a few hours without any effort on their behalf. Nobody would put their hand up to be any part of the organising committee or the ones that provided the afternoon teas - just - "Where are we going to next and who is taking me!" Small wonder there are few clubs left if this is the general attitude.After a year of shovelling the proverbial uphill, she gave up. Meanwhile - all that knowledge IS going to turn to compost in the forseeable future. What an absolute waste.
dottyone1, Dec 9, 12:26am
so true. but it is not just that.

It is our health and what we put in our bodies via our mouths, , How much is good or bad insecticide, Would you know? or care. I do but apparently many do not, and we are a long way from other countries so we do have a chance of keeping our food from being modified. via sea or birds.