Skip to main content

Events


I am regularly asked to give lectures or do book signings around the UK, information on forthcoming events and appearances below. Please contact the venue for tickets where necessary, directions or further details.

2018

3rd and 4th February 2018

Snowdrop talk and tour. National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire; www.gardenofwales.org.uk.
Illustrated lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops' and book signing
Tour: Looking at the displays and combinations the garden offers.
Further details tbc


13th and 14 February 2018

Royal Horticultural Society Early Spring Show, www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-london-shows/rhs-early-spring-plant-fair 
I will be creating an exciting installation based on the winter walk at the RHS Garden at Wisley. 
I will also be giving illustrated lectures on Snowdrops and the Winter Garden, on both days. Times tbc


18th February 2018

Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival
www.sheptonsnowdropfestival.org.uk

Talk: 'Designing with snowdrops', plus book signing.













5th July 2018

'Inspiring Orchards' Binfield Gardening Club. Details TBC








Demonstrating snowdrops in the garden
(c) Michelle Chapman

2019

Bookings pending


Past events

13st May 2017

'Inspiring Orchards', with book signing, Cookham Garden Club, Cookham Dean Village Hall, 7.30pm. Guests £5. Contact kmdownes@btinternet.com for details

10th January 2017

'Designing with snowdrops', with book signing, Cornwall Garden Society, 7.30pm . Members free, non-members welcome with a donation. www.cornwallgardensociety.org.uk/events




11th January 2017


'Inspiring Orchards', with book signing, Cornwall Garden Club, 2.30pm location TBC. Members free, non-members welcome with a donation. www.cornwallgardensociety.org.uk/events




4th and 5th February 2017

Snowdrop talk and tour. National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire; www.gardenofwales.org.uk.
Illustrated lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops' and book signing
Tour: Looking at the displays and combinations the garden offers.


2016

22nd September 2016
Book Launch: An Orchard Odyssey 




27th September 2016
Talk: 'Designing with snowdrops', plus book signing.
Longparish gardening club, 

4th February 2016


NSPCC Charity lunch and snowdrop lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops', with book signing, Goring and Streatley Golf Club. Tickets and info: 01491 872296

30th and 31st January

Snowdrop talk and tour. National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire; www.gardenofwales.org.uk.
Illustrated lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops' and book signing
Tour: Looking at the displays and combinations the garden offers.
Free entry.

2015

21st February
Time tbc
Cottage Garden Society Snowdrop Day, Hadlow College, Kent
Illustrated lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops' and book signing
Contact Pamela Lucas at the Cottage Garden Society for more details


14th February
Illustrated lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops' and book signing
Time 11.30am
Bellefield House and Gardens, Birr, Co Offaly, Ireland.
Contact Angela Jupe for further details



7th February
Illustrated lecture: 'Designing with snowdrops'
Time 2pm
Welford Church, Welford Park Welford, Berkshire
Lecture in aid of Welford Church

Tickets are £10 and include entry to the legendary Welford Park snowdrops. Available here and on the door. I will also be signing my book and donating 10% of proceeds to the church.

For more information see www.welfordpark.co.uk 


3rd February
Time 2-3pm
Chelsea Physic Garden, London
Snowdrop week lecture and book signing


31st January
Time tbc
National Botanic Garden of Wales snowdrop event
Lecture followed by book signing and snowdrop walk

Starts at 12 noon
Free Entry

2014

20th October
London
Talk to private gardening club

18th October 
10 am -12 noon
Waterstones, Newbury
Signing copies of The Plant Lover's Guide to Snowdrops


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Essential Apocalypse Skillset

Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, I was painting the bathroom of a house in Bristol. The window was open and it was a pleasant sort of day and people were wandering past. Around about four o’clock I heard a couple of sets of feet come down the hill and then stop. “Look, cherries!” said one voice (female, mid to late teens). “No, I don’t think they are. They can’t be.” Said the other, doubtfully (ditto). “Well, they look like cherries. Let’s try them!” “No, they are probably berries. Completely different. Some of them are not red, they are blackish. They are probably poisonous.” “Oh. Yes, I suppose so.” (disappointed) The feet moved on. I looked out of the bathroom window at the large and heavily laden cherry tree leaning over the wall of the garden opposite and wondered what the world was coming to. Red Sky in the Morning, Shepherds Warning ((c) N Slade) I am actually still wondering. When my grandfather was a child, he and his brothers (and a dog) ...

A Different View

Sharp angles and offset rhomboids: Heligan in Winter I woke up this morning convinced that it was late. The light was grey behind the curtains and the room was silent. Reluctantly, I looked at my phone and discovered that it was in fact early. It has been a busy few weeks, but walking up the road, the magnolia buds are suddenly swelling in furry promise, and lilacs pertly tipped with green;  Crocus tommasinianus have appeared where there were none. Acer griseum and white-barked birches stand bold, in full knowledge that their spare charms will soon be overwhelmed with spring. Time has passed while I was not looking. So as the season creeps forward - and faster it does, when ignored - I am looking back, with a kind of regret. The thing is, that although gardens are considered 'off peak' in winter, there is often no better time to see them. This is the point where they show their true colours and strengths. As a visitor, you can read their geometry and detail without ...

On The Road

Galanthus 'Fly Fishing' at Bellefield House . My latest snowdrop crush. Back in the dim and distant mists of time, when dinosaurs roamed the land and pterodactyls were frequent bird table visitors, I spent an enjoyable few years managing rock bands. There were headline gigs, support gigs. Mainstream venues and pubs. In some places the PA was state of the art, in others you thanked your stars for the decent size amp in the back of the van. Some nights the crowd was ecstatic. Others, the bar man, his dog and a couple of regulars would sit there, nodding and comparing the band to musicians that had died before the lead singer was born. Occasionally people listened to the first thirty seconds, got bored and went off to get drunk and find someone to sleep with. So it goes. I have just finished a modestly epic tour of the land, promoting The Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops . And, as I pull myself vertical, brush off the debris and straighten out again, there are som...