On 5 December, around 40 members and guests of the Society enjoyed a most interesting and informative talk from Linda and Neil Holdaway about the National Gardens Scheme, giving us some lovely ideas for gardens for us to visit in Essex.

This was followed by wine and mince pies to celebrate the festive season and a special raffle.

As promised, we drew the winner from all those who had taken part in our recent survey. Congratulations Anne Rowledge, who wins the garden gift voucher, and thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute your views.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Once again the Dedham Horticultural Society has entered the village’s annual Christmas tree festival. This year we celebrated the vegetable side of horticulture with our ‘veggie’ tree.

Calabrese, root vegetables, peppers and sprouts all formed the structure of the ‘tree’ with a cabbage as tree topper.

As ever there was a huge amount of competition, so we await the results with baited breath.