The May club night speaker was Sally Gregson, owner of Mill Cottage Plants, which specialises in Hydrangeas and Epimediums, mainly from Japan. She brought along a large selection of rare varieties, many of which were snapped up by members.

Sally was first introduced to the Japanese varieties by her daughter, who had moved to Japan; she explained how originally Japanese plants arrived in Europe through medical officer Franz von Siebold in the early 19 C. (Japan at that time was a country closed to most foreigners).

We admired the photographs of the many different varieties of hydrangeas, some of which do not even look like hydrangeas;  Sally offered tips for planting, pruning and propagation, and her suggestions for underplanting were particularly useful (hostas, bergenia and others).

A brief question-and-answer session ended this lively and interesting talk.

For more information on hydrangeas and epimediums, visits to the nursery and books written by Sally, see her website https://millcottageplants.co.uk  and also  https://sites.google.com/site/millcottageplants/home