Events
Programme for 2025
All events take place in Bembridge Village Hall, 14 High Street, Bembridge, PO35 5SN, except where otherwise stated. Details will be posted on the Village Hall noticeboard and on other social media.
Winter talks begin at 7.15 pm. All the talks are free for Members. Guests are welcome although we do charge an entrance fee of £1. There is a ‘Best Bloom Competition’ at each talk, so please bring a single bloom from your garden for everyone to enjoy!
This year our Summer Shows will be held on Saturday 14 June 2025 and Saturday 16 August 2025. Please support us by entering as many classes as you feel you able to, or by visiting on the day between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm to admire what is on display.
The AGM takes place in October of each year. This is when Members’ Annual Subscriptions fall due. The current Membership Fee is £5.
Summer Shows 2025
- June 14th – Members’ Show
- August 16th – 104th Annual Open Show
Exhibits will need to be taken to the Village Hall between 8.00 am – 10.30 am on the day of the Show, and all entries must be staged by 10.40 am when judging will begin. The Shows open to the Public at 2.30 pm, and the Presentation of Awards takes place at 4.30 pm.
Show Schedules and Entry Forms will be available from the middle of April. They will distributed at the Society’s Events and can also be obtained from Bembridge Community Library, Church Road, Bembridge PO35 5NA, and Bembridge Parish Council Offices, 5 Foreland Road, Bembridge, PO35 5XN.
- Click here to download the entry form.
Non-Members are warmly invited to enter the Annual Open Show as directed in the Show Schedule.
Winter Talks 2025
- January 24th – Rob Mew: Herbaceous Perennials
Rob Mew is an experienced horticulturalist and has recently retired as Head of Horticulture at the IOW College. He now works as a consultant for C.A.R. Gardens.
- February 21st – Octavia Tulloch: The Island of Socotra
Olivia Tulloch lives in Ireland and is the Administrator and Forestry Manager at Tullynally Castle.
- March 21st – Michelle Cain: Theobalds: Creation of a Garden
Michelle Cain is the ex-Head Gardener at Sissinghurst Castle and Ventnor Botanic Gardens. She now runs her own horticultural and design company.
- April 25th – to be confirmed
- September 19th – David Fairlamb: Gardens for Wildlife
Following a 40-year career in nature conservation working for charities such as the National Trust and the RSPB, David Fairlamb now runs “Nature Links”, a business based on the Isle of Wight which specialises in wildlife tourism and nature conservation.
- October 17th – AGM followed by Mary Case: Bees, Pollinators and Producers
Mary Case has been keeping bees since 1984. She and her husband farm in the ‘Back of the Wight’, and Mary is descended from 11 generations of farmers on the Island.
- November 21st – Mark Earp: Every Pond Counts
Mark Earp is an historian and gives fascinating talks on many different subjects relating to the Isle of Wight.
There will be a Best Bloom competition at each meeting except the AGM and Quiz evenings.
Other Events for 2025
- April 4th – Quiz evening vs St Helens Horticultural Society
- May 17th – Coffee Morning & Plant Sale
- October 18th – Coffee Morning & Plant Sale
- December 5th – Members’ Christmas Social & Quiz Evening
If you have any spare seeds, cuttings, or plants you would like to contribute to our Plant Sales please bring them to the Village Hall between 8.30 am and 10 am on the day of the sale, or contact us in advance if you would like us to arrange collection.
