Wildflower Club Launch & First Outing
For a while I’ve had an idea of creating a social club. Originally I thought it could be a place for beekeepers to meet but soon got side tracked by all the other places that would be good to visit as a club. After discussing with the hubby, who is forever coming up with great ideas, the thought of a club for like-minded people that encompassed nature, wildlife, gardens, bees and trees came into being.
I wasn’t sure what response I’d get so initially popped a post on the socials to gauge some interest and it was positively received, next was the tricky part - finding venues that would host a group that didn’t exist yet and didn’t know what it was doing! Thankfully I found some amazing people who were willing to go with the flow and accommodate us.
After conception in March we visited our first garden in May. Hoe Hall in Norfolk.
What a venue to kick off the club - magical is the first word that springs to mind. We were met by Victoria, the owner, who gave our group of 21 an overview of the walled garden and a quick tour; pointing out roses and shrubs, talking about why things were placed where and then taking us down the most marvellous wisteria walk that ran almost the entire length of the garden. The smell of the wisteria, the sight of the white and occasional blue hanging flowers, along with the buzz from the bumble and honey bees frequenting it was breath-taking.
Despite starting the tour in the drizzling rain, the sun soon came out to shine a light on the garden, bringing with it a freshness and delicate fragrance to the space. Some careful negotiation around the side of the swimming pool that had been converted into a pond with lilies, took us to a path leading to an adjacent room for tea and scrumptious cake before venturing out solo to explore. The bubble of energy and conversation in the room was wonderful - a group of strangers soon became friends as we all discovered our mutual love of gardens and wild spaces, along with a love of our first garden visited.
As hubby and I drove home I couldn’t stop smiling. A beautiful garden had left me inspired; but the people had left me buzzing with enthusiasm about the club that started as a vague idea of something nice to do. As we are visiting locations across Norfolk and Suffolk we talked all the way home about other places we could go and speakers we could invite to talk to the group. Now the major planning starts for me, to find those amazing places and people and to grow our club so others can experience a lovely morning of inspiration one Sunday a month.
