Please book using the accompanying booking form. Visits tend to get booked up fairly quickly so to avoid disappointment please send in your form as soon as possible. If you have any queries, contact the Friends’ Administrator, Liz Woolley, secretary@fobg.org, 01865 286690.

Friends’ coffee mornings

The first Friday of every month (except January, April and August) in the Garden’s Conservatory. After coffee a member of staff leads a tour of the Garden.

Fridays 4th May, 1st June and 6th July

10.30am to 11.30am

No fee and no booking required, just turn up

Sunday plant tours at the Botanic Garden

These tours are with the Director Timothy Walker, structured around plants of particular interest for the time of year. They are crammed with botanical information and horticultural tips and are great fun. A plant list is provided.

Sundays 25th March, 27th May, 29th July

10.00am to 11.30am

Friends £2.00, guests £6.00 (includes entry to the Garden)

No booking required, just turn up

Insight tours at the Arboretum

Friends are very welcome to join these free tours, which are a great opportunity for Arboretum staff to show off the latest developments, and for visitors to give their thoughts and opinions as well as to ask questions.

Wednesdays 4th April, 2nd May, 6th June, 4th July

2.00pm to 3.30pm

No fee and no booking required, just turn up

Garden visits

Coach trip to visit the Olympic Games sites, London

Sunday 29th April

Coach departing from Water Eaton Park & Ride, Oxford, at 8.00am, back at c. 7.00pm. Tour led by Blue Badge Guide Mr Ian Gibson

Due to popular demand we have arranged a third trip to the Olympic Games sites. This is a departure from our usual garden visits, but we thought that it would be a good way for us to see the Olympic sites and to hear what has been achieved in preparation for this historic event. The tour will start at the Tower of London after a coffee. We will go to Docklands, Canary Wharf and the Thames Barrier. We will have lunch/picnic at Greenwich Park and then see a number of venues including the Olympic park velodrome. There will be an afternoon stop for tea at the Olympic village. Our guide is very entertaining and knowledgeable and will show us some of the new landscaping and gardens. Some walking involved.

Tickets £30.00, guests £35.00 (includes coach fare but not refreshments)

Maximum 50 people

n.b. As part of the Garden and Arboretum’s Public Education Programme there will be a lecture by Prof James Hitchmough on the development of the wildflower meadows at the Olympic Park, on 22nd March at the Saïd Business School in Oxford.

Rhodes House and Garden

Wednesday 23rd May, 5.00pm

Rhodes House, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RG

By kind permission of Dr Donald Markwell, Warden of Rhodes House

Built as a memorial to Cecil Rhodes, the House was completed in 1928 and is the headquarters of the Rhodes Trust, which every year awards Rhodes Scholarships to approximately eighty outstanding students from around the world. The house was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, and has been described as resembling a Cotswold mansion but with elements of Cape Dutch style and influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900s. The award-winning garden (Silver in Colleges in Bloom in 2011) includes a stunning herbaceous border. We will be given a tour of the house by one of the current Rhodes Scholars and Neil Wigfield, Head Gardener, will take us round the garden. After the visit, we will have refreshments at the nearby University Club in Mansfield Road.

Tickets £15.00, guests £20.00

Maximum 60 people

West Woodhay House

Saturday 26th May, 3.00pm

West Woodhay House, Newbury, Berks, RG20 0BS

By kind permission of Mr & Mrs Harry Henderson

The spectacular gardens at West Woodhay House were originally planned after the Second World War but have since been extensively developed. Early on, an arboretum was planted, taking advantage of pockets of acid soil and allowing azaleas and lavender to coexist. We will enjoy a blue and white garden and a rose garden. In 1999, the walled garden was replanted according to a design by Veronica Mackinnon with magnificent fruit cages and glass and steel sculptures. She also advised on a new arboretum and the extension of the original lake. The garden benefits from mesmerizing views of the Berkshire Downs which rise to 200ft only a mile to the south. We will be given an introduction and tour of the garden. Tea will be served.

Tickets £15.00, guests £20.00

No limit on numbers

Visits and events for Friends continues on page 2