In September we held our annual planning meeting. The Garden group members contributed to a list of potential venues to visit and speakers to come and talk to us and all members had the opportunity to vote for the ones they wanted. The result is a list of venues and speakers that will keep us occupied for some time to come. The group was given a review of the the last year including finances and agreed to extend the operating year until the end of December so as to use money on deposit and also to avoid clashing with the Treasurer's key dates in years to come. Members present were introduced to the team of six who will be running the group for at least the coming year. After the business element of the meeting we had our first group plant swap. Members brought along plants, cuttings, and garden produce for exchange or barter. This went down very well but the point was made that September was a little too early in the year to gain maximum benefits from this as many perennials are lifted and split late September. It was agreed that the plant swap should be an annual event but that October would be a better month. Accordingly we shall have our annual review and planning meeting plus plant swap in October 2026.

In October we welcomed Sarah Hopps again as our speaker. Sarah is a group favourite and this time she talked to us about Gardening to Delight the Senses. As always she kept the group's attention while she talked about various plants and showed many to us before moving on to her slide show. The plants that had been used for the talk were available for purchase and several members of the group left the room well laden.