Recently the Friends enjoyed two very special coffee mornings, one where we were able to donate two items to the Garden to celebrate our forty years, and another for the Macmillan Coffee Morning.
Gifts donated to the Garden
At the end of the September coffee morning John Anderson led the Friends out into a somewhat damp Savill Garden to view two gifts to the Garden donated by the Friends, and to unveil the plaques.
The first was the Pithos, (an ancient form of pot, or Pithoi for multiple pots) in the Dry Garden, which as you can see from the photograph was anything but dry on the occasion. The pot was placed there earlier in the year and immediately looked right at home.
The pot was hand made for the Garden in this particular shape, which dates back to the Minoan civilisation, who had a flourishing trade around the Mediterranean.
A pithos would typically be used to store or transport valuable oil, wine, grain or ointments and was characterised by handles, a wide body and a narrow neck. As the Dry Garden is full of plants that are found around the Mediterranean, our Pithos should feel right at home.
A short distance away, by the side of the path that runs between the Dry Garden and the upper lake we found the second gift to the Garden, a Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’, which was bought with some donations that have been kindly made to the Friends in the last year.
John explained that this is an unusual variety of Cercis, and it had been difficult to source.
As you can see in the photograph, this variety has very distinctive and beautiful heart-shaped purple leaves and we can look forward to crimson or pink pea-shaped flowers in the spring.
Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’
Macmillan Coffee Morning
In October we had a tastier treat to look forward to with the welcome return of the Macmillan Coffee Morning. As we entered the Savill Garden Visitor Centre, we were greeted with tables piled high with sweet goodies to tempt us all to donate to this excellent cause.
The Macmillan Coffee Morning
After the coffee morning the Friends were able to sit down in the restaurant and enjoy these treats with a cup of coffee. The tables were filled with some very happy Friends as you can see in the photograph below.
We are very grateful indeed to Claire Sadler and Simon Lassabliere who organised the event, and to Benugo for their support.
The sum raised was a very impressive £1,475 and we all congratulate them on this excellent achievement.
The Friends enjoying cake
Written by Diana Bendall, Chair of The Friends of The Savill Garden
