Thirty-five members of the Holywell-cum-Needingworth Gardening Club met for the monthly meeting on March 14. Chairman David Buist asked members to keep the plant sale on May 6 in mind when potting plants for their own gardens and to keep a few spares for

Thirty-five members of the Holywell-cum-Needingworth Gardening Club met for the monthly meeting on March 14.

Chairman David Buist asked members to keep the plant sale on May 6 in mind when potting plants for their own gardens and to keep a few spares for sale.

The speaker was John Drake, of Fen Ditton, who keeps the National Collection of Aquilegias. He is a member of the Floral A Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society and is currently involved in a walled garden restoration project in Ramsey where the aim is to build a collection of shrubs, fruit, herbaceous plants etc that have associations with Cambridgeshire.

He said his interest in Aquilegias came about when he took part in an 'Open Gardens' event in the village and realised there was a great interest in the specie.

Aquilegias are members of the Ranunculaciae and form seeds in July. These should be planted fairly quickly as the seed does not stay viable for very long. They often take two years to flower.