Welcome to the CABAHS website. Here you can find information about the Society, what we do and how to join in, along with general posts on gardening.
For our next meetings and events, see our Programme of Events.
New Year 2026 Flower Count at Charlton House Gardens
On a perishingly cold day – encouraged by a wintry sun – the intrepid Garden Volunteers ventured out on their mission to spot which brave flowers are showing off in the gardens this new year, 2026.
This is the third year we have undertaken a flower count, so we should know roughly what to expect. UK weather data shows that 2025 was the sunniest on record, and probably the warmest too. Here in the depths of winter, it’s easy to forget the unprecedented spring sunshine and incredibly hot summer that we’ve had. This is bound to have disrupted plant lifecycles and confused some into flowering at the wrong time.
Continue reading New Year 2026 Flower Count at Charlton House GardensPlant(s) of the Month: December flowers
What a mild 2025 December we are having! So mild, the weather is confusing some plants, such as lavender, Calendula and yellow-flowered Phlomis, out in flower at present.
One of the joys of winter is admiring all the window boxes, the wide variety of beautiful Christmas door-wreaths and observing what’s flowering in front gardens whilst out strolling.
Old Pond Garden Diary Update (April-December 2025)
As we come up to Christmas and the end of 2025, this is a great time to look back at how the ‘Old Pond Garden’ (OPG) project has fared this year.
(plus 27 garden volunteers!)
Of course, it’s not just the ‘Old Pond Garden’ project any longer, as volunteer work now covers the whole estate, but we are still fond of the OPG tag. Since April, the Garden Volunteer scheme has been run by Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust (RGHT), however considering 80% of volunteers are also CABAHS members, it’s fair to say we are still very interested and still very involved.
Sharon has taken on the crucial role of Volunteer Lead for RGHT and works with Head Gardener Jason to make sure everything runs smoothly. She posts lovely updates on the garden team’s WhatsApp after every session, keeping us all on track, and sends a report off to RGHT every month.
Here are some highlights picked from Sharon’s reports of the past few months, I make no apology that this is a rather long post – we have done a lot!
Continue reading Old Pond Garden Diary Update (April-December 2025)10 Things for December 2025
December is a month when the garden often takes a back seat, and when Pat deserves a break from helping you all with your garden jobs, so the CABAHS Committee have come up with a list of 10 Things that they are doing this month in, from, or for their gardens.
Members’ gardens: virtual wreaths
Everyone enjoyed seeing the autumn colour in CABAHS members gardens, so we thought we’d like to see some more – this time on the theme of ‘ingredients for a winter wreath’. People submitted photographs of evergreen shrubs and perennials, winter flowers, berries and seedheads, and here they all are, compiled into virtual wreaths – complete with festive bows! If you contributed a photo, can you spot your plant or plants?
Plant of the Month: More Salvia! (November 2025)
Last week I was in Greenwich Park, in what was the Old Rose Garden for several decades, and now transformed into a fantastic herbaceous garden, a riot of colour, shapes and forms, tall grasses swaying and intermingling flowering shrubs (find out more about this transformation). I had gone there to see one specific Salvia – and what a show they were putting on!
November 2025 talk: The Great Geranium Robbery
It was a pleasure to welcome back Dr David Marsh, garden historian, academic and former trustee of The Gardens Trust. The intriguing title of his talk was ‘The Great Geranium Robbery’, about an Old Bailey trial in 1795 following the theft of numerous expensive plants…
The scene:
Daniel Grimwood’s Nursery (formerly The Kensington Nursery) in West Kensington.
The context:
and ‘Twelve Months of Fruit: June’ (1732)
November 2025 Meeting and Show Table
There was a great turn out for CABAHS’ last meeting of 2025. As usual, there were refreshments (this month featuring mini-stollen and mince pies!), also a plant sales table, a raffle, the Show Table and – the main event – an engaging talk from Dr David Marsh, garden historian and blogger.
Continue reading November 2025 Meeting and Show TablePat’s 10 jobs for November 2025
1. You can start planting tulips now, either in pots or in the ground. The deeper they are planted in the ground the more chance there is of them reappearing next year – but do protect them well from squirrels who love to eat them.
2. It’s not too late to plant Narcissus and other bulbs like Allium, but again as deep as you can if planting in the ground as squirrels do love to lunch on Allium.
A visit to the Hortus Botanicus
Away from the main tourist area of Amsterdam, in the east of the city, is the tranquil oasis of the Hortus Botanicus (Botanical Garden). It is open daily from 10am – 5pm and tickets can be bought in advance online, although this is not essential.
The garden was established in 1638 and is one of the oldest in the world. It was originally a herbal garden for doctors and apothecaries. There are now about 4,000 species of plants at the Hortus.
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 
