shade – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

August 2026 Talk: The Exchange, Erith

Selina Ozanne, head gardener at The Exchange, Erith. CABAHS August 2026

It was a pleasure to welcome Selina Ozanne to our August meeting to hear about her work as Head Gardener for The Exchange, Erith, a community led arts and craft organisation based in the town’s former Carnegie library.

The refurbished listed building is now home to craft production workshops, a cafe and shop, along with a varied programme of community events.

The Exchange gardens were designed by Chelsea Gold medal winner Sarah Price. The site has various challenges from a sloping roadside front garden exposed to sun and wind from the Thames, to a woodland-edge rear garden with a steep incline. Sarah’s design pulls together these diverse elements together using sustainable materials and matrix planting to make the garden flow coherently in a way that everyone can access.

Spring flowers at the Exchange. Photos: The Exchange Erith

March 2026 talk: Plants for Shade

At our meeting on Monday 16 March we welcomed Lynne Moore of Moore and Moore Plants to talk to members about shade loving plants. A specialist in plants for shade for over 30 years, Lynne was clearly passionate about her subject and described herself as a ‘plantaholic’. She noted that from their very first time exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower show, one of the most common complaints she heard from visitors was that ‘nothing grows in the shade’ and this may be why our meeting attracted a large number of attendees. Lynne set out to prove that this is a very mistaken view…

Speaker Lynne Moore of Moore & Moore Plants, speaking at CABAHS, March 2026 — Lynne Moore talking about ’52 Weeks in the Shade Garden’

A slide from Lynne Moore's talk about plants for shade, March 2026 — Lynne Moore talking about ’52 Weeks in the Shade Garden’