Photo shoots
Enter the RHS Photographic Competition 2006 and you could see your winning image on a Medici greeting card, as well as taking home a cash prize (the overall winner gets £1,000). Visit www.rhs.org.uk, e-mail photocomp@rhs.org.uk or send an sae to RHS Photographic Competition 2006, RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon, EX38 8PH.
Family fun
Catch the last two days of BBC Gardeners’ World Live show at the NEC Birmingham. Tomorrow is Family Sunday, when children can spot animal prints, plant their own vegetable seeds and explore the maze in the Labyrinth Garden. Admission is ?20 for adults, ?8 for 5 to 16-year-olds and free for under-fives. For more information, visit www.gardenersworldlive.com.
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Let’s get physical
Dan Pearson opens the Chelsea Physic Garden Summer Fair next Sunday, June 25, at midday. This is a chance to buy rare and special plants, organic
food and garden essentials in London’s oldest botanical gardens. 11am-6pm, adults £7, children and students ?3.50 (020-7352 5646; www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk).
Welsh roots
The first Garden Of Wales Festival will be held in Carmarthenshire next
weekend. Be serenaded by the Tywi Symphonica at the National Botanic Garden, view craftsmen at work at Aberglasney Gardens and join a guided walk at Dinefwr Park (01558 667116; www.visitcarmarthenshire.co.uk).
Lavender trail
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Isle of Wight Lavender, which had just introduced the striking red and pink Ruffles Sugarberry cultivar, is one of the stops on the island’s Rare Plant Trail, a route of 20 unusual or outstanding plants found in gardens, nurseries and in the wild. For a map of the trail, and discounted ferry offers, visit www.wightlink.co.uk/ gardens or call 0870 5827744.
Stag hunting
The heavyweight of the beetle world, the stag beetle, uses its antler-like
mandibles in courtship displays, not as offensive weapons. Gardeners can help conservationists collect data about its survival in the UK by keeping
an eye out for the adults during the summer. Report any sightings on www.greatstaghunt.org.