THE guest speaker at the February meeting was Mr G Ponting who came to talk on his work with Plantlife, which is the charity that “speaks up for our wild flowers and plants”.

Mr Ponting began his talk by telling the audience a little about his background.

He studied zoology at university and has held various posts, including as a teacher.

He became involved with Plantlife when he retired, and is obviously committed to this charity, as is David Bellamy, who delivered a manifesto to Downing Street in 1989.

The aim is to bring awareness of plant conservation and its importance to as many people as possible, as each county loses, on average, two species of plants every five years, and one in five British wild flowers are threatened with extinction.

There are many ways to help: one can volunteer to carry out fieldwork or pay a fee to support this very worthwhile organisation.

Plantlife has offices across the UK, with the head office based in Salisbury. We so often take wild flowers and their habitat for granted, but Mr Ponting, with his dedication to promoting this charity, certainly aroused members' interest in the conservation needs that are being addressed by a number of caring people.

The club meets again on April 24 at Abbey House Garden, Malmesbury.

The tour starts at 11.30am with Ian Pollard.

Reports have been very good on this garden, so the members look forward to a successful day for their first outdoor meeting of the year.

Members are reminded that there is still time to do a little potting up for the plant sale on May 17 at the Memorial Centre. The club needs a good selection of plants in order to please its regular customers.