Date – 3 June 2025
Time – 12:00 am
SAVE THE DATE The Chartered Institute of Horticulture’s Annual General Meeting is taking place online via Zoom on Tuesday 3 June 2025 at 6.30pm. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is an opportunity for members to find out more about the Institute’s performance in the past year and discover the plans for the future. Notice is hereby given that in accordance with the Charter and Byelaws any members intending to move resolutions at the AGM should provide notice, in writing, to the Honorary Secretary 56 days (8 April 2025) beforehand at which time the Agenda shall be published – secretary@horticulture.org.uk. The AGM will be followed by the James Bruce Memorial Lecture. Please note, registration for the AGM automatically registers you for the James Bruce Memorial Lecture so no need to register separately. Should you be unable to stay for the lecture, you will be free to leave at anytime.
James Bruce Memorial Lecture
‘Pathless forest: the quest to save the world’s largest flowers’ with Dr Chris Thorogood, 7.30pm on Tuesday 3rd June 2025
Botanist and Head of Science at Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum Dr Chris Thorogood will deliver his lecture entitled “Pathless forest: the quest to save the world’s largest flowers” . The story of his journey to study and protect Rafflesia. A biological enigma, still little understood, which invades vines as a leafless parasite and steals its food from them. Chris will tell the story of his fieldwork in untrodden rainforests in search of Rafflesia’s ghostly, foul-smelling blooms, more than a metre across.
About the James Bruce Memorial Lecture:
James Bruce MBE (1908-1992) was a Fellow of the then Institute of Horticulture (IoH), having previously been a member of the Horticultural Education Association since 1934, the forerunner of the IoH. Bruce had a distinguished career as a horticultural adviser, advising country estates and prisoner of war camps on vegetable production through the Second World War. Bruce later became the Head of the Department of Horticulture at East of Scotland College, where he was responsible for greatly improving the teaching estate and resources. This lecture recognises the enduring influence of James Bruce on the sharing of horticultural knowledge.
In recent years the lecture has been delivered by: David Gwyther CBE, CEO Horticultural Trades Association; Dr Simon Thornton-Wood, Director of Science & Learning, RHS; Roy Lancaster OBE, VMH, FCIHort, FLS; Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary, Defra; Linda Lennon CBE, RHS Director of Horticulture and Head of Science; Richard Barley MBE CHort FCIHort Head of Horticulture, Kew Gardens; John Adlam CHort FCIHort, Dove Associates; Hayley Campbell-Gibbons, AHDB Horticulture Board Chair; Prof. Dave Goulson, University of Sussex; Matthew Appleby, Editor Horticulture Week and landscaping expert and author Alan Sargent FCIHort.