Thanks to the two dozen people - and Teddy the dog - who came along on our monthly public tour earlier this week. Tour guide Jude took us through the medical heritage of a selection of plants in our collections.

Our monthly combo of a lecture and a public tour will take place next Tuesday (27 Sept). At 10.30 in the Education Centre Ed Watchorn will tell us about his journey to become senior gardener at Brodsworth. Then at 1pm we’re offering an apothecary tour of the Gardens, looking at the medicinal heritage of plants.

Join us tomorrow evening (Monday 12th Sept) for a lecture on growing and propagating a wide range of popular culinary, medicinal and scented herbs, plus insights into life on the shows circuit.

September is the start of our new membership year. So please ensure your subscription is up-to-date if you’d like to continue to receive all the benefits of membership - and continue to support the Gardens. The easiest way to renew is via the Join Us section of the website.

The Botanical Gardens will feature on BBC Gardeners World this Friday (2 Sept) as part of an item on gardener and author William Robinson. Garden historian Advolly Richmond - who lectured for us earlier this year - called into the Gardens with a film crew earlier this month.

Nearly 500 people from all over Sheffield came to the Gardens last Thursday for a teddy bears picnic organised by our education co-ordinator Laura Alston. Helped by volunteers - including some Friends of the Gardens - she laid on crafts, trails, picnic spots, botanical bingo, a Wessex Archaeology stall and of course a bear hunt!

The fourth Tuesday of every month sees our pairing of a talk in the morning followed by a tour of the Gardens. For August, our talk will be ‘Looking after your houseplants’ by Gillian Fearn, starting at 10.30am in the Dorothy Fox Education Centre. Free for Friends.

We’re holding one of our occasional plant sales today (20th August) at 47 Slayleigh Lane (Fulwood) S10 3RG from 2pm to 4pm. Lots of splendid garden plants for sale - from the familiar to the highly unusual. All grown by our expert propagators in peat-free compost and available at reasonable prices.

Our Monday evening lecture tonight will be ‘Alpines in the Wild and in Cultivation’ by Diane Clement. Join us at 7.30pm in the Dorothy Fox Education Centre to learn about different alpine scenery, and the clues it gives us about growing these plants in our gardens.

Join us tomorrow (Sunday 31 July) for our latest pop-up Plant Sale. This one will take place on the lower lawns of the Botanical Gardens from 1pm till at least 3pm.

Join us on Tuesday (26th July) for our regular pair of events - a talk on the gardening charity Perennial at 10.30am in the Dorothy Fox Centre, followed by a public tour of the Gardens at 1pm, starting from the Thompson Road gates.

The latest edition of our newsletter is now available to view in the Friends Area of the website. Learn about our new chair, Carolyn Clark, the latest news from the charitable Trust and from our education co-ordinator Laura, plus gardens to visit in Northamptonshire, membership news, a request for volunteer help and an offer of discounted tickets for some special online lectures.

Thanks to Gill and Gayle at the splendid Morton Nursery for hosting a visit by Friends this afternoon (13 July). Glorious sunshine, a guided tour of the inspirational planting, tea and cake, and then a chance to do some serious plant shopping!

The ‘Jungle Garden’ of one of our members is open this summer by appointment under the National Garden Scheme. Many of us enjoyed the Zoom talk that Simon Olpin gave us last year (still available to view in the Friends Area of the website) about the development of his exotic plot. Now you can tour the garden in person with Simon as your knowledgeable guide - and enjoy some tea and delicious home-made cake at the end of the tour.

Our next pop-up Plant Sale will be in the morning of Sunday 10th July on the lower lawns of the Botanical Gardens. Join us from 10.30 to browse a mixture of familiar plants and some very unusual ones, all grown by our volunteers in peat-free compost and offered at reasonable prices.