Volunteer with Hydrangea Derby

Hydrangea Derby is a voluntary group. We work in close partnership with Derby City Council to make this area of Darley Park a delight to visit and an attraction which draws more visitors to Derby. We are a member of Plant Heritage whose role it is to save plant species and cultivars from extinction. The garden holds the only National Collection of Hydrangea paniculata in the world. Our other hydrangeas have not been abandoned and are given the extra care and attention they need. We add more plants every year which we have been given or purchased. All this work is done by volunteers!

There is a small committee who run the administrative side of things and a very willing group of volunteers who come out between March and October on a Tuesday morning to take on all sorts of gardening jobs, from planting new varieties, deadheading, pruning, weeding, sweeping paths, dividing and moving overgrown plants and anything else that needs doing.

If you would like to join the group, get in touch through our Contact page. We only expect you to do what you can. Within the 2 hours we meet between 10am and 12, there is a chance to get to know the other volunteers over a cup of tea at 11am but that’s not compulsory.

Donate to Hydrangea Derby

As we carry on our work in the hydrangea garden, we continue to look for and receive new funding for the collection. Excellent as it is to have more volunteers, they will always need more equipment.   There are more plants we would like to add to the collection.  There is always a new variety to add to the National Collection of Hydrangea paniculata.  The labelling of all the plants must continue.  New leaflets are needed, and we need to pay our website and Plant Heritage fees.  All these things are on the agenda but we do need funds to complete the tasks.

 

For online donations, our Just Giving Page is a click away.  We also have an envelope scheme in the walled garden for cash donations which can be deposited in the donation box inside the Darley Park café.