Phoenix Garden Events
Back to Nature
Free weekly sessions for those aged over 55 years, Tuesday 12:30-14:30 (timings subject to occasional change)
CLICK ON THE LINK TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST
7 June – Sunday 13:00-15:00
Give & Gain Houseplant Swap. Part of our London Open Gardens Event. Looking to refresh your indoor jungle? Join us for our Give & Gain Houseplant Event — a friendly swap where plant lovers meet to exchange healthy houseplants, cuttings, and plant care tips!
Bring a plant (or a few) you’re ready to part with, and in return, go home with something new. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just getting started, this is the perfect way to diversify your collection and meet fellow plant enthusiasts.
No need to register for this session, just come along with your houseplant.
9 June
Eco printing. Discover the art of eco printing in this hands-on session designed for beginners. Eco printing is a natural dyeing technique that captures the delicate shapes and pigments of leaves and flowers, transferring them directly onto paper to create beautifully organic prints.
During the workshop, participants will arrange botanical materials between sheets of watercolour paper to create their own unique designs. We’ll also be joined by a small group from The Wellcome Trust who will help set up the session by soaking the paper in mordant—a solution that helps enhance and preserve the natural colours. Your prepared arrangements will then be carefully secured between tiles and placed in the oven to steam for around 30 minutes, allowing the natural dyes to develop and imprint onto the paper.
Once dry, each participant will reveal their one-of-a-kind prints, which can be transformed into gift tags or personalised greeting cards that we’ll make at another session. Don’t forget to initial your paper first to help you remember which is yours.
16 June – Transport strike
Bath bombs & pétanque. In case the transport strike is cancelled or if you are able to get to the Phoenix Garden, we’ll make bath bombs and play a game of pétanque.
23 June
Lavender cosmetics. We’ll use up the last of the lavender infused oil to make two products; soap and moisturiser. We have a selection of glass jars that we can sterilise ready to pour in moisturiser to take home. The soap will take a week or so before it hardens sufficiently.
To help us with this we will be joined by a group of volunteers from the NHS. We’ll form two groups taking turns working on each activity.
Group 1 – Lavender soap then moisturiser
Group 2 – Moisturiser then soap
We’ll also pick fresh herbs straight from the garden to make herbal tea and play pétanque while we chat with the team from the NHS.
25 June – Thursday 11:00-16:00
Trip to Kew Gardens – Community Open Week Relaxed Day. Meet at 11:00 at Victoria Gate. Victoria Gate is the entry point closest to Kew Station (District Line or Overground).
This is a day with specific activities designed to be calm and relaxed for people who face accessibility issues. Most activities are drop in but some can be booked at the welcome tent on the day.
Bring and packed lunch and we can get a coffee and one of the many cafes.
30 June – 11:00-14:00
Trip to Golders Hill Park Zoo – Golders Hill Park, North End Way, London NW3 7HE. We’ll meet outside Golders Green Station (Northern Line) at 11:00. From there we can either walk (14 minutes) or catch the 210 or 268 bus to the park. Golders Hill Park Zoo is free to visit and within the park there is also a walled garden, café and toilets.
There is good accessibility throughout the park with no steep hills and lots of paved pathways. We can stop at the café for lunch.
