We’re delighted to have been gifted an extraordinary plant to auction in aid of BATCOM.
‘Lucky Jim’ is a rare species of agapanthus (African lily) – not a hybrid or commercial variety. It was discovered in the mountains near Johannesburg, South Africa by a plant hunter named Jim, who brought it to the UK and named it after himself.
Only two known collections of Lucky Jim are believed to exist in the UK: a national collection held by a specialist grower, and a collection in Thrupp from which this plant has been generously donated.
Because it was never commercially registered, it cannot be sold in the usual way. Instead, it is preserved through a plant conservation scheme, making this a genuinely unusual opportunity to grow and help preserve this remarkable plant.
🌱 We’re running a silent auction, with all proceeds supporting BATCOM’s community composting work.
To place your bid, simply email us at news@batcom.org.uk with your bid amount.
📅 Bidding closes at midnight on Friday 17th July, and the winning bidder will be announced on Saturday 18th July.
Good luck, and thank you for supporting BATCOM!
Congratulations Simon!
We’re so proud of our Member-Director Simon Deeves who was awarded a Silver Guilt Medal this week for his RHS Badminton Pocket Planting garden ‘A Celebration of Compost and Community’ – inspired by BATCOM! He’s had a lot of questions about what we do from the Show’s visitors. Thanks to everyone who supported Simon in his fundraiser and our lovely volunteers who helped him build it on site.
You can vote for Simon’s garden in the RHS People’s Choice Award by clicking on it in the Pocket Planting Garden drop-down menu on this link (voting closes midday Friday 10th July).
About diseased box hedge cuttings…
To help protect the quality of BATCOM’s compost, please do not bring box (Buxus) cuttings affected by box tree moth or box blight. We can’t guarantee that our composting process reaches temperatures high enough throughout the heaps to destroy these pests and diseases. Box blight spores can also survive for many years in dead plant material – just when you thought it was safe to bring to us! Thank you for helping us prevent their spread and keeping BATCOM’s compost healthy.