July 2024
GARDEN PARTY / VISIT TO HUNNINGHAM
This year's 'garden party' was held at Margaret and Peter Green's wonderful garden in Hunningham. According to the NGS entry, they grow over 2,000 different plants, and walking around it was easy to believe that claim. \over the past 20 plus years, they have established a really interesting and beautiful garden. There was a huge variety of planting to admire, benefiting from a range of soil types within the garden, from acid to limey to river loam, so they can cater for all botanical needs. The sheltered tender plantings of canna and gingers and dahlias were much admired, as was the fact that they had installed their huge oak pergola themselves with no help! We particularly admired how well and happy all the plants looked, wiht even lilies flourishing in the woodland's deep shade. It goes without saying that everything looked immaculate.
To cap it all, the Greens provided us with tea and delicious home made cakes, which went down a storm! Thank you to Margaret and Peter, and to Julie for setting this up for us.
June 2024
VISIT TO CASTLE BROMWICH HALL GARDENS
On 19 June we went to visit these local gardens. Set a few minutes from the M6 and Brimigham airport, it initially seemed an unlikely location. However once we got off the coach, and realised that there were 10 acres of restored walled gardens to visit, it made more sense.
The previously derelict gardens were taken on by a Trust and volunteers about 30 years ago, and restored to their late 17th century layout. The box-lined paths and hedges provided strong architectural structure to the whole area, including a splendid archery field. lined with variegated hollies. The whole garden was enhanced by some magnificent and interesting trees. Perhaps the overall wider view was more rewarding than the rather weedy beds themselves, which seemed to be suffering from a lack of manpower to tackle the invaders.
The suntrap Melon Garden was a lovely place to have a coffee, with huge fig trees on the walls. Overall it was an interesting day out and many thanks to Julie for organising it all.
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| Members of Southam Gardening Club |
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| Slightly too much white Lychnis Coronaria |
May 2024
LOW MAINTENANCE VEGETABLE GARDENING
Local allotment hero and expert Simon Wilson gave a very down to earth presentation on how to minimise the effort you need to put into growing vegetables - or indeed any plants.
Simon's advice could be distilled into three key points:- Improve and keep improving your soil
- Control pests as much as you can, using as few chemicals as possible
- Control weeds as early as possible.
Our claggy Southam clay soil is potentially very fertile as its tiny particles hold onto nutrients far better than other soils, so it is a question of regularly adding in organic matter and mulching. He even brought 'before and after' soil cores with him, to show how his allotment has benefited from mulching over many years: all of us could see the difference.
Pest control is something to keep on top of, and encourage predators into your garden as much as possible, and using barriers such as fine fleece
He advocated the use of a stirrup hoe as part of regular maintenance, combined with a beady eye to spot weeds at early stages.
It may have been a coincidence, but we had the highest turnout and most new faces joining us for this talk, more than we have seen for the whole year; we hope they become regular attendees!
There was also a plant sale, with everything brought by members of SGC, which raised a respectable £56. Any left over stock was taken home by Tessa to sell at the Family Fun Day later in May. Thanks to all involved.
- Improve and keep improving your soil
- Control pests as much as you can, using as few chemicals as possible
- Control weeds as early as possible.
Our claggy Southam clay soil is potentially very fertile as its tiny particles hold onto nutrients far better than other soils, so it is a question of regularly adding in organic matter and mulching. He even brought 'before and after' soil cores with him, to show how his allotment has benefited from mulching over many years: all of us could see the difference.
Pest control is something to keep on top of, and encourage predators into your garden as much as possible, and using barriers such as fine fleece
He advocated the use of a stirrup hoe as part of regular maintenance, combined with a beady eye to spot weeds at early stages.
It may have been a coincidence, but we had the highest turnout and most new faces joining us for this talk, more than we have seen for the whole year; we hope they become regular attendees!
There was also a plant sale, with everything brought by members of SGC, which raised a respectable £56. Any left over stock was taken home by Tessa to sell at the Family Fun Day later in May. Thanks to all involved.
April 2024
GROWING FLOWERS FOR CUTTING
Florist Nicola Hill from Gentle Blooms in Leamington came to give a talk and demonstration. She grows all her flowers on part of the Bridge Nursery site at Napton, which she rents from Christine Dakin. As a self-taught plant farmer and florist, Nicola clearly has a natural gift: she her arrangement at the RHS Chelsea flower show last May was awarded a silver-gilt medal (see below).
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| Detail of Nicola Hill's entry at RHS Chelsea 2023 |
In spite of a struggle with the sun shining into the hall making the slides invisible, she gave a great overview of what growing flowers for floristry entails - clearly it takes a great deal of work all year round, to ensure a constant supply of beautiful flowers and foliage. Her take-home message for annnual flowers was to feed the soil not the plants, do a lot of staking, and to keep cutting flowerrs to prevent the plants running to seed.
Finally Nicola demonstrated how she assembles a hand-tied bouquet, using lovely blooms she'd brought from Napton, and everyone was very jealous of the winner when it was raffled!
March 2024
Master Beekeeper Dr Jane Medwell's presentation was extremely instructive and gave us great overview of how vital bees are for our survival, and how we can support them.
Jane learnt beekeeping from her mother, and set up her own apiary about 25 years ago. She started with about 40 hives but now has around 12 in two or three apiaries near my home. She has been a Master Beekeeper since 2013.
Jane's main take-home message was how bees are the canaries in the coalmine in terms of environmental damage, and how crucial they are for food production - 75% of our food is pollinated by bees.
What can we do?
Bees need pollen, nectar and water when they are active (from very early Spring through to late Autumn.)
They prefer single flowers where the stamens are visible and many common weeds like dandelions are valuable so please don't nuke your lawns and other weeds - bees don't discriminate between precious plants or weeds!
Allowing lawn weeds to flower will support many insects.
A supply of water with safe access from, say, flat stones is ideal, rather than a steep sided container.
Some untidy areas will provide nesting sites for solitary and bumble bees.
February 2024
HOME COMPOSTING
Garden Organic Master Composter Rod Weston gave a really practical and interesting talk 'Talking Rot'. He made clear how straightforward home composting is - reassuringly, while you can buy special equipment and put effort into turning your compost heap, it isn't essential. Just by piling up equal amounts of green and brown waste, with a few inches of garden soil layered in during the process and on the top, you will get excellent compost, just taking a little longer to rot down.
Currently a rather shocking 97% of households are not composting their kitchen and garden waste, missing a really valuable opportunity to improve their soil, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Build the heap on a base of twigs or straw for aeration, using a 50:50 mix of green and brown waste - all raw, nothing that's ever been cooked:
- Greens: garden waste, grass mowings, annual weeds, vegetable and fruit waste, comfrey or nettle leaves. Mix grass mowings with shredded paper to avoid it going to smelly mush
- Browns: woody prunings (chop or shred if long,), straw, torn up cardboard, autumn leaves, woodchip. You can store the brown stuff to use when needed.
Useful information on how to set about composting can be found on the Garden Organic pages here as well as on Rod's very comprehensive website here (individual topics are listed on the green panel, scroll down to see the results).
January 2024
QUIZ NIGHT
Our first meeting of 2024 took the form of a gardening and general knowledge quiz, which was constructed and run by Sue Taylor (with several contributions from Mr T!). She managed to entertain and educate us along the way, with some apparently straightforward questions, tripping us up and enough trickier questions to sort out the various teams who attempted to beat the quizmaster - we didn't, and the room resounded with groans as we sighed our disappointment. The winning team were given pots of cheerful daffodils to give a foretaste of longed-for Spring flowers.
It was a fun way to start the new gardening year, in spite of the freezing church hall - it was a truly bitterly cold night - however, our massed efforts of brain power seemed to keep us from icing up!
Thanks go to Sue T. for designing the quiz, as well as to Nigel Chapman who gave the answers, and Sue Burnell who kindly kept the scores for us.
November 2023
WAYSIDE WONDERS AND COUNTRYSIDE CURIOSITIES
We were highly entertained by Dr Richard Churchley who spoke about the historical oddities that have survived over the centuries in and around the areas of the West Midlands. Things that you may have passed by in your car but have never given them much thought, although they are examples to reminder us of our dim and distant past.
There is an extremely tall fingerpost at Chipping Camden which seems far too high for car drivers to see, but as it was built for stagecoach drivers to read, sitting high up on their carriages, it makes perfect sense. Its distances are not correct as the old English mile was approximately 1.25 times the current modern mile.
Churches are another source of curiosity with many obscure names of medieval saints such as Milburgea and Eadburgea both female members of Mercian royal family who were made saints. An interesting church is St Kenelm’s in Romsley in the Clent Hills. St Kenelm was the king of Mercia who was martyred on the site of the church built in his memory and it subsequently became a site of pilgrimage to rival Canterbury.
In St John’s the Baptist chuch in Feckenham near Redditch there is a memorial stone surrounded by iron railings that is in memory of Phoebe Lee, the then queen of the gypsies whose death in 1861 was attended by hundreds of the travelling community.
Nearer to home in Warwickshire on the Stratford and Avon canal the Edstone aqueduct is the
longest cast iron aqueduct in England at 475 feet long. One of three aqueducts on a 4 mile stretch of this canal system. All three are unusual in that the towpath is on a level with the canal bottom rather than the level of the water.
There were lots of other examples of interesting oddities to be found if you do your homework and seek out these interesting sites and artefacts. A very interesting evening.
October 2023
Lucy Hartley a local garden designer and consultant came to our October meeting, giving a thought-provoking presentation on 'Climate Change and our Gardens'. She gave us a brief overview of what climate change actually means for our gardens and looked at ways we can use our gardens to guard and support local biodiversity while sequestering more carbon. Lucy gave us a real insight into how to cope with the changes that are undeniably coming or already happening, while giving us valuable tips on how to nurture a more healthy and resilient garden. While some of the talk was potentially depressing, her positive attitude and suggestions allowed us all to feel we could make a useful contribution to help counter the greenhouse effect.
This downloadable page gives numerous links for follow up for more infomration and practical help.
September 2023
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| Godmersham Park, owned by Edward Austen, Jane's brother Credit: Universal Art Archive / Alamy Stock Photo |
Our first meeting of the new gardening club year found us in our new venue at St Wulstan's which is very comfortable, to listen to a fascinating talk by Michael Brown (The Historic Gardener), on ‘Gardens in the time of Jane Austen’. As usual he came dressed in period costume, with a slight hint of Mr Darcy but fortunately sparing us the vision of a wet shirt.
Michael gave a great overview of early 19th century garden styles, showing how earlier parterres and allées were replaced with the more familiar landscapes of Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton. He made the interesting point that evergreen shrubs were less numerous then, so the (now rather scorned) laurel was then highly valued, not least as part of a newly fashionable shrubbery or wilderness - providing crucial opportunities for some light flirtation in a time of strict chaperones.
His talk incorporated numerous quotations from Jane Austen's novels, to show how the garden and landscape was ever-present in her writing, which helped to give context to his talk.
May 2023
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| Erigeron Karvinskianus image credit: DT Brown Seeds |
Robin Pearce, from Worlds End Garden, gave us a fascinating insight into the huge family of Daisy plants. There are more than 23,600 species globally, many originating from the USA. Few of us realised that Solidago and dandelions were in the family, while others like Cosmos and Asters were more easily identifiable as cousins of the lawn daisy. Robin is the former owner of Worlds End wholesale nursery. He is the former chair of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee, RHS Floral Judge, Exhibitor, Judge and Speaker. A comprehensive list of the plants he showed us is available here.
April 2023
Clematis Perle d'Azur at Sissinghurst
Howard Drury gave us an in-depth talk on 'Climbing, Twining and other Wall Plants'. Everyone appreciated his very interesting presentation and his professionalism (he brought an impressive array of high-spec equipment, speakers, etc) which enhanced our experience. We all learned a great deal, and enjoyed his beautiful images, backed up by musical interludes. Anyone who would like to delve into the subject in even more detail can refer to Howard's website which provides a wealth of information, including an encyclopaedic fact sheet - access it here.
March 2023
Well we really had a treat this month when one of our members gave a very interesting and well-illustrated talk on the wild flowers he has been cataloguing on his travels around California, France, Belize and, since the family's return to UK, our Warwickshire countryside. It was amazing how many flowers are lurking, mostly unnoticed, in our local vicinity. He has written several books on the subject and one lucky winner in our raffle left with a copy of his latest publication.
February 2023
This month was a change to the published programme where we had a gardening quiz. The question master was Nigel Chapman, one of our committee members, and 16 brave souls attended the meeting to show their horticultural knowledge ( or lack of it ). There were 9 subjects with 10 questions in each. Lots of groans were heard as the answers were read out. Of course we should have known the answer to that one! But in the end the successful team were presented with potted plants from our local florist.
January 2023
Alpines in the Wild and Cultivation was the subject of the talk by Diane Clement this month and we were treated to lots of slides of the Alps in Austria and Switzerland where Diane and her husband have holidayed for the last 40 years. Starting at the valley bottom, 3,000 ft above sea level, we had a conducted tour of all plants growing at this level before proceeding to the tree line at 7,000 and the alpine meadows at 7,500 ft. This area is full of pollen laden wild flowers for 3-4 months of the year only so the insects have to get their skates on before the cold sets in again. Above this is the very rocky scree landscape which looks to be too inhospitable for anything to grow but small alpine 'snowmelt' plants are clinging onto tiny chinks of sheltered gravel. Their roots go deep into the rocky surface helping them to survive under the snow when winter arrives. In order to grow these plants successfully here in the UK you need to replicate the harsh conditions in which they live naturally. Extremely sharp drainage and very little fussing. Although they cope with the sun in the Alps the temperature is not as hot as the UK and the cool night time temperatures help them to recover. The extremely hot weather we have recently experienced would not be appreciated so some shade may be required.
December 2022
Christmas time is the season of table decorations and we had an expert in the form of Ann Perkins who gave us an excellent demonstration of how we can make these from plants in our gardens with just a couple of added extras to bring a little colour and texture to the design.
Using winter stalwarts such a fatsia japonica, euonymous japonica, leylandii fronds, ivies and hebes for the bulk of the display she quickly put together very artistic and colourful items. She very kindly donated 3 decorations for our raffle table so 3 lucky winners were saved the task of making their own.
November 2022
This month's talk was on the specialist topic of topiary, something that needs a great deal of patience and time. Darren Lerigo has been specialising in topiary for a number of years and has built up an international reputation working on the continent and in the U.S A. You don't need a lot of tools for this aspect of gardening just a very sharp pair of steel shears, oil to keep the shears moving smoothly, a sharpening stone and lots of sheets to put under the topiary you are working on. This latter is essential as it greatly cuts down on the clearing up time. You also need to be fairly fit as it can be very tiring on the back, shoulders and arms.
Technique is everything. Keeping your hands low down on the handles closer to the blades keep one blade still against the topiary and just move the other hand to close the blades. It takes time to get the hang of it. The best plants to use as subjects are slow growing with a tight compact growth and light reflecting leaves. Box is traditionally the plant to use but the boxwood moth is slowly decimating these so alternatives are becoming more popular such as yew, beech, birch and hawthorn particularly for hedge work. The boxwood moth is active in early spring so if you see caterpillars around late March/early April spray immediately. Pheromone traps can be used to attract the male moths in an effort to mitigate the problem.
Derby Day is the usual day for pruning box but in fact it is better done from late August to December.
October 2022
This month we had a change from the published talk. Unfortunately Michael Brown was unable to join us due a medical issue so Andrew Halstead, brother of one of our committee members, kindly stepped into the breach. A former entomologist at RHS Wisley his talk was entitled 'Bugs that Bite Back'. There are the usual suspects in the UK that we are all familiar with, mosquitoes, horse flies, midges (Scottish variety),ticks, pet fleas and of course wasps and bees. But due to the warming up of our climate there are other beasties that are trying to make the UK their home. One such creature is the Asian hornet. Predominately black and orange/dark brown with a yellow head and lower limbs they are larger than our home grown wasps and any sightings of such creatures are to be reported to 'alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk together with a photograph and ideally a specimen although if you find a nest of such creatures keep well away as multiple stings can be fatal. Another pest that has a bounty on its head is the processionary oak moth caterpillar. Mainly found in oak woodlands they move in long columns nose to tail and then gather in large numbers on the trees which they then feed on and cause substantial damage. Again there is a contact to report such sights: opm@foresrtycommission.gov.uk who will take action to eradicate them. Not all creatures are welcome it would appear.
September 2022
Colin Ward made the long journey from Peterborough to give us a talk entitled 'Looking Good at the Moment'. Originally a farmer he decided to engage his passion for plants by opening a plant nursery on the farm. Needless to say the plants are now his pride and joy. Adam Frost, the well known garden designer and television presenter, is a regular visitor to seek out the more unusual specimens. He uses the no-dig method on his plot as he gardens on heavy clay. Having access to unlimited farmyard manure he is able to enrich his soil every year and create perfect conditions for his hungry plants. One of his favourite plants is Solomons seal (polygonatum ) and he has over 70 varieties in his collection. Other plants he recommended were trachycarpus fortunei and pachysandra axillaris. For anyone wishing to visit he is based in Market Deepening near Peterborough and his extensive website is 'swinesmeadowfarmnursery.co.uk.
May 2022
'Gardening for Butterflies and Moths' was the title of our last talk of this 'year' and it was given by two ladies both called Sue. They were extremely knowledgeable and showed us pictures of creatures both common and uncommon in our gardens and hedgerows. The main thrust of the talk was that they are specialist feeders or at least their caterpillars are and they have to lay their eggs on plants that the caterpillars can eat. Needless to say most of the plants are wild flowers such as bird's foot trefoil, field scabious, bugle and of course nettles although some require grasses. Adult butterflies will forage in our gardens for food looking for open flowers such as sedum, rudbeckia and buddleja where they can use their proboscis to drink the nectar. Some butterflies and moths don't have mouth parts as they complete their lifecycle with days of emerging from their chrysalis after having mated and laid their eggs. Nature is endlessly fascinating. For those who want additional information the following website will help: www.butterfly-conservation.org.
April 2022
Carl Sadler was the man in the hot seat for this meeting giving us a talk on trug-making. This traditional garden implement has been around since the 4th century and are made by hand from ash or sweet chestnut for the frame and willow for the slats. The thin willow slats have to be soaked in water to make them pliable so they can be bent to shape to make the basket sides and base. The nails used to secure the wood have to be copper as they are not affected by the tannins in the wood which would ultimately rot other metals. Mr Sadler also entertained us with stories from his involvement in the filming industry where he builds items for use on film sets.
March 2022
This talk was given by Margie Hoffnung and was entitled 'Garden visiting - a very British Tradition'. Unfortunately it was marred by a technical hitch when the projector couldn't be persuaded to 'talk' to the laptop computer. This meant that those present had to crowd around the small screen in order to see the pictures. It wasn't ideal as many of the members couldn't get close enough. The talk itself was interesting and highlighted the joys inherent in our love of gardens and those who create and maintain them.
February 2022
From spring flowering daffodils we swiftly moved to autumn flowering dahlias with a talk by
Howard Richards entitled 'A year with Dahlias'. The starting time for these plants is March/April when the tubers are encouraged to produce new shoots by potting them in trays in a mixture of compost/sand and vermiculite. These new shoots can either be used as cuttings to produce new plants or left on the tuber to grow into full-sized stems. When taking cuttings it is best to cut just below a pair of leaves and not into the tuber itself. Once the risk of frost is gone the plants can then be put into the garden either in pots or in the soil. If you want to have show standard flowers then it is necessary to restrict the number of flowers per stem so that the plant puts all its energy into producing good blooms. After flowering if your soil is not free draining the tubers will need to be dug up and stored in a frost free shed or garage or else they will rot. Dahlias come in a variety of flower shapes and a riot of colours. They are a must if you want colour in your garden from summer to the first frosts but they are not for the faint hearted. I love them.
January 2022
The first talk of this new year was on those perennial favourites - daffodils. There must be few gardens that don't have them somewhere. Our speaker, John Gibson, was extremely knowledgeable having grown and hybridised them for over 35 years. He is also currently the vice-chairman of the RHS Bulb Committee. He started by outlining the history of the species and their early habitats around the Mediterranean both at sea level and in the mountains, and amazingly some bulbs were discovered in Egyptian tombs. There are currently around 100 species and 150 sub-species in total amounting to over 32,000 named varieties. Many are now scented although some can be overpowering and as scent can be a very personal thing sometimes it is not attractive. There are daffodils that flower in the autumn although these are not very common. The daffodils position as a harbinger of spring is unassailable.
December 2021
This month's talk was a real treat. The current owner Anne Chambers of the Kiftsgate Court Garden in Gloucestershire gave a fascinating talk on history of the garden and how she is following in the footsteps of her grandmother who started the garden in the early 20th century and her mother who continued the development of it afterwards. It is a very personal garden and she delighted the members by saying it is a garden created and maintained by lady gardeners. She pointed out that that the lawn edges were not as crisp as neat as some gardens - perhaps a comparison with the neighbouring garden of Hidcote Manor which is under the stewardship of the National Trust less than a mile away. Also she is developing new areas of the garden in keeping with the current awareness of the need for biodiversity to help support the other creatures and invertebrates who inhabit our gardens. It is a lovely garden and one that needs to be visited regularly.
November 2021
The talk this month had the arresting title of 'The Sex Life of Plants' by Celia Davis. Of course it was all about how plants use different strategies to ensure their existence and sometimes improve their chances of survival in the changing environments. We often think that most plants are pollinated by insects, namely bees, but in fact there are other ways such as wind, water, birds and animals who also do their bit to help the seeds of plants and trees to disperse to pastures new, literally.
October 2021
This month's talk was given by Simon Gulliver on his time working for the National Trust and how the charity organised its staff to maintain and improve the gardens in their care. Simon's time was spent in the Lancashire and Cheshire region and his slides covered properties in those areas although he later worked on properties in the Midlands. It was very interesting to hear how many specialists are involved in the restoration and maintenance of these special places.
September 2021
Our inaugural talk for our first meeting since March 2020 was very unusual in that for the first time in our (short) history the speaker failed to arrive. Instead, one of our members stepped into the breach and lead a discussion among our members of the highs and lows of the current gardening year. Tips and hints were shared on all types of growing from the usual roses, shrubs and flowers to fruit and vegetables.
We later discovered that our speaker had got his diary mixed up so we hope to hear his talk on 'Gardening in the time of Jane Austen' next year.
April & May 2020
Sadly our talks for April and May were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and lock down. We will resume our meetings when we are allowed and when we feel safe to do so.
March 2020
'Gardening for wildlife' was the subject of our talk this month, again a change from the one advertised in our programme. Rosemary Winnall hails from Bewdley and is fortunate to have a garden surrounded by open countryside which encourages a varied selection of creatures, birds and insects to visit it. The plants in her garden have been carefully chosen to provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife including flies which many of us hate but which are an important food source for birds. Heather and mahonia flowers are popular with bluetits and in early spring flowers such as pulmonaria are a godsend to solitary bees coming out of hibernation. The different types of flowerheads attract different insects, umbelifers are useful for hoverflies who can easily land on their flat surfaces whereas the foxglove flowers attract bees who climb into the flowerpods in search of pollen. Rosemary has spent many happy hours in her garden recording her visitors on camera and video and we were enthralled by the variety. Perhaps we should spend more time in our own gardens just sitting quietly and seeing who or what is enjoying our space too.
February 2020
Hellebores, those spring stalwarts of the perennial border were the subject of our February talk by Andrew Mikolojski. (Andrew very kindly stood in for our original speaker who was unfortunately unable to leave her home in Bridgnorth due to flooding). Hellebores originate from Yugoslavia where they grow in open grassland.In the UK their ideal place is under deciduous trees where they can bask in the spring sunshine and then take shelter from summer sunshine as the trees grow leaves above them. Hellebores are difficult to divide unlike most other perennials and grow more easily from seed as anyone who has them in their garden will know as they can quickly colonise a suitable bed. From a growers perspective they take time to propagate from seed, often taking 2-3 years to have a suitably sized plant to sell so we shouldn't begrudge the price tag on mature plants for sale in nurseries and garden centres. Andrew had a large selection of slides showing the wide variety of colours and petal formations and gave lots of advice on the best varieties to look out for.
January 2020
New Year ,New Start and we had a summary of the gardening year at Old Court Nurseries in a talk given by Helen Picton who is now in charge at Picton Nursery in Colwall, Worcestershire, home of the national collection of asters. Lots of lovely slides helped to cheer us up and give us hope that spring is on its way and we can soon look forward to lots of colourful gardens again. They have been doing some major renovations to the gardens at the nursery to extend the seasons of interest and it will be well worth a visit when the weather warms up in the spring.
December 2019
Michael as usual gave an extremely interesting talk on what was eaten at Medieval banquets and the manners required of the invited guests. Two committee members successfully produced nibbles using recipes provided by Michael which only allowed ingredients that would have been available at the time. One of the many facts that came out of the talk was that ale was drunk in preference to water as the rivers and streams were used to dump rubbish in so were not healthy sources. Presumably the alcohol in the ale killed any nasties that might have been lurking in the water used to make it. Another one was that bread which was cooked in wood ovens was cut in half horizontally and the top halves were given to the guests on the high table and the bottom halves to the lower ranking guests as it would have ash on it. Hence the phrase 'upper crust' meaning people of higher rank. It was a very timely talk two weeks before our own traditional feast of Christmas.
November 2019
Andrew Mikolajski gave a fascinating talk on women gardeners entitles 'The March of the Women'. Until relatively recently the career of gardening was not considered suitable for women to do. Gertrude Jeykll was the first female designer of renown but even she worked with a man, Edward Lutyens who did the hard landscaping. It was interesting to hear that all of Gertrude's garden designs were bought by an American, Beatrix Ferrand, and are now in California. Andrew introduced us to over a dozen women who worked in garden design, some we recognised such as Vita Sackville West, Marjorie Fish, Rosemary Verey and Beth Chatto but others we didn't, Ellen Willmott, Norah Lindsay, Sylvia Crowe, Martha Schwartz and Isablle Greene. A great talk and one which made you want to find out more about these trail blazing designers.
October 2019
This month we were entertained by Howard Drury on the subject of 'Gardening as we get older'. Howard is a popular speaker and his talks are professionally prepared on his laptop together with full sound system. He gave sensible advice on how to continue gardening as we age such as wearing sensible clothing, in particular footwear and not going out in extreme weather both hot and cold. Also he made suggestions for the types of plants to grow - choose those that are self supporting - avoid plants that need a lot of attention and buy plug plants to save time growing them yourself from seed. His final advice was not to downsize just because the garden seems to be getting too much but buy in help if you can afford it or just let the garden grow a bit looser. The act of gardening is very beneficial to our well being both mental and physical and that is worth much more than a few extra weeds in the borders.
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
Hardy Geraniums was the subject of our talk this month and we had an excellent speaker from Hoo House Nursery based in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Julie Ritchie founded the nursery over 30 years ago and has an extensive knowledge of these versatile plants. There are geraniums for every soil type and situation and Julie had lots of slides to show us. Even she admitted that there are lots of similarities between some of the plants with regard to colour but as long as you know the specific genus of the subject then you know where it will grow best and how it will perform. They are easy to grow and don't need a lot of attention other than a haircut once or twice a year. There was one caveat, beware Geranium pyrenaicum 'Bill Wallis'. If he likes your garden you will have him for life!
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| Courtesy of anniesannuals.com |
This year we decided to offer an additional garden visit to the membership and 19 of us made the journey to visit the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Wisley in Surrey. This is the home of the RHS and this was borne out by the sheer size and variety of the site. Despite being there for 5 hours we still didn't get to see all of it. One of the most interesting parts of the garden are the trial grounds where various shrubs, plants and vegetables are grown to assess their performance over the seasons and to see if they are worthy of being awarded the prestigious AGM, award of garden merit, which is the highest accolade of the plant breeding world. These initials after the plant's name is a reassurance to the plant buyer that it will perform as described on the label as long as it is cared for as instructed.
A beautiful orchid in full flower at Wisley Gardens
July 2019
Our annual garden get-together was hosted this year by Tessa Sadler, one of our committee members. The weather was fine and over 20 members and guests enjoyed sandwiches and cake whilst strolling round Tessa's varied and well-stocked plot.
June 2019
Coton Manor Gardens in Northamptonshire was the venue for our annual summer trip, www.cotonmanor.co.uk. It is a delightful private garden covering several acres with well-kept herbaceous borders, woodland glades, a wild flower meadow and a herb and kitchen garden. It is also home to several pink flamingos who posed for photos by the lake. A well stocked nursery ensured that most of us came home with plants. The weather was kind to us and we all enjoyed tea and cake in the courtyard cafe.
May 2019
'The unexpected Role of Plants in Medicine' was the title of the talk that we enjoyed this month. Alison Foster gave a fascinating insight into the advances made in science using plant derivatives to assist in the treatment of our current ailments.
April 2019
This month saw a return visit by Geoff Hodges talking about the Life and Times of a Gardening Editor. Geoff has visited us twice before and is always a popular speaker.He gave a humorous and informative talk on his career starting with sowing wallflower seeds in a wall aged five, well to a five year old that would make sense, leading up to the present as a freelance gardening writer. He then took us through the process of editing a garden magazine. He didn't disappoint with his customary contribution to our raffle prizes bringing a new style deckchair that he had recently reviewed for a magazine. One lucky winner had a good evening.
March 2019
This month's talk was of local interest being the history and restoration of Hill Close Gardens in Warwick. Michael and Christine Sheldon gave a detailed account of the timely rescue of these 19th century pleasure gardens which were due to be destroyed in 1995 in order to build houses. The gardens were originally sold by a speculative land owner to the local business people who normally lived above their business premises and consequently had no outdoor space to enjoy in their spare time. Some were used to grow vegetables and keep livestock such as chickens and even pigs. Others had built summerhouses on their plots, some of which have been restored to their former glory following major restoration work financed by donations and a grant from the National Lottery Fund in 2005/2007.
The gardens are open to the public every day from April to October but please note the tearoom is only open on weekends and Bank Holidays! It was a very interesting talk on a local attraction that is very well hidden in the centre of Warwick. For more information look on the following site: www.hillclosegardens.com
February 2019
We were entertained this month by John Millington from Hillview Hardy Plants who gave an interesting talk on Primulas and Auriculas. His comprehensive slides showed us the many varieties that make up this colourful genera from the hardy garden favourites to the more delicate varieties that require more tender care. He also has a sideline in making auricular theatres which are the traditional way of showing these tough little plants. The Hillside Hardy Plants website is a treasure trove of all the different colours available at : www.hillviewhardyplants.com .
January 2019
The talk this month was by Dave Cropp, with a talk about 'William Shakespeare, gardener'. Dave was an entertaining speaker, and his costume was well received, as was his prop - a very old spade! Dave gave us a lot of quotes from Shakespeare plays, particularly those that mention flowers, plants, and all things edible. He pointed out that bay trees are mentioned in Richard II , but they were not available at the time, so must have been added to the play at a later stage. Many quotes also included weeds, moss and mistletoe. Shakespeare used his local area too in his plays - Southam is mentioned in Henry VI, part 3, Act V, Scene I, Lines 10–16:
WARWICK
Say, Somerville, what says my loving son?
And, by thy guess, how nigh is Clarence now?
SOMERSET
At Southam I did leave him with his forces,
And do expect him here some two hours hence.
There are also plants that are NOT mentioned - such as lettuce, tomatoes, raspberries, currants, probably because they were either not recognised, or not available. All in all, a good night.
We now look forward to February’s talk by John Millington, on 'Primulas and Auriculas' to be held on Monday 18th February. John runs Hillview Hardy Plants at Bridgnorth in Shropshire, which specialises in Auriculas. John is a regular speaker at gardening clubs.
Christmas Meeting
This month we had a fun Christmas Gardening Quiz instead of a speaker. Philip Aubrey was an excellent quiz-master, and we had four tables of four on each. There were three rounds of 20 minutes including marking, when we swapped answer sheets with another table. Small prizes were awarded for each round:- Plants pests and diseases - picture identification- What where when - multiple choice questions- Found in a garden - anagrams.Nothing was too difficult and Philip only allowed each table to win once. We all learned a lot about pests and diseases!Stella Ellard won the prize for Best Christmas Table Decoration, which Philip judged,and there were a good number of entries. Everyone had a very festive and enjoyable evening.Nigel Chapman has had a good response to his request for members to help with theGardening Club's new project - the allotment at the back of the vet's surgery on CoventryStreet. This is currently run by Geoff and Liz King, who wish to give it up, so we have been offered this LARGE plot. Any member or family member can go along when they have some free time: just give your name to Nigel. Why not go along to check it out? All ideas most welcome!-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Gardens and Garden VisitsIn November Hugh Thomas, head gardener at Little Malvern Court, gave us a really
Little Malvern Court
(photo from their website)interesting talk in which, rather than show us a parade of photos of flowers and plants,
he discussed how we experience a garden visit and the subtle ways that first impress-
ions, setting, design, layout all form part of our appreciation.He used numerous well and less-known gardens as examples, comparing the highly closed-off design of Hidcote to a collection of discrete short stories, whereas gardens like Little Malvern Court,Coughton, or Wollerton Old Hall are designed to lure you through them with a form of narrative rather like a longer novel. Hugh's slides clearly showed the way that our experience of a garden can be influenced by the surrounding architecture, its context within the landscape, as well as topography, style, design - let alone the plants themselves!
Hugh drew his examples from many gardens, including: Thenford, Coughton Court, Scampston, Chatsworth, Kiftsgate, Hidcote, Painswick, Gresgarth Hall, Stourhead, Arley Hall, Perrycroft, WollertonOld Hall, The Dorothy Clive Garden, Athelhampton and Mapperton, as well as his own place of work: Little Malvern Court..
Wollerton Old Hall Rill Garden
(photo: Gardenista.com)Gods in the Garden
Boar at Chatsworth House The 'Historic Gardener', aka Michael Brown, gave a fascinating talk on the history of statues in gardens, reminding us how many of them feature numerous statues of classical and other subjects. Michael also offered us a whistle-stop overview of Greek and Roman mythology, which can't fail to add a completely new dimension to our future visits to these stately home and National Trust sites. Lovely photos, and an interesting subject - thank you Michael!
Hercules and Antaeus at Stowe -0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Bee-Friendly Gardening: A Taste of HoneyOur September 2018 talk was by Elizabeth Gowing, who, whilst living in Kosovo, was given a beehive, which she kept on a farm owned by a farmer with a lot of hives, and who introduced her to beekeeping. Her bees were from the Balkans (as they are here) and so very hardy. There are 253 types of bees in the UK, one of which is our honey bee, the only one to produce honey in a form that can be harvested by humans.You don't keep bees - they decide where to stay. To attract them in we need to grow flowers they like. Old-fashioned cottage garden and blue/purple flowers are best, as are highly scented flowers. Double-forms and hybridised flowers are not attractive to them as they can't access the pollen and nectar they are looking for from the flower. We should try to have plants that flower early and late in the season.Throughout the world honey bees are responsible for one-third of pollination, so we need them. In one province in China there is so much pollution that bees have died out and humans are having to do the pollination, at great cost. Australia also has human pollinators.There are 50,000 bees in an average hive, although there can be up to 150,000, and one bee will visit 125,000 flowers to make just one teaspoon of honey!Even our superb NHS is using honey-impregnated dressings and bandages on deep wounds, due to its hygroscopic and preservative properties - the link takes you to an NHS patient leaflet.Much food for thought: let’s all do our best to support these wonderful insects.
Bee photo credits: genehanson.com -0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
