Gardening in a changing climate

Cathy (right) and Georgina

Cathy Kitchingman and business partner Georgina Bordewich gave a presentation on gardening in a changing climate which gave us all food for thought. Friday Forum visited Cathy’s beautiful garden, Prospect House in Burton Leonard, last year but they are making changes in view of the wetter winters and hotter summers we are experiencing.

Cathy and Georgina gave us many tips and planting ideas on how to build in resistance and adapt to cope with the changes for our consideration.

If you would like to visit Prospect House, the NGS open day for 2026 is on May 24^th. They also run workshops

Display Table

Judith brought this pot of Nerines which have been more successful than growing them in the ground, although exposing the top of the bulbs may help

 

 Derek brought some home grown chillis. “Viper” had no bite at all but the Scotch Bonnets were the real thing!

 Judith also brought this yellow rose “Buff Beauty”

 Kate brought a yellow Dahlia “Bishop’s Children” grown from seed, Symphotochum “Prairie Purple”, Salvia Amistad, Helianthus “Lemon Queen”, Erysimum “Bowles Mauve” and Caratostigma willmottianum

 Sue brought Asters: Barrs Pink, Samoa, Monch, Alma Potschke and unknown purple and white ones, Persicaria amplexicaulis “Black Field” and “Orange Field”, Bidens aurea, Penstemon “King George” and “Wedding Day”, Nerine bowdenii, Hesperanthus coccinea huttonii baurii, Helenium “Sahin’s Early Flowerer”, Catananche and Fuchsias “Genii” and “Delta’s Sarah”

 Amanda brought a pot of Salvias: Wendy’s Wish, Black and Blue with its green foliage, Nachtwinder, Devon Cream and Cera Potosi.

 

                                                           A pot of Nemesia

 

                     and a pot of the scented, climbing Petunia “Tickled Pink” and Alstromeria

Next Meetings:

7th November: Forum -Celebrating the poppy. Please bring anything relating to the poppy; art work, poetry etc. Member Ann Bell will talk on the medicinal uses of the poppy.

21st November: Presentation -Ben Preston (Cliff Bank Nursery). A New Chapter

5th December: Forum - Making table decorations for Christmas

19th December: Christmas party Quiz and food. Crafts demonstration by Peter Blackwell

Harvest is a joyful time of gathering the produce of the land. Sunday Adelaja

 

Harvest Baking Contest

Members were asked to submit their entries which were judged by John Freer and then sampled by all the members.

Category 1: Savoury Scones - 1^st Prize went to Amanda

Category 2: Fruit Scones – 1^st Prize went to Amanda

Category 3: Fruit Pie – No entries

Category 4: Cake to include a vegetable - 1^st Prize went to Suzanne

Congratulations to all who entered. We certainly enjoyed sampling the produce.

Quiz

While the judging was taking place, Maggie had organised a quiz for us on famous cats from Bagpuss to Puss in Boots. Two teams shared first place and won prizes, some of which were kindly donated by Caroline and Chris.

Display Table

 Dorothy brought Polianthes Super Gold

 

Dorothy also brought homegrown Pears (which one 1^st Prize at the National Vegetable Society show)

Kate brought the foliage of Euonymus

 

Kate’s vase contained Mahonia “Soft Caress”, Anemone “Dreaming Swan, Rudbekia deamii, Persicaria bistorta Superba, Persicaria “Dikke Floskes”, Geranium “Ann Folkard”, Spirea “Katherine Havemeyer” and Hydrangea

 Judith brought Dahlias, Caryopteris, Aster “Little Carlow”, Nicandra physalodes, and Ricinus

John brought Dahlias, annual Rudbekia, Cosmos, Guillardia and Helichrysum all sown from seed 

Ann’s Clematis “Pink Dwarf”

Next Meetings

17^th October – A presentation by Cathy Kitchingham and assistant Georgina from Prospect House, a garden we visited last year, entitled Gardening in a Changing Climate

7^th November - Celebrating the Poppy. Ann Bell will be speaking about the role of the poppy in medicine. Please bring anything poppy-related to display or discuss eg handicrafts, poetry

Presentation by Henrietta Huntley of Freckles and Flora

 

Presentation by Henrietta Huntley of Freckles and Flora

Henrietta Huntley spoke to us about Asters and the late flowering perennials.

Henrietta is based near Thirsk in North Yorkshire and has recently started a new business called Freckles and Flora.  

Henrietta mainly propagates her own plants and particularly loves umbels and asters. The talk gave us new ideas about what to have growing in our gardens for colour throughout the Autumn, which of course benefits the wildlife in our gardens. 

Display Table

 Kate brought Astrantia ‘Buckland’, Aster frikartii ‘Monch’, Sedum karfunkelstein, Lythrum, Epilobium ‘Alan Bloom form’, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ and Pelargonium capitatum.

 Judith brought a selection of autumn foliage plants with a pop of colour from Tithonia.

 Dorothy brought a ‘pinkish’ selection to include a rose, dahlia, bizzy lizzy and antirrhinum. 

 

Ann brought Caryopteris clandonensis ’Summer Sorbet’, Amicia zygomeris, Kirengeshoma koreana, Euonymus elata, Liriope, Clematis ‘Lambton park’, and Persicaria ‘ JS Caliente’. 

Sandra brought Rudbeckia deamii, Dahlia Thomas Edison, Agastache Apadana Rose, Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’, Gelega ‘Lady Winston’, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, Rosa mutabilis and Verbascum blattaria.

 

Peter brought an amazing succulent, Orbea variegate, which has just started to flower after six months

Paxton Show

Paxton Show is Sunday 28th September at Opal in Cookridge. 1.30pm onwards

Next Meeting

Next meeting is 3rd October. This will be our Harvest Forum where we have our baking competition. Categories are: savoury scones, fruit scones, Fruit pie and cake containing a vegetable. Prizes will be awarded for the winner of each category.  There will also be a quiz.

The art of stone in a Japanese garden is that of placement. Its ideal does not deviate from that of nature.Isamu Noguchi

 

Friday Forum member Suzanne White gave an interesting and informative illustrated presentation on the gardens of Kyoto which she visited in November while attending a friend’s wedding. We learnt of the history and culture of the area and that Kyoto, formerly the capital of Japan and home to the Imperial Palace and many temples and traditional buildings, was spared from destruction in WW2. Each garden follows the five areas of cosmology and includes elements such as water, gravel, rock, moss and lanterns and many make use of a borrowed landscape.

Another member, Ann, had visited in the Spring and brought her photograph album.

Display Table

 Sue G brought Aster amellus ‘Rudolph Goethe’, Campanula lactiflora ‘Prichard’s Variety’ AGM, Eryngium bourgatii, Clematis heracleifolia ‘Cassandra’ AGM, Scabios KUDO PINK, Penstemon ‘Pensham Wedding Day’, Lobelia siphilitica – blue and white forms, Anemone hupehensis, Anemone x hybrida – Japanese Anemones, Bistorta (Persicaria) amplexicaulis: ‘Orange Field’, ‘J S Caliente’ and ‘Blackfield’ AGM, Hesperantha – various including ‘Pink Princess’

 

Maggie brought Rosa: Blush Noisette and Iceberg, Rosa glauca berries, Clematis: the herbaceous Pangbourne Pink and Cassandra, a deciduous shrub, Calamintha nepeta, Cotoneaster, Honeysuckle, Rumex sanguineus Bloody Dock and Aster Lady in Blue

 Maggie also passed round this item which she found in Leeds centre

 

(A Turkish Hazel)

 Dorothy brought Ipomoea (Morning Glory), Rudbeckia, Begonias, Marigold and Naughty Marietta, Fuchsias and Arum berries.

 Carol brought Angel Wings, and evergreen perennial with silver foliage

 Kate brought Japanese Anemones: Pretty Lady Susan and Unknown, Persicaria: Pink Elephant and Alba, Lythrum ‘Lady Sackville’, Aster frikartii ‘Monch’, Astrantia ‘Buckland’, Colchium and Salvia ‘Mystic Spires’

 

Norma showed us how to take cuttings of the silver leaved Artemesia, Senecio, Anthemis and Convovulus

Gardening Matters:

The Cookridge Annual Show 13^th September at Cookridge Village Hall LS16 7ER, 2 – 4 pm with Raffle, Plants, Tombola, Cacti and refreshments.

Also Paxton Autumn Show on 28^th September at OPAL Community Centre, 55 Bedford​​ Drive, Leeds LS16 6DJ.

There are four categories open to us as Paxton members

Open to the public from 1.30 to 3.30 . Refreshments*** Tombola *** Plant Sale

Next Meetings:

19^th September: A presentation by Henrietta Huntley. Asters & other late flowering perennials and plant sale.

3^rd October: Harvest Forum. This year we are holding a baking competition. There are four categories: Fruit scones, savoury scones, fruit pie and a cake to include a vegetable. There 

will be a prize for each category, sampling of goods and a quiz (also with prizes). Something for everyone!

Tulips from Amsterdam goes the song, but where did they originate?

Presentation: Tracy Foster – The remarkable story of the Tulip

We learnt some fascinating facts about the origins, trade and types of Tulips. Originally from Southern Europe to Central Asia, tulips were brought to Turkey and then to Holland in the Golden Age. Tulip bulbs were prized and changed hands for extortionate sums. Now Keukenhof in South Holland showcases 7 million tulips each Spring. We all know a lot more about Tulips and the best ones to choose for our gardens.

Display Table

 

Judith brought Mimulus gullatus, Senecio vira vira, Phytolacca Laka Boom, an annual Hibiscus; Triornum, Rudbeckia, Tithonium, Agastache with yellow leaves and blue tip.

 

Suzanne brought Salvia ‘Pink Lips’, Anemone ‘White Swan’, Verbena bonariensis, mophead Hydrangea macrophylla hortensia, Salvia ‘Nachtvinder’, Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Aster frikartii monch, Lysimachia clethroides (goose neck loose strife), Oxalis Deppei (lucky clover), Crocosmia, Eurybia divaricata farnley known as Aster divaricatus, Heuchera ‘Amethyst Mist’ which has crimson foliage with blue veins, Ferns: the evergreen Polystichum Makinoi which has formed a clump 2ft x 2ft, a deciduous fern, the semi-evergreen Dryopteris atrata and the evergreen Polystichum tsussimense

Liz brought Echinops, Dalias, one was ‘Edge of Joy’, Rudbeckia ‘Rudy Fire’, Salvia ‘Saigon’, Aster monch and a yellow Scabious 

 Dorothy brought wo varieties of Phlox, Kerria, various Dahlias, Antirrhinum, Fuchsia tryphylla Thalia, Vipers Bugloss and Mirabilis jalapa

 

Ann brought Itea illicfolia, Gentiana asclepiada, Liriope muscari, Fuchsia ‘Denise’, Persicaria affinis, Eucomis bicolor, Crocosmia ‘Harlequin’, Ceratosticma ‘Desert Skies’ and Tithonia

 Kate’s Fern with an interesting history: Polypodium cambricum ‘Richard Kayse’

Around about the time that Vermeer was finishing his painting ‘The Astronomer’, and in the year that Spain recognised Portugal as an independent nation, a man named Richard Kayse from Bristol discovered this beautiful fern growing on limestone cliffs near Cardiff.

Two centuries later it had disappeared from cultivation, and it was not until another 200 years had passed,in 1980,that fern expert Martin Rickard set out with a pair of binoculars and rediscovered it in the exact same spot, in an area which is now an SSSI: Site of Special Scientific Interest.

This beautiful, slowly spreading fern is easy to grow even in quite dry soils, and as polypodium do not really start to make new growth until late summer, they then reward us with their fresh green fronds at a time of year when everything else is looking a little tired.

Being sterile, the only way to propagate it is by division, (polypodium means many little feet which makes this quite easy)so my polypodium, whose shimmering green foliage looks so stunning during this rather dark and dreary month, is directly descended from that original plant

Kate brought an article by Val Bourne from the Guardian about watering the garden during a dry period. She says that while many plants will look after themselves, Geum and Astrantia will suffer, plus new roses, clematis and hydrangeas and will benefit from a bucket of two of water a week. I’m sure some of our members did this as soon as they got home.

In the vegetable garden, cabbage beetroot and carrots will do fine but suggests growing beans up a wigwam shape.

 

Norma can just be seen behind the plants of the Friday Forum sales table which is always very popular

Upcoming Flower Shows

13^th September: Cookridge Annual Show, Cookridge Village Hall LS16 7ER, 2 – 4 pm with Raffle, Plants, Tombola, Cacti and refreshment.

Amended date:  *Sunday 28^th September*: Paxton Autumn Show, OPAL Community Centre, 55 Bedford​​ Drive, Leeds LS16 6DJ, from 1.30 pm, Tombola, refreshments, further details to follow

Next Meeting: 5^th September – A presentation by Friday Forum member Suzanne White on her visits to gardens in Japan.

Stephen Medley’s Marvellous Garden

 As we approached Stephen’s garden and saw the beautiful street border, we knew were were promised a good garden visit.

Stephen gave us a potted history of the development of his 2 acre plot with free draining sandy loam soil from a virtual field in 1994 to what we saw on our visit.In 1995 the hard landscaping was constructed a professional firm made the front garden with lawns and planted mainly shrubs in the shallow borders.Stephen then took on the challenge of transforming the garden to his taste tackling each bed in turn in a week of his holiday from work. The front garden today is a stunning area, influenced by Piet Oudelf, using matrix planting with grasses and other plants running through. The garden with its sustainable plants, many of which reseeding, and shrubs mostly looks after itself. This doesn’t stop Stephen being out in his garden every day.

We then went through to the back garden which wowed us even more! Five years ago, Stephen had used this area for a project on his RHS course with input from his daughter with her designer background.

 A lovely backdrop of the fields behind

We loved this garden with its plants of different shapes, colours and textures. We took away some ideas and our “plants to buy” lists doubled. Stephen patiently answered our many questions on the names and growing conditions of the plants.

We thanked Stephen for taking the time to show us around his stunning garden and the visit ended with tea and delicious homemade cake, which was kindly provided by a few of our members.

Next meeting: 15^th August – Presentation by Tracy Foster on Tulips