Autumn Colour in our gardens

 We asked Friday Forum members to show what was currently giving colour in our gardens and just look what they brought:

Carole’s perennial begonia from a cutting

Trevor’s dahlias which kicked off a discussion on whether or how to store tubers over winter or whether to take cuttings.

The pink one is Lavender Perfection and behind is a variety of purple and/or maroon, Strikes sensation.

Liz brought Astrantia Bo-Anne which has a long flowering time, Eupatorium Little Joe which is far from little, Anemone, Verbena rigida, Geum Mrs Bradshaw, Trollius Golden Queen which does well by a pond, Crocosmia Babylon with a rich dark orange colour, Dahlia and Tithonia aptly named Torch Orange.

Caroline brought an unseasonably early Polyanthus

In Caroline’s container:  double Japanese Anemone, Lythrum virgatum Dropmore purple, Sedum Autumn Joy, pink and purple Phlox, Foxglove, Cosmos, Anaphalis Pearl Everlasting and a little Daisy.

Peter brought seeds and flower head of Lapeirousia Freesia laxa or flowering grass which is fully hardy and grows to 8”

Peter has created these wonderful cards from his paintings of flowers and other wildlife which are on sale at meetings

Gill brought Phlox, Chelone, Kirengeshoma which grows 3 – f ft tall, Itia, Crocosmia Sunrise,  Alstroemeria and Hydrangea

Norma brought Forest Pansy, Helianthus Lemon Queen, Heuchera Autumn Bride, the mildew resistant Aster Asran,  Euonymus Emerald Gold.

Norma’s Baptisia, a tall, hardy perennial which she grew from seed.  It has blue-green leaves. And bears large blue spires in early summer. 

Judith’s beautiful arrangement includes Euphorbia Stricta, Rudbeckia Prairie Glow, Althaea cannabina, Actea, Verbena bonariensis, Aster Little Carlow, Phytolacca, Salvias, Patrinia (one for the flower arrangers) 2 – 3 ft, Dahlias Karma Choc and Murdoch, Shoo-fly plant and Tithonia

 

Next meeting:  1st October - A talk by the always entertaining Peter Williams.  

 

Return to Paxton Hall

 Talk on Herbs by Martin Fish

The first guest speaker since our return was the well-known, expert gardener Martin Fish, who spoke about herbs.  It was also the first face-to-face talk he has given since the Covid restrictions and quipped that Friday Forum has been his best audience this year!

As always, his talk was both interesting and entertaining. We heard about the medicinal and culinary properties of the various herbs, their uses, how to grow and care for them and propagation methods.  Martin also demonstrated how to plant up a herb pot for over winter.

Best tip was surely stripping leaves from Rosemary twigs and use for kebab sticks on barbeques.

Display Table

Peter’s Stapelia, a succulent which took 5 years to flower. We initially thought that the flower was a feature of the plant pot.

Ann’s display of berries included Ivy Hedera Buttercup, Butcher’s Broom Ruscus aculeatus, Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum, Molly the Witch Paeonia daurica mlokosewitschii, Paris polyphylla, Cornus alba (grown for its winter stems) euonymus planipes Spindle and Arum Maculatum

Butcher’s Broom got its name from how butchers used it to clean their chopping boards.

Sue G’s vase contained Heleniums (Sahin's Early Flowerer, Red Army and Bandera) kniphofia, Anemone Wild Swan, Crocosmias (Severn Sunrise, Limpopo and Okauranga) Tritonia, Lobelia Lobelia siphilitica in blue and white, Asters (frikartii Monch and amellus 'Rudolph Goethe)Persicaria Orange Field and Verbena  bonariensis.

 

Kate’s jug contains Lythrum ‘Lady Sackville’, Phlox ’Graf Zeppelin’ and ‘The King’, Anemones ‘Honorine Jobert’ and ‘Pamina’, Goldsturm’, Clematis ‘Polish Spirit’, Aster frikartii Monch, Kirengeshoma palmate and Zinnia ‘Purple Prince’ which turned out to be bright red!

Caroline brought some alstroemeria blooms from a plant which came from a visit to the garden of Martin Fish to check its name:  ‘Summer Break’

Jenny showed us how the flowers of this Hydrangea hang upside down after being pollenated by bees

 

Amanda brought some wildflowers from a patch she has sown in her lawn and which has attracted many different insects

Next Meeting:  17^th September at 1.30 pm - A forum and group discussion about late flowering perennials.

  

August Garden Visit

The rain didn’t dampen our spirits for the trip to Kate’s wonderful, award-winning garden with its interesting plants and features.  

Ginger

Veratrum

Espalier apples

 Pond

We all managed to find shelter from the rain to partake of tea and cake.

Next Meeting:  

Meetings are resuming at Paxton Hall at 1.30 pm on 3rd September with Martin Fish talking about Herbs.

 

Finally Friday Forum members are able to meet face-to-face

Some Friday Forum members visited Norma’s successful plant sale, which made £208.60 for Alzheimer’s Research, and took the opportunity to look around the garden.

There was a good turnout for Margaret Mallot’s delightful garden too, where there were unexpected vistas at every turn.  It was lovely to meet up again with Friday Forum members after many, many months.

An innovative use of a pallet to display plants 

 Donations and proceeds from the plant sales went to St. Gemma's Hospice.

Final virtual meeting for Friday Forum

 It was a bitter-sweet moment for Friday Forum as we had our final Zoom meeting, we hope.  It hasn’t been the same as face to face, not being able to smell the flowers and no cup of tea, but it has kept us going for over a year.

This meeting was spent discussing what works well and what we are planting up in our summer pots.

Linda was a fan of Begonias which perform well in wet or dry conditions and pots up perennials which are better at looking after themselves than bedding plants.

Kate saw an article by Sarah Raven in the RHS magazine which recommended that a pot should contain a thriller (the wow factor) a filler (for the gaps) and a spiller (to trail over the edge).

Liz likes Cosmos and had just planted up vertical planter pouches with trailers such as bidens, petunias, fuchsias and bacopa. 

Maggie prefers flowers of the same colour in her containers.  She uses Heuchera with perennials with ivy to soften the edges or dense plantings of geraniums.

Norma is planting a bee friendly hanging basket as she did successfully last year with mini trailing petunias, bacopa, fuchsias Heidi Anne and Auntie Jinks and Peach Melba.

Sue had lost some plants to the bad weather but will try again with Salvias, Hostas, tubs of small vegetables, Argyranthemums and Fuchsia Tom West.

Amanda usually buys plug plants on-line but found stocks were low this year.  Nevertheless, she is planting up in the greenhouse nine colour co-ordinated pots in white, blue and purple with various scented plants with a purple bean as a central focus point.

Judith, our Queen of Pots, has chosen a colour scheme of Silver, White and Blue and includes various bedding plants, Salvia farinacea, Argyranthemum and the Coleus, which won her a Gold at Harrogate.

Norma sent a photo of a lovely little Tulip ‘Tyke’

Dorothy sent some pictures of her garden

Abutilon

Apple trees growing on my arch left side Lord Lambourne right side Fiesta

Doronicum, tulips and heuchera in the kitchen garden

Avery showing it’s Spring colours

Notice Board

If you have been missing visiting gardens and plant sales, just look at the opportunities available in our area.

Sale of perennial plants in the car park of Paxton Hall, 186 Kirkstall Lane, Leeds LS5 2AB on Saturday 22^nd May, 10-11.30am.  Outdoors (come rain or shine!)  

Make a day of it!  Later on Saturday 22^nd May, 12noon-5pm is Peter Williams’ Open Garden at Weathervane House, Seaton Ross, YO42 4NE, again

This garden and a number of other Open Garden throughout the summer are in aid of the Yorkshire Arboretum and details can be found on the arboretum website www.yorkshirearboretum.org

Carol Abbot’s award-winning garden will be open Sunday 23rd May 12pm - 5pm at 4A Blackwood Rise Cookridge LS16 7BG. Admission £3.50, children free. Refreshments available plant and bric-a-brac for sale cover for inclement weather.  Proceeds to the National Garden Scheme. DRIVERS PLEASE PARK ON TINSHILL LANE

The date for Roundhay Open Gardens is Sunday 4 July. Start at any point on the map, which will be made available.  Most gardens are in easy walking distance.

Here is the link to a presentation given to HardyPlants by Tracy Foster on garden design.  It may only be available for another week 

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/TW75sTMugisSN8ZWlYTDSczIwOJmPFf6jZW-jssBOUarj9F1OPF-uDgdfEQNpfc_.uBsJK51U8tq5LuIZ

Next meeting

4th June: Garden visit. Sue Gray’s garden,Ilkley, from 1.30pm, refreshments available.  Members have received the full address by email.

Virtual Friday Forum on Good Friday 2021

Another Friday Forum catch-up allowing us to find out what is looking good just now in the gardens of our members plus Easter decorations for the house.

We had beautiful examples of a wide range of spring flowers and shrubs from pastel shades to vibrant colours.  Here are a few:

In Dorothy's garden

White flowering currant

 Pulmonaria

 Helleborous

In Kate's garden

Trillium chloropetalum ‘Album’ ?

Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ with Millium effusum ‘Aureum’ and ‘Brazen Hussy’

Camellia ‘Silver Wedding’

Ipheion ‘Alberto Castillo’

The heron keeping an eye on the tadpoles!

A vase of spring flowers from Linda's garden

Flowering Blackcurrant, Polyanthus, Marsh Marigold, Muscari, Bergenia, Bowles Mauve and Daffies Talia and Minnow.

If you are interested in Erythroniums, this link takes you to a talk with Keith Wiley and Carol Klein.

(82) Keith Wiley's Erythronium - YouTube

… and finally, I thought this poem by Robert Frost sums up  the weather in April.

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March."
-  Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time, 1926