Talk on Wacks Wicked Plants

Peter and Helleentje Walker of Wack's Wicked Plants gave us a fascinating, illustrated talk on the habits and range of carnivorous plants in which they specialise and for which they have been awarded many medals.  Apart from their preference for rainwater, the plants are easy to grow and don't require much feeding!

 

http://wackswickedplants.co.uk/

Display Table

Derek brought some of his plants sown from seeds with a story which featured in our blog in mid-July:

A bitter/sweet tale
Graham invited us to help ourselves to envelopes of seeds to sow and told us the story behind them.  An old gentleman had passed away and his home was being cleared when the clearance people came across a large number of envelopes of seeds.  These seeds, many of which were quite exotic, had been purchased from various countries around the world.  Sadly, he never got the chance to sow them but hopefully some of our members will manage to do so.  This would be a fitting legacy and we will report back on our successes.
Derek reported:  All the Cannas germinated, marvel of Peru Mirabilis jalapa .a seed labelled “free gift”was unimpressive, The Gac fruit won't flower for 18 months but it will grow for to 20 m and fruit will depend on another plant of the opposite sex being available. However, he will be pleased to know that there are plenty of recipes for the fruit on the internet.  There was also a false banana (Enset).  
I think this would please the late owner of the seeds and we look forward to hearing about any more successes. 
Such a wide variety of flowers are still around in our gardens:

Gill’s eucomis

Gill’s white yellow and white Japanese Anemone, Eucryphia, phlox, dahlia, Rose Little White Pet  and lychnis coronaria

 You could be forgiven for believing that Elizabeth’s pink dahlias which grow to 4 ft were artifical

 Elizabeth also brought Galtonia desert candle (summer hyacinth), scented herbaceous clematis (perhaps Cassandra), hydrangea quercifolia,hydrangea Annabelle which has enormous heads, the miniature climbing rose Laura Ford, fuchsia and some more dahlias.

 Ann’s pineapple lily eucomis with willow gentian

Jenny’s brought a lily which arrived with a belated Christmas card from a friend as seed on paper towel!  The bulbils it had produced were distributed to members.

Judith proudly presented her first flower which has been produced by this plant she cannot identify.

 Next Meeting

September 18th:  In this forum we are discussing a plant swap and would welcome your input on the logistics of this  Bring your plant wish list with you.  Incidentally, I'm seeking geranium Red Admiral and Maritime Thrift.