Saturday 22 September 2018

“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile." [Indian Summer] ― John Howard Bryant


Presentation:  Thomas Fairchild by Celia Latham Brown

Longstanding Friday Forum member Celia Latham Brown kept the audience enthralled with a most interesting and informative talk on the gardener and plant breeder Thomas Fairchild (1667 – 1729).  

A farmer’s son from Wiltshire, Fairchild became an apprentice cloth worker and after being introduced to gardening, realised he preferred the outdoors.  We worked in Hoxton at a nursery and presently became its owner.
By transferring the pollen of a Carnation to stigma of Sweet William, Fairchild created a new plant – the first hybrid and known as Fairchild’s mule.  As a keen Christian, he did fear God’s wrath.  He corresponded with   Carl Linnaeus and by experiments, established the existence of sex in plants.
At that time, there was strong competition amongst grand estate holders to have new and different plants, so his work was very much in demand.
When Fairchild’s friend Blair presented his paper to the Royal Society in 1716, there were outcries of blasphemy and that it was morally dangerous, meddling with nature.  Later, another friend, Sir Hans Sloane of Sloane Square fame, presented another of Fairchild’s papers on the Circulation of Sap  
A member of the Society of Gardeners, Fairchild’s aim was to produce a catalogue of new species of plants.  In 1722 he published a small book The City Gardener, detailing which plants would thrive best in London.  This publication also advised that large plants would benefit from being taken into the countryside and also that there should be open spaces in towns and cities to provide fresh air for their residents.
Thomas Fairchild died at the age of 62.  In his will he left a sum of £25.00  an annual sermon be given  in celebration of Horticulture.   This  still happens to this day on Whit Tuesday at St Giles Church, Cricklegate, and has become known as the Vegetable Sermon.

Celia’s talk was all the more remarkable as all the research was from books (as opposed to the internet) including The Ingenious Mr Fairchild: The Forgotten Father of the Flower Garden (Faber Find) by Michael Leapman and a chapter in The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession (2009) by Andrea Wulf  

 We look forward to Celia’s next talk
Display Table
Gerry explained that the original reason for a Display Table at gardening groups was that it was the only way for gardeners to continue their education in horticulture.  Traditionally, this took place on a Saturday night and some gardeners would bring plants and demonstrate their skills to others.


Carol ‘s Echiveria Painted Lady

Carol’s Erodium Spanish Eyes which has flowered all year
 
Margaret M’s colourful posy of Dahlias
 
 From her garden Gill brought yellow and orange Begonias, Japanese Anemone, Phlox, Liriope, Chelone, Michaelmas Daisy, the yellow Kirengeshoma, Crocosmia and  the toad lily Tricyrtis.  Make a note if you want to extend the season
 Ann’s Justicia Carnea  comes from the Acanthus family and comes from the North of South America.  It has been out all summer but will be overwintered in a frost free spot.
Ann has dug up (hopefully all) the coral roots of the invasive, wild woodland plant of Cardamine bulbifera which spreads by the small black bulbils it produces.
 

Judith has had a good crop of tomatoes on her allotment.  Also pictured: Judith’s Argyranthemum Banana Split which is red in bud and has yellow flowers, a perennial Wallflower, Dahlias including Bishops Children, David Howard and Salvia amistad
Gardening Matters
Do you know about this mysterious female gardener who got no public recognition during her lifetime?







Notice Board
Thanks to those who helped organise and sponsored the recent and improvements to Paxton Hall; repairs to the roof, broken window and outside light and the decoration of the exterior and the main hall.

Upcoming meetings:
Next meeting is 5th October (see details below) but we wanted to give you early notice of the two meetings which follow.  
19th October:  This is our Harvest Forum and Bring & Buy sale.  This year we are going for a Brexit Bash and will be asking members to sign up to bring a typical food or drink from an EU country. 
Friday 2nd November: A celebratation for the 50th anniversary of the Society moving into our current premises.  More details TBA.

Next Meeting
5th October:  Presentation by Ken Matthewman – Kew through the seasons
  









Saturday 8 September 2018

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” ― Jim Bishop


Presentation:  In (and around) Dublin’s Fair City by Peter Mathers 
 Peter’s talks are always interesting and today’s was no exception.  This time we were treated to a tour of some of the gardens Peter visited when he visited the WAFA World Flower Show, “A Floral Odyssey”, in Dublin.  This area favours gardeners as the climate is mild and wet due to the Gulf Stream and rarely suffers from snow or frost.
The gardens Peter visited include:
The historic Kilruddery House and Gardens with its canals http://www.killruddery.com/
The former garden in Dublin of Helen Dillon before she downsized, where the entrance  charge was an additional  2 euros  to walk through the house to benefit from the best view of the gardens.  
Hunting Brook Gardens in Co. Wicklow owned by Jimi Blake who teaches gardeners and travels the world taking cuttings from endangered plant species http://www.huntingbrook.com/
Nearby is his sister’s garden.  June Blake’s garden http://www.juneblake.ie/cms/  is more open plan with its prairie planting and water features.
Also in Co. Wicklow but nearer the sea is Corke Lodge http://www.corkelodge.com/ with its gothic architecture and mostly green planting with little splashes of colour and Mount Usher Gardens http://www.mountushergardens.ie/ in the Robinsonian style with a river flowing through it and nearly 300 specimen trees.
Our virtual tour ended with a taste of The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin and the rose garden at Powerscourt gardens on the estate owned by the Slazenger family.
A really delightful presentation and enjoyed by all!
Display Table
Carl talked about his fig tree which has given its best performance to date.  Reasons being, the embryo figs begin to develop in September and weren’t killed off by frost last Winter and all the sun we had this Summer.  There was also one of Carl’s amusing anecdotes, but you had to be there to appreciate it!



Derek brought in plants grown from seed:  Beaucarnea recurvata - Pony Tail Palm

Dragon tree (so called because of its red sap)

 Canna















 Carol’s Echeveria which grew to this size from a tiny baby plant from James F
 
 Anyone?  This plant bought at  the South Wales garden was identified as a type of Impatiens
Gill’s container with Kirengeshoma, Malva, a white rose, Thalictrum, the honey scented Itea Ilicifolia and Hydrangea
 Kate brought Gaura Whirling butterfly, Salvia Amistad, Phlox Franz Schubert, Agastache Blue Fortune, Verbena, Penstemon, Geranium,and the dwarf Cosmos Xanthos
Kate’s  Streptocarpus Christina
Ann’s posy contains Clematis Triternata Rubromarginata, Persicaria, Anemone, Thalictrum Hewitts double
 Last but not least, an assortment from Judith's garden
Gardening Matters
10 highlights from the grow your own blogs







Notice Board
Paxton Early Autumn Show is on Saturday 22 September.  Cakes can be brought to the meeting on 21 September.  Please see Dorothy regarding donations/offers of help.







Next Meeting
September 21st:  A short talk by member Celia Latham Brown