Friday Forum Gardeners’ Question Time

This was our first question time using this format and all agreed it was a resounding success. It was such an informative and entertaining session where the panel helpfully answered the sixteen questions posed by the audience. We were lucky enough to be able to draw a knowledgeable panel of four from our members with award winning and horticultural qualifications, experience of being a head gardener and growing in different soils. Our thanks go to Ann Fritchley, Wendy Platt, Sue Gray and Peter Blackwell who gave in-depth, well researched answers including live demonstrations and examples to enhance their answers. We learnt tips on a wide range of subjects from how to prune fruit trees to plants for semi-shade.

Display Table

 Marjorie brought this lovely sweater and told us the amazing story behind it. It was made by her sister who collected the wool from a Jacob sheep in Robin Hood’s Bay, spun, dyed and knitted into this wonderful garment. She also had labels made with her name Heather Barratt.

 Kate brought Rosa ‘The Fairy’, Penstemon ‘Plum Jerkum’, Heuchera ‘Autumn Bride’, Persicaria campanulata and Bishop’s Children Dahlia grown from seed this year

 

Dorothy brought golden leaves of a Ginkgo tree from Rowntree Park, York. which was created in memory of Rowntree employees who died in WW1

 Dorothy also brought mixed Dahlias, Rose ‘Elizabeth of Glamis’, Linaria, Rudbeckia, Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, Tagetes, Clematis ‘Arabella’ and Orange tree showing white buds

Judith brought Salvia Amistad, Matricaria, Alstromeria, Hardy Chrysanthemum, Geranium Rozanne 

Gill brought Geranium macrorrhizum, Weigela, Osteospermum, Aster frikartii Monch,  Leycesteria, Verbena bonariensis, Penstemon, Hebe, Rose, Erigeron, Erysimum, Hesperantha coccinea, Pelargonium, Cosmos and Jasmine nudiflorum

 Ann brought Canna, the attractive foliage of Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Little Honey’, a tall form of Aster ageratoides ezo murasaki , Amicia zygomeris and Fuchsia genii

 Ann also brought prunings from her Salix babylonica crispa

Peter brought a brochure from Seawards in which there is a 3 day trip to Chelsea and other gardens. 

Next Meetings

15^th November: Presentation - A Hardy Planter’s Winter Survival Kit by Don Witton

6^th December: Christmas displays. Please bring greenery, flowers and accessories to create your own decorations. A short AGM will precede this meeting

20^th December: Friday Forum Christmas Party with Quiz and festive fare. You are requested to dress accordingly

"Autumn ... the year's last, loveliest smile" William Cullen Bryant

 Seedheads

 Presentation:  Sarah Hopps on Evergreens, Stems and Seedheads

 Evergreens that blend with pink and purple

 Sarah Hopps 

Sarah, a frequent guest speaker to Friday Forum, entertained us with her ideas and tips for using evergreens, ornamental stems and bark and seed heads to enhance our gardens. Sarah also showed us slides of a range of gardens where they have been planted to great affect. We were also able to purchase some of the mentioned plants and take cuttings of the examples displayed.  

Display Table

 

Ann brought Campanula Bowles Mauve, Corydalis ochroleuca, Magnolia liliiflora nigra, Borage laxiflora, Aconitum spatlese, Alstromeria Indian Summer and Ceratostigma Desert Skies

Kate brought Helenium ‘Sahin’s Ear;y Flowerer’ which is still in flower since July, Helianthemum ‘Lemon Queen’, Salvia ‘Mystic Flowers’ and ‘Amistad’, Hesperantha ‘Pink Princess’ (Wilfred H Bryant), Anemone ‘Dreaming Swan’, Digitalis ‘Falcon Fire’ and a Hudrangea flower head

 John brought this plant which he grew from spores of a plant given to him in 1990s by the caretaker of one of the oldest houses in Northumberland

 Dorothy’s Sunflower is an offshoot from a 9ft multiheaded Sunset one grown from seed an had a very wide stem

Judith brought Corokia, the wire netting bush

 

She also brought this enormous leaf from Comfrey Knitbone, so called as it is supposed to heal broken bones naturally

Judith also brought Cosmos and Senecio Vera Vera 

 Suzanne brought Anemone Honorine Jobert and Anemone September Charm, Geranium sanguineum, Salvia Pink Lips, Verbena bonariensis, Liriope muscari, Hydrangea macrophylla, Fuchsia magellanica, the evergreen ferns Polystichum makinoi and Polystychum tsussinense which grows best in shade, has dark red fronds with purple tinged ones in spring

Next Meeting

1st November: Forum - Gardeners’ Question Time

Harvest Forum

 

Autumn Solstice Table

Norma produced a lovely display of Autumn flowers, leaves and berries for our Autumn Solstice display which was added to by our members.

Harvest Baking Competition
The winners at our Harvest meeting baking competition were: Victoria sponge - Suzanne W; Fruit scones - Norma; Savoury scones - Liz; Shortbread – Carol

 

Thanks were given to Suzanne T who kindly agreed to be our judge.

Quiz

There was also a Cheese Identification Quiz and the winners were: Sue and Norma. Well done to them

Display Table

Carol brought in a fern frond that was part of a plant given to her by our friend Jenny - a reminder of a friend sadly missed.

 Kate brought in: Rosa ‘The Fairy’, Fatsia ‘Spider’s Web’, Phlox Franz Schubert, Rudbeckia deamii, Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ which has been in flower since the beginning of July, Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ and Aster frikartii ‘Monch”.

 Ann brought in an unusual coloured flowering cactus and an Autumn basket comprising: Arum itialicum marmoratum, Hedera helix ‘Buttercup’, Ruscus aculeatus - Butcher’s Broom, Euonymus planipes, Crocosmia seed heads, Tropaeolum ciliatum berries, Cones and conkers, Hypericum.

 

Katherine brought in her Corokia plant that she acquired from the newest addition to the Perennial group of gardens, Mona’s Garden. Katherine met Mona last year on a holiday to Sicily and became friends. She was lucky enough to be invited to visit Mona and her beautiful garden in central London where Mona holds the national collection of Corokia. Home – Mona's Garden (monasgarden.co.uk

Next Meeting

18th October - Sarah Hopps is speaking about Evergreens, Stems and Seedheads.   There will also be plants for sale.

The Backhouse Dynasty

 

Presentation: The Backhouse Dynasty by Peter Williams

Peter told us the interesting story of the Backhouse family who came from the Midlands and moved to the North East. They were a wealthy, Quaker family opening the Sunderland Bank, associated with Barclays.

The family played an important part in British horticulture. Brothers Thomas and James opened a nursery in York initially specialising in Alpines. They bred Narcissi including the first triploid The Emperor and Empress and the Weardale Perfection, which was the first tetraploid. They supplied plants to the large estates and their catalogue was impressive in the number of species it contained. James went away for ten years on a missionary trip and sent plants back,

The family bought out Riggs Nursery and imported many new plants including orchids. It became known as Kew of the North, although it was actually bigger and had more plants. Over time, the company experienced fierce competition from other nurseries and sold a lot of their land in 1921 and closed the company in 1955,

Display Table

Judith’s elegant arrangement contained Heuchera villosa ‘Bronze Beauty’, Helichrysum from seeds from a free packet off a magazine, Phytolacca laka boom grown from seed but not hardy, Roscoea 'Spice Island' which needs lots of fertiliser, Dahlia ‘Karma Choc’ and Senecio vira vira.

Kate brought Callicarpa ‘Profusion’. Euonymus alatus, Begonia grandis ‘Claret Jug’, Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’, Dahlia Bishop’s Children (sown from seed this year), Rudbeckia deamii and Aster

 Maggie Y's Erigeron 'Lavender Lady'

                                          

 Maggie wanted to know if this seedling she raised was a Francoa

 Ann brought Persicaria affinis and Persicaria J S Caliente, Actea racemosa, kirenge shoma palmata, Hesperantha, Ceratustigma ‘Desert Skies’, Zauschneria, Itea ilicifolia, Crocosmia Harlequin and Amicia zygomeris.

Suzanne brought a bouquet which went really well together: Hydrangea ‘Sundae fraise’, Anemone ‘White Swan’, Salvia ‘Nachtviner’, Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’, Penstemon ‘Hidcote pink’, Rudbeckia Goldstrum, Sedum Herbsfreude and Aster frikartii

 

 Trevor brought Dahlia ‘Arabian Night’, a yellow and a pink Dahlia from Home Bargains, an orange Poppy, Papaver rupifragum, which came from a seed ‘found’ in Ilkley, Aster novae-angliae 'Herbstschnee' and a Fern which came from Jenny

 Sandra saw this plant, Sinningia tubiflora, in a nursery and kindly brought it for Ann who was looking for one

Next Meeting:

4^th October – Harvest Forum with a baking competition and quiz

Happily we bask in this warm September sun, which illuminates all creatures – Henry David Thoreau

 Bulb Bonanza

Members were given a forced hyacinth bulb to plant up and return for the Christmas Forum to see how they have fared. Each bag of bulbs contained 1 x White Pearl, 1 x City of Haarlem, 3 x Jan Bos, 1x Sky Jacket and 2 x Blue Star. It was pot luck which bulb was selected, so we should have a surprise when they bloom.

Some of the points from the discussion that followed about bulbs in general:

Linda had purchased good value bulbs in Lidl and Maggie M had bought bags of tulips there.

Norma gave out tulip seeds, which may take rather longer to flower.

Derek recommended Allium Summer Drummer which flowers in the summer and his grew exceptionally tall.

Acis, the Autumn Snowdrop, was another recommendation and Maggie was pleased with her Narcissus Snowbaby and Ballerina which have proved very reliable.

If buying bulbs by the bag, Trevor’s tip was to alternate the layers with the point end up and then pointy end down to maximise the number in the space provided.

Judith told us that bulbs will be on sale shortly at York Gate and bulb catalogues from various nurseries were available for members to look through.

Display Table

The table was full of containers of plants from the gardens of members. The colours, variety and scent show that there is still plenty of interest in our gardens in September.

 Kate's jug contains Astrantia 'Buckland', Anemones 'Pamina' and 'Pretty Lady Susan',Plectranthus, Persicaria 'September Spires', Perovskia 'Blue Spire', Knautia macedonica, Ceratostigma willmottianum and Sweet Peas

 Kate's Cornus Kousa

 Judith's arrangement includes Bergenia leaf of Tubby Andrews and Dahlias

Not taken from the best angle, Maggie brought Clematis heracleifolia Cassandra, Roses:  Iceberg, Blush Noisette and Pink Perpetue, Ceratostigma willnottianum 'Coted'Azure' and plumbaginodses, Inula, Lysmachia and Persicara believed to be Golden Arrow

 Ann brought Kirengeshoma palmata, Clematis Lambton Park, Hedera Buttercup, Amicia zygomeris, Hydrangea querofolia Little Honey and Crocosmia

Gill brought Penstemon 'Apple Blossom', Aster Monch, Rose, Begonias, purple and white Lavender, Sweet Peas, Cyclamen coum, Diascia 'Coral Belle', Cosmos, Rudbeckia, Verbena bonariensis, Osteospermum, Fuchsia, Geranium striatum and Leycesteria.

Carol's Euphorbia with attractive red stems and small leaves

Sue G's container of Clematis heracleifolia 'Cassandra', Verbascum 'Sunrise/Sunset' from a seedling, various shades of Hesperantha coccinea including 'Pink Princess' and huttonii bauri and Helenium 'Sahini's early flowerer'

Peter's well fed fly traps; Sarracenia

Liz's container includes Dahlia 'Happy Days', Lychnis and a purple Salvia?

 

Marjorie brought an offshoot of a Cosmos plant from a boggy part of her garden.  It didn't flower but imagine if it had!

Next Meetings:

20^th September - Peter Williams is giving a presentation on the Backhouse family.

4^th October is our Harvest Forum. We are having a baking competition. The categories are:

Fruit scones, savoury scones, Victoria sponge and shortbread and entrants can use their own recipes. Suzanne Tagger has kindly agreed to judge the entries.

A heads up that on 1^st November is our Friday Forum Gardeners Question Time. Please submit questions by 18^th October, preferably by email to me or Kate (vanheelk@me.com). On the panel will be Ann, Sue Gray, Peter and Wendy Platt.