New Year gardening resolutions for 2017

 

New Year gardening resolutions for 2017

These included:

1.   Edit:    Maybe it’s time to go through your garden with a cool, unsentimental eye.  

 2.  Feed :  The editing will help to increase the flowering by letting in more light, but even mature gardens need plenty of feed and a good mulch. Dorothy is going to continue with her feeding regime.  An old soap dispenser or plastic lemonade bottle with spray left near the water supply as a reminder were suggested.   Graham went one further and said he fills up 4pt milk cartons with feeds for different species.  Ann uses Rose fertiliser on clematis, peonies and other plants of the Ranunculaceae  family as they are greedy feeders.

3.  Plant more colour and more scent:  Inject more colour and scent.  Which plants would be on your list?

  4. Plant immediately :  Not tomorrow. Not “soon”. Next year don’t leave new plants on back step for weeks.  As soon as you get home from the nursery or garden centre, unload the boot, perhaps drink the very quickest of cups of tea, and then pull on your wellies and head straight out into the garden. More haste, less desiccation.  Or in Jenny’s words, letting them acclimatise to your conditions!

          5.  Sit out more :  This is the big one. Even if none of the above materialises, sit out in it more, drinking tea, taking friends out there in the evening with lanterns lit and a glass of wine.  Because, what is the point in all of all your efforts if you don’t sit and gaze appreciatively at your creation, however spectacular or imperfect it ends up being next year? 

(headings borrowed from the Telegraph)

Other good intentions were:

To grow more herbs and leaves

Jenny  vows to not be left with areas of her garden looking like “graveyard”  with white labels.   She is now switching to larger black labels which she will write on using silver writing.  It was suggested that black canes and cane caps would also blend into the background.

Get on top of the pests early.  Gill goes slugging on Valentine’s Day.  Vine weevils have already been spotted and remedies suggested were Provado,  scalding the soil a couple of times with water from the kettle to save the compost in pots or leaving the contaminated compost on the path for birds to dispose of the little pests.

Carl suggested flint chick grit from Blue Barn near Poole for drainage and dressing pots.

We will be checking up with your progress later in the year, so no pressure then!

Little known fact

James explained the reason for the Libby’s corned beef tin being trapezoidal in shape.  In WW2, in order to feed troops on front line, soldiers would be supplied with these tins complete with key.  The key opened the tin in the middle, so a soldier could eat half the contents and then close the two halves together and store it for a later meal.  A Friday Forum member who shall remain anonymous told us that she had no £1 coin for the supermarket trolley whereupon a chivalrous gentlemen produced a key from corned beef can and released a trolley.  I wouldn’t suggest you try it though!

Display Table

 Judith’s Hellebore Silver Dollar

Judith’s Coleus, or Solenostemon as it is now called, has lovely green leaves with dark red on the underside.

 Kate has collected these from her garden today:  Skimmia, Skimmia Kew Green, ivy, Bowles mauve, Viburnum Dawn, evergreen Polystichum Fern, Sarcococca, Arum and Pittosporum 'Tom Thumb' Tom Thumb

Ann brought a snowdrop which has been flowering since mid-November

 ... and an appropriate Christmas gift for a keen gardener

Other plants brought in included Mahonia Winter Sunshine, Sarcococca, the winter honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima,

Witch hazel, skimmia and viburnum

Jenny displays her Snowdrop book and a pot with the early, tall snowdrop which originated from the mother-in-law of Dylan Thomas, Mrs Macnamara which began to flower just after Christmas.

 Mary asked about caring for her Billbergia, a genus of flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae which originates in South America and members were happy to make suggestions.

Notice Board

Membership fees for 2017 are now due

If any members have suggestions for garden visits this year, please contact the committee

Next Meeting

20^th January:  Presentation – Good Garden Plants Part 2 by Pat Inman

Friday Forum Festivities

What a festive forum it was with raffle, festive food and other activities

Christmas Quiz

Once again, James set a quiz which was enjoyed by all the members.  Firstly we had to find a number of wildlife on an illustration and then identify landmarks in Leeds from photographs taken by James.  The latter demonstrated what we didn’t know about our home town and James obliged with the details.

 

Festive Flower Arrangement

We had a go using a wealth of greenery and benefited from advice from some of  our more experienced arrangers.

Display Table

 Ann’s clematis, which is still flowering, and pretty as a picture

 This newsletter about Red Kites speaks for itself

Next Meeting

Jan 6^th:  Forum – Garden Resolutions for the New Year, so be prepared to share yours.

 and all good wishes for 2017

"The gardening season officially begins on January 1st, and ends on December 31." - Marie Huston

Talk:  Festival of Chanukah by Linda Casper

Friday Forum member Linda Casper spoke about the origins and traditions of Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light. 

She spoke about the history, foods eaten and activities engaged in during the eight day festival, how it is celebrated today and answering questions from the members.

Ideas for Christmas flower arrangements

In preparation for the next meeting, when part of the proceedings will be given over to making festive displays, some members offered examples of what we may be able to achieve!

 Gill’s shared her tips on how to construct these wreaths

 Norma finished off this attractive arrangement with lights.  If you look carefully, the green of the “present” is actually ivy leaves pinned on and not paper as we first thought

 Judith cleverly used baubles glued on to kebab sticks to enhance her arrangement

Display Table

There is still a lot of interest in Ann’s garden.  She brought Callicarpa Bonieri, Fatsia Japonica, Arum Italicum, Cotoneaster, Hedera Buttercup, Crocosmia, Crocus Conqueror, Hebe Red Edge, Jasminum nudiflorum, two varieties of Persicaria and Erysmum

 

 Jenny’s garden is shaded by huge Beech trees and she brought in this spectacular tray of fungi which had formed.  However if this fungi is seen on the branches of a tree it could be a sign of decay and likely to fall off

A plantsman’s garden features some of the more uncommon and harder to find species of plants to inspire the keen plants person.  Carl recounted that in the 1940’s Hellebores were such a plant for his father and Trilliums for himself until now. 

  Carl’s garden now boasts the Cardiocrinum giganteum.   This unusual lily which will take 5-7 years to produce an enormous 6-10ft high flowering spike of scented white flowers and will make a fascinating talking point for visitors to your garden.  Germination of this hardy perennial may be very slow but if you are game to try and have the patience to wait, Carl has offered seeds

Notice Board

Margaret D thanked everyone who helped at the Late Autumn Show which was a financial success.  We thank Margaret for all her hard work.
The programme for 2017 can be accessed by clicking on the tab at the top of the blog entitled Programme 2017.

Next Meeting

16^th December:  Christmas Party.  As mentioned, we will have the opportunity of making a festive arrangement.  Some greenery will be brought in and accessories will be available to purchase, should they be required.

James has once again devised his famous Quiz, which is always good fun.

The Poppy

When members were requested to bring in “something poppy-related” for this meeting in acknowledgement of Poppy Day, no-one expected such a variety of items.

 

 Artwork from Phyllis on left and Peter on right

To read the fascinating story of how a seed was found for a white poppy for the Sissinghurst white garden, click on the link.

http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/plant-of-year-2011.html

 Poems, pictures and Welsh Poppy

 This envelope shows a postmark of 11.11.11.11 and the poppy is from New Zealand for Anzac Day

 Top: Norma's Ceramic poppy which was part of the exhibition at the Tower of London, Left:  Norma's poetry book,  Right:  a knitted poppy with the knitting pattern.

 With silk poppies and poppy heads sprayed gold, Judith has made this attractive flower arrangement

 Ann is dressed for the occasion with her poppy cardigan and, if you look closely, poppy earrings too!

 Jenny's beautiful poppy dish which she made herself

Display Table

Just look what Ann has in her garden in late November! 

Nerines, Hesperantha Mrs Hegarty, Persicaria Fat Domino and Golden Arrow, Ceratostigma Desert Skies, Tricyrtis Empress, Cerinthe major, Salix babylonica crispa, Phormium, Rosa x odorata mutabilis and Dahlia merckii.

 Peter brought some pots of his assorted cyclamens which are all named varieties

 Peter’s Orchid

 Norma wanted the name for the plant she brought which was Eupatorium rugosum Chocolate

 

And her saxifrage fortunei

 From Gill’s garden, there is Holly Golden King, Mahonia, crab apple Red Sentinel, Chrysanthemum, hardy Fuchsia, Viburnum Dawn, and Mexican Daisy

 Sue G’s vase contains Eupatorium rugosum Chocolate,  Eupatorium shrub White Mistflower, Ageratum, Viburnum Dawn, Primula capitata, a chrysanthemum on the conservation list, Salvia trebah, Penstemon Osprey, Aster September Ruby, the tender Salvia Joan, Verbena bonariensis and a twig of Cornus

Notice Board

We were pleased to hear that Caroline is recovering well.

Paxton Show:  The Late Autumn Show will take place at Paxton Hall on Saturday, 26^th November.

Next Meeting

2^nd December:  Talk on the Jewish festival of Chanukah by Linda Casper plus a demonstration of Christmas flower arrangements which members can try their hand at on the 16^th December meeting.