Virtual Friday Forum

After all the hard work you will be undertaking in the garden this weekend, relax with a glass of something cold and try your hand at this quiz, courtesy of Kathy Howard of Hardy Plants.

https://wyhps.co.uk/2020/04/03/kathys-quiz/#like-4992

Let us know what tasks you are doing during lockdown.  Pictures of your gardens would be good too.

Stay safe

Postponement of meetings until further notice

Meetings of Friday Forum have been postponed until further notice.

Houseplants

Presentation: House Plants

Friday Forum’s member Eric Wells spoke about the benefits of keeping plants in our homes, where to situate them and how to look after them. Many of us who find it hard to keep houseplants alive will go home and choose a better spot for our plants, water them (being careful not to overwater them) with tepid water, feed them, split them and repot them when necessary using a peat based compost, adding vermiculite or pearlite for drainage.  We learnt how to maintain our plants when we go on holiday and how to control any pests.
Whether we choose houseplants for their flower, fragrance, greenery or culinary uses, we now know how to care for them.

Ann’s variety of slow growing Sansevieria or Mother-in-Law's Tongue.  The large one is Sansevieria masoniana and the small one in the background is Ann

Margaret H's coffee plant

 and Haemanthus Albiflos 

Margaret's houseplants

Derek grew this Beaucarnea recurvata (Pony Tail Tree) from seed he procured from a flower in a hotel foyer in Lanzarote

The name escapes me

 Abutilon

Carol’s Cactus and succulent

Display Table

From her garden, Kate brought Narcissus Jetfire, Chaemomeles, Pittosporum Tom Thumb, Epimedium rubrum, Pulmonaria Blue Ensign, Pachyphragma macrophyllum, Skimmia japonica, Veronica Georgia Blue and Euphorbia characias

Judith’s hardy Begonia with its lovely foliage

Caroline’s pot of Iris reticulata Harmony

Carol’s Echium Black Prairie

Jenny’s Trachystemon orientalis, commonly known as Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, grows in shade and has rough leaves which get larger as the season progresses

Gill brought some Stachyurus, a shrub with stiff racines, Allium paradoxum normale, Primrose, Pulmonaria, Epimedium, white and blue  Anemone blanda and Scilla bifolia  

What a garden Ann must have! Her container has Narcissus Tête-à-tête, Bright Jewel and Jetfire, Leucojum vernum vagneri, Fritillaria meleagris, Corydalis he red George Baker and malkensis, Cardamine, Hellebore, Cyclamen coum, Iris unguicularis and  Iris reticulata Polar Ice, Crocuses Romance and Vernus, Pulmonaria Sissinghurst White and Mandrake

Notice Board

Reminder of the forthcoming Paxton AGM

A heads up that Friday Forum Spring Mini Show is coming up on April 3^rd

Surprise! Happybig birthday Judith

Next Meeting

20^th March – Presentation by Tracy Foster entitled Influences that have shaped our Gardens

Design Tips for Small Gardens – Mary Swan

Presentation:  Design Tips for Small Gardens by Mary Swan

Mary, who is a garden designer and lecturer in horticulture, gave us a workshop on garden design using illustrations from courtyards in Marrakech to our local York Gate garden in Adel.  We learnt key design tips including landscaping, texture and colour.  We then had to undertake an exercise in teams which involved putting the theory into practice, which proved quite difficult.

We spent an enjoyable and informative afternoon and will look at our gardens through new eyes.

We have the opportunity to visit Mary’s own garden later in the year.

Mary also gives workshops locally. 

Display Table

 Kate’s Crinodendron Alf Robbins which bears white flowers

 Janella’s Cyclamen

 Dorothy’s Crocus chrysanthus Advance

From her garden, Ann’s bouquet includes Galanthus nivalis, Leucojum vernum,  Iris unguicularis, syn. Stylosa, Iris reticulate, Crocus tomassinianus, Narcissus tête-à-tête, Corydalis malkensis, Puschkinia and Hepatica x Ballardia

 Gill’s posy has Hellebore, Brunnera, Cardamine and Sarcococca

 Carol's Spring posy includes Pulmonaria Angustifolia and Sissinghurst White, Bergenia, Viburnum Tinus and Dawn, the attractive Heather Golden Starlet and the still flowering Fuchsia microphylla

Gardening Matters
Janella told us about the Ring-necked parakeet which was feeding in her garden but are mainly found in south-east England.  
Many members agreed that the frogs are now very active in their ponds.

Notice Board

Garden centre trip:  The Fuchsia Society has opened its annual trip on 19^th April to non-members.  For the cost of £10, the coach will leave Paxton at 8.30 am stopping at Reighton Nursery, Hunmanby at 10.30, the Piebald Inn 
http://thepiebaldinn.co.uk/
(decide your choice of lunch) and Deans Nurseries returning to Paxton by 5 pm.

If interested, please contact Julie of WY Fuchsia Society on 07736456414

Friday Forum day trip to Southport Flower Show on 21^st August: If you or your friends want to book, full details are on the Garden Visits page.

Next Meeting

6^th March – Forum on Houseplants. 

Houseplants are quite the trend.  Member Eric will give a talk but please bring in any ailing, thriving, interesting, unnamed houseplants of your own.

I like gardening — it's a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself. — Alice Sebold

Friday Forum AGM 2020
 

Judith informed us that this was her 16^th Friday Forum Annual General Meeting and last Chairman’s Report for as she is standing down from her post.

Judith was thanked by the members for all her hard work, dedication and for the knowledge and humour she brought to the role.

 Judith being presented with card, voucher and David Austin Rose Rhapsody in Blue

We were reminded how Friday Forum was formed back in the early 1990s and, I think we can agree, still flourishing.

Kate and Janella will step up to the post and members were asked if they could undertake various other roles.  

The AGM was followed by a cryptic quiz, courtesy of James, and a free raffle with garden-related prizes.

Display Table

 Margaret H’s 6 x petal snowdrop Godfrey Owen

Margaret’s kokedama.  This lovely word that trips off the tongue

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/projects/making-kokedama-moss-balls.htm The art of Kokedama literally translates from “koke” meaning moss and “dama” meaning ball.   What is Kokedama? It is a form of Japanese garden art that is centuries old and tied into the practice of bonsai.   from the sphere. Kokedama is the practice of taking the root ball of a plant and suspending it in a mud ball, which is then coated with soft green moss. It is a living planter as well as a distinctive display piece. They may be fixed to a piece of driftwood or bark, suspended from a string or nestled in a clear, attractive container to itself.  

If you fancy a try:  https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-make-a-kokedama/

 

Judith’s Begonia Angel Blush with its serrated leaves

 Judith’s Hippeastrum

 Judith’s Euphorbia Frosted Flame

 Kate’s well dispayed Hellebores

Kate’s dark-leaved Ajuga Black Scallop 

Kate’s evergreen Korean Rock Fern Polystichum tsus-simense

 Gill’s vase of foliage which includes the attractive, evergreen fern polystichum Bevis and variegated Fig

Gill’s variegated Dianella which bears blue berries

 Dorothy’s Iris reticulata Joyce and Irish Garden

Jenny’s found this flowering Petasite (Butterbur) with its large, circular leaves in the boggy part of the local park The Hollies  

Jenny’s rather large Eucalyptus gunnii has now flowered

Gardening Matters

Caroline brought the Quiz and Puzzle Book by RHS to our notice, which would make a nice gift (for oneself)
 https://www.amazon.co.uk/RHS-Gardeners-Quiz-Puzzle-Book/dp/178472632X

Janella bought these good value bird boxes at Home Bargains and reminded us that they should be installed before Valentine’s Day

Another good idea from Janella to help wildlife is this credit card sized bee saviour card  with three cells of sugar solution which will fit neatly in your wallet, purse or pocket so that you can revive an exhausted bee when out and about.

https://saviourbees.co.uk/campaigns/bee-saviour-card/

Notice Board

Reminder – reserve your place on our Friday Forum day trip to Southport Flower Show.  See our Visits 2020 page for more details.



Next Meeting

21^st February:  A presentation by Mary Swan “Design Tips for Small Gardens”