HOVE GARDENING CLUB

NEWSLETTER

Dates for your Diary:

Meetings 2016:

19 July: Vegetable Grow-ing - Ray Broughton 16 August: The Town Gar-den, what to do and when - Jean Griffin 20 September: Chelsea Physic Garden - Michael Holland .

ISSUE 30 SUMMER 2016

Newsletter Editors: Jo Adams, Pat Winter

Contact Jo at: 69 Wish Road. Hove BN3 4LN.

Tel: 01273 723695 poppyjosiejo@gmail.com

EVENTS

Sunday, 26 June, 11am-5pm, 11 Tredcroft Road, Hove. Garden open in aid of Alzheimer Society, £3.50 entry. Cakes, tea, available.

Saturday, 9 July, 12-6pm WISHFEST, Wish Park. Fun & games, Dog Show, Cake Competition, bric-a-brac stalls, bar, food. Facebook: Friends of Wish Park.

Sunday, 10 July, 11am-5pm, 42 Brittany Road, Hove - HGC member Julia Fiettkau is opening her garden for Macmillan’s Coastal Garden Trail. Entry £2. Cakes & tea. www.macmillangardentrail.co.uk/

Why not call in one evening to have a stroll around the

inspiring Secret Garden behind St Leonard’s Church, or just sit and enjoy. Very peaceful, visitors welcome.

NGS Open Gardens Yellow Book available at meetings.

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PLANT SALE, 21 MAY Marilyn High

Our annual Plant Sale is clearly eagerly awaited by local residents, judging by the length of the queue outside the Hall prior to 10am. The doors were then flung open, and buyers swarmed in, keen to snap up the best bargains - and we didn't disappoint !

Like all good Oscar winners' acceptance speeches, a plethora of thanks are due : To everyone who attended on the Friday evening, their cars laden with plants of all kinds; to the army of helpers who set out the annuals, perennials, biennials, fruit, veg, herbs, bric-a-brac and baked goods into an impressive display; the gallant "catering department" who served refreshments to both buyers and sellers, and last (but not least) the many willing hands who took part in Operation Clean-up afterwards. A few plants were unsold, and these were donated to St Michael's at Southwick, courtesy of Anne Ginnings.

Looking forward to 2017, there were requests for more plants in flower at this time of year. Examples of these are: Aquilegia, Begonias (annual), Cleome, Erigeron, Hesperis Matronalis, Geranium (herbaceous), Welsh Poppy, London Pride, Feverfew, Woodruff, Bergenia, Euphorbia, Ox-eye Daisy, Quaking Grass, Erysimum (Bowles Mauve) and Iberis. As for vegetables, there were requests for more cucumber, broad beans, soft fruit and herbs. Ever popular tomatoes in demand were Tumbling Tom and Tigerella.

Before deduction of expenses, we took £1,242 in less than an hour and a half - brilliant!

[Perennials brought in £527, Vegetables £295, Annuals £110, Cakes £75, Houseplants £70, Bric-a-brac £67, Entry £80, Teas £19 (all figures rounded up or down).]

SUGGESTIONS FOR SPEAKERS?

Janet Johnston and Tessa Lindop are doing a grand job arranging for some very interesting speakers each month. Next year’s programme is already nearly complete, but this far-sighted duo would like to hear from you if you have any suggestions for topics you would like covered or good speakers you would recommend for 2018 .

We try to keep the talks focused on gardening, with perhaps occasional diversions into the countryside or local interest. (Contact details on page 4)

Perennials - A View from the Edge

Guess whose garden Chris Redknap has been to see - report on p.3.

Page 2 ISSUE 30 - SUMMER 2016

Photo Competitions for January 2017: It’s time to get creative again. Subjects this year are: (1) Reflections (2) Shell(s) (3) Bird(s).

Photos are displayed at the January party and members choose the winners.

Rules: Photos should be no more than 5”x 7” in size and unframed. Please write your name on the back. Members may each enter only one photo per category.

Anne Ginning’s winning photo of a Peacock in the January 2015 Butterfly category

OUTINGS 2016:

Friday, 8th July: Rye and Great Dixter, Kent Cost: Members £20, non-members £22. This includes coach, entrance to Great Dixter house and garden. Fully booked, Viv will take names for a waiting list.

Wednesday 21st September, to Groombridge Place in the morning, Scotney Castle in the afternoon.

Cost: HGC members £17.00 (for National Trust members) or £28.00. Non HGC members £19.00 (for N.T. members) or £30.00. Price includes coach, driver's tip, entrance to Groombridge Place and entrance to Scotney Castle (N.T.) house and garden.

Contact: Marion King or Viv Shearer

NEMATODES About 6 years ago our garden seemed to be infested with slugs and snails. Like many gardeners, we were loath to use slug pellets due to the damage they cause to the frogs and birds.

So we bought some nematodes (available at www.nematodesdirect.co.uk). They come as a powder that you mix in a watering can and then water into the ground. We treated most of the garden but not all. The first year we did not notice much of a reduction, but the following year when everyone was complaining what a bad year it was for slugs we had far fewer. I have since read that it is the young snails that are killed not the full grown ones so perhaps that explains the delayed action.

Looking round the Garden Centres there now seems to be a liquid (Glazers G2 formula) that can be sprayed on to the plant leaves and then kills the slugs when they come for a snack. Much safer for wildlife but it needs to be applied weekly. Has anyone had any success with this method of control? Mai & Mike Aldridge

(If you have found the liquid successful, please let the editors know, see p.4)

OUR VISIT TO GILBERT WHITE’S

HOUSE, SELBORNE Marion King The outing to Gilbert White's house was on a beautiful, sunny day driving through the Sussex countryside, with primroses lining the roadside and the bluebells just beginning to show through the woods.

The house was very interesting and we were lucky to have a short guided tour by the head gardener, David

Standing, who showed us some of the rather quirky monuments in the garden. There was a rather nice statue of Hercules, but on closer inspection we found it was two dimensional, and the plinth for the terracotta urn was made of hardboard. Also the rotating

wine-pipe seat, made out of a port barrel, which was situated on a mound in front of the house just past the ha-ha. (The picture shows the wine-pipe seat).

After lunch and buying, I think, all the wood anemones they had for sale, we drove back via Arundel to High-down, where we had a lovely leisurely stroll round the garden, finishing off with tea and cake. Well, some did: when David and I got to the cafe they had just shut the doors! Not a happy hubby!

Mike Aldridge stroking the bark of a cherry tree

at Highdown!

Page 3 ISSUE 30 - SUMMER

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MARION’S QUIZ:

1 Whose 300th birthday is being celebrated this year?

2 What type of plant was first grown at Kiftsgate Court in Gloucestershire?

3 Which plant used to feature on the back of the old Three-penny bit? Answers: p.4

HIGHGROVE REFLECTIONS - From our own Royal Correspondent, Chris Redknap

I am fortunate enough to have visited the Royal Gardens at Highgrove near Tetbury in Gloucestershire twice, in October 2013 and in April this year. Cameras and mobile phones are not permitted so I couldn't take any photos.

If you visit Highgrove you will join a group of about 26 others, with tour guides who are very knowledgeable and helpful. Meals fit for a Prince are served in the Orchard Restaurant. All profits from visitors go to The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation.

As with all great gardens, Highgrove is anchored in its wider environment and in this case it is part of a productive farm. Prince Charles also has strong ecological principles that emphasize sustainability and the need to work with rather than against nature. Highgrove illustrates its owner’s principles, but evidence of his quirky personality is also around for all to see, and there are thoughtful tributes to those he loved and admired including his grand-mother, the Queen Mother, as well as his departed pets! Highgrove is also much richer and more varied because Prince Charles had advice from friends such as Lady Salisbury, Rosemary Verey, Miriam Rothschild, Sir Roy Strong and Julian and Isabel Bannerman.

There is a harmonious mixture of structure and informality. The gardens are roughly divided into the following sections: the gardens viewed from the house including the sundial garden, the cottage garden, the wild-flower meadow and woodland garden, arboretum, the Islamic garden and the walled garden.

On my visit this year the wild flower meadow was magical. Narcissi, camassia, tulips, cowslips, primroses and fritillaries glistened in the Spring sunshine. Highlights of the arboretum include the magnificent stumpery, the two temples made of green oak and the wall of gifts consisting of parts of monuments given to the Prince. The walled garden was not at its best on either of my visits but photos show that by using organic methods the Prince and his gardeners are able to grow a wonderful range of fruit, vegetables and flowers for cutting.

The gardens have been designed with views from the house in mind. The thyme walk is a special feature and the clipped yew topiary shapes are all individual as staff are given the freedom to sculpt them according to their own personal tastes. The garden at the front of the house is formal in structure with box borders designed by the Prince himself. However the planting within the borders is informal so that through the changing seasons they contain some of the Prince's favourite flowers and in the Summer these include delphiniums.

Highgrove is a haven for wild-life and bird-song fills the skies. The garden has an air of tranquillity despite being situated near a busy road! If you haven't been already I would certainly recommend Highgrove as a garden not to be missed!

SWAP TABLE AT MEETINGS Just a reminder that each month there is a Swap Table at meetings for members to bring and swap their spare plants, or give a donation for any that aren’t swapped.

ITEMS FOR SALE OR WANTED? We don’t actually have any this month but if any members do have garden related items, plants, equipment, etc. for sale or wanted, you can advertise them in the newsletter.

HOVE

GARDENING

CLUB

President: Chris Thornton-Clough

Vice-Presidents: Ann Norman, Carol Fitzgerald

Chair: Marion King Treasurer: Vivienne Shearer

Secretary/Newsletter: Pat Winter Membership Secretary: Pat Morris

Vice Chair/Newsletter: Jo Adams Raffle: Joyce Goble

Speakers/Refreshments- Janet Johnston Speakers/Dep.Sec./Swap Table: Tessa Lindop

Jenny Ridgway

Carol Fitzgerald (Co-opted)

Meetings

third Tuesday of every month at Glebe Villas Hall, Glebe Villas, Hove 7.30 pm (Doors open from 6.45 pm)

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Competition entries must be in place by 7.00pm

Competitions — July - September 2016. See your schedule for full details

JUL 19 Vegetable Growing – Ray Broughton 1. A Cottage Garden arrangement of flowers and

foliage. 2. 3 blooms of Pansy – any variety or varieties

(Pansy Trophy). 3. A tied bunch of Lavender. 4. 1 bloom of large-flowered Rose. 5. 1 flowering Fuchsia growing in a container

(Standing Memorial Trophy).

6. 12 stems annual Sweet Pea - mixed or single col-

ours (Sweet Pea Trophy). 7. 3 flowering stems of Crocosmia – 1 variety. 8. 3 Broad Bean pods. 9. A tied bunch of assorted Herbs. 10. Carrot Cake. 11. An open Fruit Tart (not covered or lattice).

SEPT 20 Chelsea Physic Garden – Michael Holland

1. A seasonal arrangement of flowers and foliage. 2. A Harvest Festival display of home-grown fruit &

vegetables (St. Leonard's Trophy)

3. 1 bloom of Dahlia - any type (Torrance Memorial Trophy).

4. 3 stems of Cosmos – any type. 5. 3 stems of a Sedum.

6. 3 stems of Rudbeckia. 7. Longest Runner Bean pod. 8. 3 Dessert Apples (Dessert Apple Trophy). 9. 5 Tomatoes with stalks, 1 variety (Tomato Tro-

phy). 10. 1 Capsicum (Sweet Pepper) - any colour. 11. 1 Capsicum (Chilli Pepper) - any colour. 12. Sugarless Tea Loaf 13. 5 Cheese Straws.

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AUG 16 The Town Garden – Jean Griffin 1. A flower arrangement: Summer Display (Chelsea

Plate Trophy). 2. An arrangement of perennials (not shrubs)

(Founder’s Trophy). 3. 3 blooms of Dahlia – 1 variety.(Dahlia Trophy). 4. Pelargonium (Pot Geranium) growing in a contain-

er (Mayor of Hove’s Cup). 5. 2 stems of Penstemon - 1 variety. 6. Flowering Begonia growing in a container– any

type (Begonia Trophy).

7. 1 head of Hydrangea – any variety. 8. 3 Courgettes. 9. 1 Cucumber – any variety. 10. 3 French Beans – any variety. 11. 3 Onions – 1 variety. 12. 3 Runner Beans (Bill Bardsley Memorial Tankard). 13. 5 Tomatoes with stalks – any 1 small variety. 14. Funniest Looking Vegetable. 15. Lemon Drizzle Cake

SQUIRRELS - TULIP LOVERS? Last year, Marion suggested planting tulip bulbs in pots and sinking the pots in the ground, to prevent squirrels digging them up. This year, I followed the suggestion of one of the "Dig-It" team (Radio Sussex, Sundays 9-12am) and roughly chopped some highly perfumed, cheap soap. A small handful of this was then scattered beneath each bulb. Apparently squirrels hate anything with an artificial smell. Well - it worked ! None of my tulips were removed, so I'll be using this method again. Marilyn High

Did you know

Pollen from trees such as hazel and willow is full of protein, making it an essential early spring food for bumblebees.

Many butterflies can taste with their feet

to find out whether a leaf is a suitable food for their caterpillar young. If ok, they will lay their eggs on the leaf (taken from Nottcutts Mag.)