The Colours of Autumn

Many thanks to Jane, who took the following photos of trees in Hurst Green just the other day in the early morning.  For those of a photographic bent, the photos do show the importance of light to the quality and colour of garden photographs - many professionals get up at 4 am to capture gardens just after dawn as they swear that this is the best time - although this may be going a little far for the "point'n'shoot" photographers such as I.

It may still be wet and warm outside instead of cold and frosty - we still have roses out although tomorrow is the first of December, and still haven't had our dahlias blackened by the cold enough to lift them  - but the lovely colours of the trees do prove that Autumn has arrived!

Please do send any photos of plants, gardens etc in Hurst Green to us, for other members to admire.

Fairies return to Hurst Green

 Earlier this month, we noticed that the Fairy Ring had reappeared on the village green, surrounding the tree near to the new village sign.  The ring is really only two thirds complete (and is visible in the photo, honestly !), and there is a significant gap in one area, nearest to St Agatha's.  The ring is much more visible to the naked eye rather than to a photograph, but has quickly faded.  How long it has been in existence in Hurst Green we don't know; apparently there is one in Belfort in France that is over 2000 ft in diameter (650 metres or so, for our younger readers), and thought to be over 700 years old.  Ours is significantly smaller and much younger!

We believe that the funghi are probably Amanita Muscari, or the Fly Agaric.  Although they look beautiful, they are of course toxic and are related to the infamous and fatal Destroying Angel, which featured very prominently in an episode of Midsomer Murders.

Fairy rings are seen as mystical places and there are countless myths about stepping inside or outside of one, and the fate that befell the people who did.  The truth is of course more prosaic - each year, the funghi deplete the nutrients where they grow, so that when they drop their spores the only ones which flourish the next year are the ones on the outside of the area their parents grew in (the inside having been depleted in previous years).  The ring therefore grows outwards year after year, remaining a near-perfect circle.

I am sure that you will be delighted to hear that the rings are also associated with good luck.  How long this luck will last is anyone's guess, but hopefully Hurst Green will have a lucky year ahead!

Hurst Green Gardening Club joins Mighty Oaks Youth Group for bulb planting

Members who regularly follow this blog (hopefully a little more regularly than we have been updating it lately - sorry! - Ed), or who regularly attend meetings (thank you for the effort - Ed) may remember that the Club has been involved with the Might Oaks Youth Group in Hurst Green.  We have helped them plant seeds and make a small garden at the Community Centre (this is the link), and we have recently been out helping them to plant bulbs at the station, to help improve the area.


The weather for the day of the planting was good, and it had even rained for a while in the days ahead of the activity.  There had been some concern that, following the dry spell at the end of Summer, the good old Hurst Green clay would be rock-hard and impenetrable.  The rain softened up the ground, and the area chosen for the bulbs (the grass slope from the car park up to and alongside the path down to the ticket office) appeared to be composed of decent topsoil, perhaps made up and graded properly by the builders when the station was built.  There was therefore distinctly less hard work involved than expected!

A good number of representatives from the Club and from Mighty Oaks turned up, both adult, youth and children - the planting went a great deal faster than expected, and we put in many narcissi, crocuses and irises on the day.  Many have been planted so that they should be visible over the tops of the cars, and the path down should offer a nice vantage point, assuming that the bulbs behave as we would hope.  We think that there should be a decent display - all being well - in the first year, with the colonies of bulbs hopefully increasing year on year.  We were also graced with a visit from a Red Admiral - the local habitat must be doing something right!

Thanks must go to British Rail for their assistance and willingness to help with the project, to the Rotary Club who strimmed the grass back before planting, and also to the local Council who gave a grant towards the purchase of the bulbs.

Apologies once again for the quality of the photographs (this is becoming a regular theme - Ed).  On reviewing the shots we realised that it is very difficult to take a photograph of people planting bulbs without having almost every image including a number of bottoms pointing skywards, all front and centre.  The most popular topic of conversation on the day was the one that went "you can't use *THAT* photo", or less charitably "You'll need a wide angle lens for *THAT*, ha ha".  There is indeed a fine image of Carol's derriere in existence, which we will publish in a future Caption Competition if she does not behave ...

AGM 2014

Last night saw the Annual General Meeting of the Club.  The normal business of the club was discussed and presented by our Chair, Jane, with additional reports from the Treasurer Nick, and the Show Secretary Jilly.  The meeting also saw the trialing of a speaker system so that those at the back could hear more clearly, which was generally approved of, at least until the batteries conked out ... nevertheless, our appreciation goes to the Rotary Club who loaned the equipment for the evening.

The Club thanked Brenda Cole for all her past work on the Committee, as she decided to stand down during the year, with her position filled by Janet Bradshaw.  The rest of the Committee was re-elected to serve for another year, and the thanks of all the members go to them for managing the Club so successfully over the last year.

After the AGM, the members were treated to a table of food and nibbles kindly provided by the attendees, and to mulled apple juice, suitably non-alcoholic (Boo! - Ed) to suit those who were driving home.

We look forward to seeing you all next January!

October Meeting 2014 - The Four Gardens of the RHS

Our October meeting saw a multimedia slide extravaganza, complete with music, detailing "The Four Gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society".  These are Hyde Hall (Essex), Wisley (Surrey), Rosemoor (Devon) and Harlow Carr (Yorkshire).  A big thank you to Graham Usher for the talk.

While all of the gardens appeal in different ways to different people, I was pleased to hear that Mr Usher lists Rosemoor as his favourite and therefore agrees with me - not that there is anything wrong with the others, but Rosemoor is a lovely garden and I have been there when very few other visitors were around, which is never likely at Wisley.

It may interest members to know that the RHS have a couple of small (and expensive!) holiday apartments at Rosemoor, situated inside the gardens themselves.  They tend to book up a long way in advance, but they are on the "dream ticket" of things to do before we croak ...

Coleus Competition ... and advance notice of next year's competition too!

The winning coleus is the burgundy shaded one second from the right.

At our October meeting, we held a Coleus Competition to see who had managed to grow the "best" plant from one of the seedlings supplied by Jilly earlier in the year (and a thank you for growing them for us - Ed).  This was a surprisingly popular event, and a thank you to to all who took part.

"Best" is of course a relative term - as none of us are real-life horticultural judges - but there was a clear winner based not just on bushiness but also on prettiness.  Step forward Mary Loome, for your Best Coleus prize ... and congratulations!  Second place went to Cheryl, and third to Margaret H.

Apologies for the poor quality of the photos - the one of Mary receiving her somewhat modest prize was not publishable, and the photos of the Coleuses are rather marred by the background of the painted cupboards, which was not apparent when taking the photo in the first place.  What can I say?  David Bailey, I am not!

Incidentally, the winning plant is the rather lovely burgundy coloured plant second in from the right.  It was particularly striking, and one should remember that all these very different plants all came from the same seed packet.

In  view of the popularity of the event, we are hoping to repeat it next year as well - the theme will be "most chillies on a chilli plant".  Seeds have been purchased in readiness, and you can even eat the results ... 

October meeting 2014

The title of our October talk is "The Four Gardens of the R.H.S", to be given by Graham Usher.  The meeting will be on Wednesday October 8th, at the usual time of 8.00 pm in St Agatha's Hall.

Don't forget to bring along your Coleuses (Colei? - Ed), for the friendly challenge!

We look forward to seeing you there ...

Hurst Green Fair 2014

Didn't we do well!  Unused as we are to blowing our own trumpets (really? - Ed), all of those involved in producing the stall for this year's Hurst Green Fair, held on Saturday 20th, should be pleased as punch with themselves.  The stall, pictured, looked really good and professional, and was well stocked with plants and produce including chutneys and jellies.  All of these proved popular, and we think that the Club gave a good showing of itself.

Which simply leads me to remind all of you who were kind enough to donate preserves to the show, that we need more for next year!  So please, get pickling and preserving again ...

The front of the stand - plants, preserves ..

... and the side of the stand, with more plants!

Trade was brisk!  Ladies - form an orderly queue ...

Silverware!

Further to our post on the Autumn Flower and Produce show, we have a couple of pictures of the Hurst Green members who won two of the three "Best in..." categories.  Step forward Sue Kempton, who won the Crewdson Cup for overall Best in Show with her fuchsia heads, and Richard Dove, who won the Margaret Lawson Challenge Cup for the Best Dahlia exhibit (pictured here with the Mrs L Wettern Cup for the most points in the Dahlia classes.

Sue Kempton - Overall Best In Show

Richard Dove - Best Dahlia Exhibit

Report on the Autumn Flower and Produce Show 2014

Another year, and another major show has come and gone, leaving those of us who had to prepare it weary and emotional (which is to say, somewhat tipsy in the evening!).  The effort was, I am pleased to report, well worth it, as we presented a show with a goodly number of impressive exhibits - for the statistically minded of you, 214 in total!  Thank you to everyone who exhibited, or who were involved in the running of the show - and thanks to all of you who came to view the show itself.

The show: set up, ready and waiting ...

The Autumn Flower and Produce Show 2014 was held on 13th September,  presented jointly with "The Grow With Us Club" (the Limpsfield and Oxted District Horticultural Society), in St Mary's Community Hall in Oxted.  There was a good attendance in the afternoon to admire the blooms and vegetables, aided by glorious sun, as well as a healthy showing for the actual entries from Hurst Green - our club excelled in the Flower and Domestic sections, with a special showing by Richard Dove in the Vegetables.  Congratulations go to Roy Eaton, who won the most overall points in the show.   Thanks must also go to Jilly, who acted as the show secretary for both of the clubs, preparing all the entries and sorting out all the results on the day, and to the judges for both the flowers and domestic classes, who gave up their Saturday for our benefit.

It should be noted that while prizes and places are all well and good (particularly for the competitive members, of which I suppose I must admit to being a little - ok, a quite a lot - guilty), the real pleasure of the show is looking at all the blooms, vegetables, handicrafts and preserves on display.  It isn't just rooted in receiving the prizes - even if a shiny silver cup is nice!  Certainly, the pleasure of the members of the public who attended came from seeing flora and fauna rather than seeing who had actually won.  Therefore, your committee would like to encourage members to enter a show even if you are not competitive, and to look upon entering as providing an exhibit for others simply to enjoy - I know that I have done so only in order to help fill a table, but that the effort of doing so has been much appreciated (and by the way, these scratch entries often do rather well, as it is surprising how much an entry may be regarded by others and the judges, even if you don't think it anything special yourself).  So please, do have a go in the future even if you don't want to win or think yourself competitive - think instead of the pleasure of others looking at the exhibits.  Come along to any of our shows, have a look to see what is entered, get a feel for what you need to do - and then have a go yourself!  It really, really can be very rewarding.

For the record, the winners of the cups may be found on a new page entitled "Awards - Autumn flower and produce show 2014", accessible on the right hand side of the blog, or by clicking this link.  And now, for the piccies ...

Best In Show 2014 - Sue Kempton

Best Dahlia Exhibit - Richard Dove

Best Vegetable Exhibit - Christine Kirk

The Dahlia and flower classes

The first prize specimen Dahlia

The rose classes - sadly a little thin as most members'
plants were over by the show

Floral arrangements - we also had aster stems and
flowering shrubs which are not pictured

One of my favourite displays - the boards of
fuchsia heads always look fantastic, and there were
many entries this year

The potted plant classes, succulents and
sempervivums to the front

Vegetables - the first table...

... and the  second table

The collection classes - vegetables

The collection classes - mixed "My very best" and "2 and 1"

The fruit classes

Domestic classes - jams, jellies and chutneys.  We also
had tea loaves, which are not pictured

Handicrafts - the terrarium was placed first but the judging
took a great deal of discussion! 

The voted classes - miniature flower arrangements,
a flower arrangement in an item of footwear,
and the photographic section.

The winner of the Children's cupcakes category

August meeting 2014 - 50 Greys of Shade

Our speaker for August was Mr Colin Moat, with his topic "50 Greys of Shade".  We enjoyed a comprehensive listing of many plants that would grow in different levels of shade, including some ideas which may be obvious to some, but are often not really though of, or even considered by most.  One example is to plant bulbs in shaded areas, and to treat some of them as annual plants - many will provide a splash of colour in the spring for the first year even if they are not totally suited to the location, as the bulb contains the necessary nutrients for at least one year's flowering.

Mr Moat runs Pineview Plants, which may be found by following the link pineviewplants.co.uk and was also kind enough to produce a list of plants suitable for shade, which is included below.  As usual, click on the image to open it and to print it.

August meeting 2014

Our August meeting will be on Wednesday 13th August, at St Agatha's Hall, 8.00 pm as usual.  Our speaker will be Colin Moat, and his subject is "50 Greys of Shade".

We would love to see new faces as well as all our current members, so if you are interested in gardening and are not already a member, please do think about coming along and sampling our delights!  If you know someone who may be interested, persuade them to come with you ...

Do also remember to come and collect your jar labels for our stall at the Hurst Green Village Fair in September.

Where has Godstone gone?

No, we don’t mean the village of Godstone, or even the Godstone Gardening Club! This tabloid headline refers to a plant – Aubretia Godstone.

You may recall from an earlier post that Margaret had asked how Daphne Bholua Limpsfield came to get its name. That set me thinking (never a good idea as I spend a lot of time thinking and very little time actually doing) and I turned to the good old RHS Plant Finder to look up other local names. Needless to say, there was no Hurst Green listed, or Oxted, Crockham, Titsey, Tandridge, etc, but there was an Aubretia Godstone. Result! I clicked on the information to discover that it has not been listed since 2002. 

Aubrieta (or Aubretia depending on how you feel) - this
photograph is not Godstone!

I therefore Googled it, confident that I must be able to find a supplier in the UK, but came up with nothing. It has completely disappeared. Yet back in 1950 none other than the gardening goddess Vita Sackville West describes Aubretia Godstone thus, “Aubretia has certainly been overdone, but I still maintain that this Rock-cress can be used with tact and advantage … a grey wall or a whitewashed wall, or grey paving stones, all make a good background, especially if you avoid the insipid old pale mauve and choose only the best strains, such as Cambria, red; Crimson Queen; Godstone, deep purple; Kelmscott Beauty, a double red; Vindictive, violet-red.” (Extract from In Your Garden.) I have checked plant finder for all these others as well; Kelmscott Beauty is not listed, the others are listed but again there are no suppliers.

So why has it disappeared? Plants do appear, flourish briefly, and then disappear out of garden centres, catalogues and stockists, but Aubrieta Godstone has been around a long time. I realise that Aubretia is considered old fashioned at the moment – when was the last time you saw it used at Chelsea? – and certainly when we visited the RHS inaugural Alpine plant fair earlier this year there was precious little aubretia for sale. I also don’t think it helps that it has slightly changed its name! It is now more commonly known as aubrieta, not aubretia, which I find incredibly confusing.

I have of course asked the ever-helpful Sylvia from Godstone Gardening Club for assistance (this reference also gives us a good opportunity to marvel at a lovely picture of Sylvia when Godstone produced a show garden at Chelsea in 2000 - good for them! - p.s. click on the link to read it) . She has suggested putting out a general note in the Godstone newsletter appealing for any information (this plant is beginning to sound like a lost cat!) and preferably a cutting. If any of our members knows anyone with Aubretia Godstone, please let us know. It would be lovely to be able to plant it next to Limpsfield, and ideally to propagate it and spread it back around the locality.

Jams, Chutneys, and the Villlage Fair in September

A gentle plea for produce suitable for sale at the Hurst Green Village Fair in September ... if you are making jams or anything else from your fruit and vegetable gluts, please would you consider making a couple of extra for the Club, or putting aside a few that have already been made for us to sell.

We will be bringing more jar labels with us to the next meeting in August, so please remember to collect some, and to get jamming!

Summer supper and social

 Our meeting for July 2014, held on the 9th, was the popular summer supper and social.  The weather was more than kind to us, and this was as ever a highly enjoyable event, held in St Agatha's Hall.  The evening is a very good way to meet fellow gardeners and friends and to exchange tips (and gossip).  We would heartily recommend it to anyone thinking of joining the Club or who want to expand their horizons in the village.

The format of the evening was unchanged from previous years - the evening is  a sit down buffet with the Committee producing the main courses, and members bringing along a dessert.  As the attendance was very good indeed, there were a good many varied desserts to be sampled, and a general theme running through the evening was favourable comment on the quality of the food!

Many thanks therefore to all those who came, and all those who prepared dishes for the occasion.

Snake in the grass .. or at least on the patio

Anyone of a nervous disposition should be warned before they scroll down!

My neighbours called me around today to inspect an interloper in their garden. It has been on their patio for the past few mornings, basking in the early morning sun. It turned out to be an adder. This is the first time we have seen one in our vicinity – we have seen them on the chart and along Tanhouse Road, and friends have told us over the years of unwelcome visitors in Orchard Way and Rockfield Close. But we have never heard of one in a garden on the village green. It was really only a few feet away from the footpath that leads up to Aggies and the station.

An adder - if you can even bear to look
Photo credit Mike Richardson and SarahWinch

But have we just been unobservant? Last year, when digging a border, we found what looked like snake eggs. We checked on the internet to confirm our suspicions, but the internet world was divided on this issue. Some declared them to be snake eggs, others that they were fungi, although all agreed that they could not be adder eggs as this snake apparently gives birth to live young.  Although probably some form of developing puff fungus, they were all damaged in digging the border, which now appears to be somewhat fortuitous...

Fungi or snakes eggs?
Photo courtesy of Calendula and Concrete

We are not sure why the snake has appeared now. It is possible that it lives in the copse at the top of Meldrum Close, relying on the pond there for water and feeding on the local mice. However, the pond is currently dry and so perhaps the adder ventured out in search of water. I don’t know a lot about snakes and so I don’t really know. While we are happy to welcome some wildlife into the garden, there are limits, and snakes are definitely well beyond the acceptable (particularly since they are one of life's few instinctive fears).  Unfortunately, it does appear that killing or interfering with an adder is illegal as they are now protected and so removal does pose a potential problem.

Hopefully, this adder was a one-off; however, it is worth being cautious if you live in this vicinity! 

Books newly in to Oxted Library

Members may be interested in the following new garden related books that have recently been added to the stock at Oxted library - as of today, they are in the new books section as you go in the doors, although they are liable to move to the main library stacks at some point.

The Big Allotment Challenge book, while related to a TV series, does look at a cursory glance to have a good deal of information in it on general vegetable and flower gardening, and is therefore worth a second look rather than discounting it immediately, particularly for relative novices!

 

 

 

Open Garden and Garden Party

The calm before the storm, with the garden ready for viewing. 

The plant in the foreground is
Daphne bholua Limpsfield - read about it here. 
The planting through the middle of the picture with the arches
is about two years old and needs to mature a little more.

On Sunday 15th June, the Gardening Club held its first Members' Open Garden and Garden Party at Jilly and Jeremy's house.  The Committee has long felt that the membership holds a wealth of information about gardens in general, and plants in the specific, and that we should encourage the sharing of this information amongst us.  It was thought that the best way to start would be to open a garden (which is after all the whole point of a gardening club) so that members could discuss their interest over a cup of tea and cake (the other most important point of any garden visit) in a pleasant social gathering.  Besides, who in the gardening game can resist a nose around someone else's plot, which would normally remain hidden from the world and be accessible to only a select few?  The opening and garden party was a private event open only to members and their invited guests, as a specific benefit of their membership.

Tea, Cakes, Garden ... welcome to an English Sunday!

The silver plant is Phlomis Italica, with Akebia Quinata
climbing on the far pergola leg.  Not really visible
on the far arch leg (to the left) is a newly planted
Ampelosis Brevipendunculata (PorcelainVine) which
has extraordinary berries in Autumn that look like china.

Although I must confess to being slightly biased in my view, as it was in fact my own garden that
opened, the event seemed to be a great success with a very good turnout.  After a week of glorious sun, the weather on the day started rather overcast and windy, fortunately settling down in time for the off.  There were peeks of sun in the afternoon and the threatened rain never arrived.  Fortunately it remained warm - and in some ways the lack of bright sunshine rather helped from the comfort point of view as no-one keeled over from sunstroke!  On the minus side, it did rather affect the take-up of Pimms as tea was more popular.

The tea tent is on the far left - if only you could see the
little elves that worked so diligently in it all afternoon!

The Wisteria on the pergola is Floribunda Alba, which flowers prolifically
and has a wonderful vanilla scent.  This is the plant that caused me
to break the wooden table (see the article The Princess and the Pea)!

Thank you to all of you who turned out to support the event (especially as it was on Father's Day, not that my children actually remembered), and also to all of you who made cakes for the occasion (and were then willing  to buy the slices back again after supplying them in the first place).  We had a very good selection of scones and cakes to choose from, with many members returning for seconds and thirds.  A huge thank-you must go to Lyn Verge, Kate de Angeli and Mark de Angeli for manning (personning?) the tea tent and kitchen for the whole of the event, and for fending off our youngest teenager whose offers to "help" were based more on perceived easy access to chocolate cake than any real desire to make himself useful.  And yes, we did charge him for the cake that he ate!

Although designed more as a social and informational event, the garden party managed to raise £105 for the club - thanks to all of you who came and enjoyed yourselves, spent your money, and brought guests!  Hopefully, everyone went away with at least one idea or nugget of information.

And now for a gentle request - if any of you took photographs of the garden, specific plants, or the members quaffing their teas, please could you send them to HGgardeningclub@gmail.com, as we would love to have more of a record of the event and didn't have time to take many ourselves.

The conservatory patio.  The pink rose is a good fence covering and one of
the few original plants in the garden - it is probably Rosa American Pillar.
The box hedging is about four years old and we are vigilant on box blight;
no new box plants enter the garden without a quarantine period and we have
shelved plans for a new box hedge to preserve what we have already.

The "Library Spiral" with The Hatter water feature
from Robert James Workshop.  You have to walk the spiral
in order to see the feature properly (he's pouring a cup of tea).
My insurers tell me that I have to point out that this is only a
bronze resin water feature and has no metal value.

Why "Library Spiral?"  Because the planting includes
Hosta Great Expectations, Brunnera Looking Glass,
Ligularia Desdemona, Euphorbias Tiny Tim and Humpty Dumpty,
Lotus Little Boy Blue, Rosa Maid Marion, Primulas Guinevere and
Black Jack, Iris Count Dracula, Penstemon Raven and
a climbing Rosa Long John Silver (not really visible), and more besides.
Winter bulbs include Tulipa Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio,
and Uncle Tom and Crocus Dorothy and Pickwick. 
Summer planting includes
Dahlias Wizard of Oz, Pooh, Arabian Night and Pippi.

Jilly's birthday present 2013, replacing a copper water
feature in a pebble pool, superseded by The Hatter,
which was a Christmas pressie!

The Rose Garden, one of the first areas to be created.
Planting includes Rosas Brother Cadfael, Sharifa Asma,
Gertrude Jekyll, Graham Thomas, and Cinderella with
Clematis Comtesse de Bouchard on the arch.  The lavender
is a little vigorous and we are hoping to replace it with
Lavandula Little Miss Muffett.

Patio and Pots. There are about 70 or so in the garden...
Blast! - I've just noticed that the lamp post is skew at the top.
A job for the weekend, if I can be bothered...

The patio before the influx of guests - the gold and purple
plant was much asked about.  It is Tradescantia Sweet Kate, but can do
with subtle support as it tends to flop later in the year,
especially after hot weather.

Nocturne by Margaret Samuel.  Again, this is bronze
resin and has no metal value! 

The highly scented purple damask shrub rose
in the foreground is Rosa de Rescht,
and there is a solitary remaining
flower of Iris Susan Bliss - this iris was
spectacular a few weeks before as was the rose!
The garden arches and planting are only 2 years old
and need more time to cover the walk properly.

And finally, finding a quiet spot in the garden.  The paeony is (probably)
Sarah Bernhardt, flanked by golden oregano. 
The foxglove on the left behind the arch leg was also much admired -
it is Digitalis Illumination Pink  and should flower all summer
as it is sterile and will not set seed.

There is an Arbutus arachnoides poking up above the fence
in the middle of the picture almost from the head of our guest;
  this is a less common version of the strawberry tree
that has lovely bark but does not fruit as well as Arbutus unedo. 
Ours came from Architectural Plants, and we wait for it to grow to a
small tree, replacing a huge hawthorn that was
unsuitable for the garden.  The garden has been
planted for height, but will take a number of years to achieve it.