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.

Summer Evening Flower Show Report 2014

Apologies from the management on the rather late posting of the show report, caused by the preparation of the Garden Party (the subject of another post soon), and a trip to Amsterdam to see the  Canal Gardens that open once a year as part of a fund raising weekend.  Normal service will hopefully be resumed from now on!

Attendance and entries were healthy on the night.

The Summer Show for 2014 was held on 11th June at St Agatha's Hall.  It was presented jointly with The Grow With Us Club from Oxted.  The show was successful with a healthy attendance from both Oxted and Hurst Green, and a good number of entries, as you can see from the photograph to the right. Pimms was provided by the Club during the judging (and thanks go to David Firmin for acting as the Drinksmeister).  Thanks also go to our Judge, Sylvia Pocock from Godstone, for doing the honours and for taking the time after the show to explain why particular exhibits had scored well, and for giving us her "judicial" thoughts on the displays - without these comments we cannot learn and improve in following years.  For those unfamiliar with Sylvia (who is often the judge for us), she is the lady in white at the front, seen here "in action" marking the exhibits.  The main thanks, however, go to all those who entered exhibits without which there would be no show in the first place!

Congratulations to Linda Boakes (Oxted) who won Best In Show with her container of vegetables in Class 15, to Jeremy Ball (HG) who won overall 1st Prize on points, and to Roy Eaton (both HG and Oxted) who won 2nd prize.

We do have one request from the Show Secretary to pass on, which is a gentle plea for entry forms to be returned in good time for any show so that entry cards may be prepared in advance.  There was a misprint in the schedule, which will be corrected for next year, which should have asked for the entries to be made by the evening before the show, and not on the day of the show itself!  Although we are happy to take entries at the show in Hurst Green - we wouldn't want anyone who wants to enter an exhibit not to be able to do so - it does make the preparation of the cards easier if most exhibits are entered beforehand, and we do not know if Oxted will be quite so happy to allow late entries at the September Show!

As a picture is worth a thousand words, we will stop writing now and show you selected pictures from the show.  We do apologise however for having no photo of the Best in Show (although the eagle eyed may be able to spot it near to the end of the table in the second photograph) ... this omission will not, we hope, happen again!

*** Stop Press ***  After submitting this article, we noticed that LODHS has published a picture of the Best in Show (with the vegetable / fruit classes) on their own blog, lodhsgardens.blogspot.com.  We have therefore "borrowed" a copy of this photo - hopefully they will not mind! - to complete the article as it should have been documented before.  It has been inserted into the correct space at the end of the article.  Thanks to LODHS for the photo.

Classes 1 to 9.  Roses and cut garden flowers were popular this year

Classes 10 to 16.  Potted foliage and flowering plants
make good exhibits whatever the weather!

Class 1 - Mixed decorative arrangement of flower and foliage (2 ft maximum)

Class 2 - Some of the miniature exhibits (4 inches maximum)

Class 2 - Congratulations to Pat for her winning miniature
presented in a sea shell

Class 3 - A vase of cut flowers from your garden

Class 6 - 1 vase 2 specimen roses

Class 6 - 1 vase 2 specimen roses in close-up.

Class 9 - Sweet Peas.  While (apparently, according to Sylvia) not the
best exhibition blooms, we think it is a good achievement to have
any blooms at all available this early in the year!

Classes 10 and 11 - Potted foliage plants, up to 7" pot and over 7" pot.

Classes 12 and 13 - Potted flowering plants, up to 7" pot and over 7" pot.

Classes 15 and 16, Vegetables and Fruit.  The Best In Show is on the left.

Hostas vs Hurst Green Slugs

Having just wandered around the Oxted Open Gardens, and been on the Club visit to High Beeches and Borde Hill, I have become aware that many of our members have a single question in mind when they look at other people's hostas - specifically, how on earth do they keep them slug and snail free?

Although clay has some advantages for gardeners in keeping hold of nutrients, it makes Hurst Green Gardening difficult in many other ways, notable of which is the tendency to encourage slugs and snails on account of its dampness.  We have seen a number of open gardens over the last few weeks, including some at Toy's Hill, and the hostas in the latter were spectacular - in fact, they were virtually hole free.  We met another member of the Club in these gardens, and all of us looked longingly at the hostas and muttered the same thing about slugs, in a rather green-eyed fashion which probably did our karma no good, but made us feel a great deal better at the time.

We could go on about the possibilities of growing hostas in pots, surrounded by copper bands, or the relative merits of using slug pellets (or catapults - apparently slugs can't find their way back if displaced more than 20m, which must have been a fun research project, and which is coincidentally about as far as my neighbour's neighbours boundary, one neighbour removed so they don't think it is me that is firing them.).  Instead, I point you to an article in this months issue (June 2014) of The Garden, which mentions that some hostas are in fact naturally slug resistant, if not almost slug proof.

Apparently - and who knew? - hostas with thick, heavy and often corrugated foliage tend to shrug off slug and snail attacks.  These tend to be the ones derived from Hosta sieboldiana, so that many are grey-green, but at least one on the list is a rather striking gold colour.  The article lists five hostas to try, which I have pictured below.

Some of these hostas are commonly available, but the RHS plant finder (try this link) should have nurseries listed that stock the others.



Hosta Praying Hands
Photo courtesy of hostaplants.co.uk
 

Hosta Blue Mouse Ears
Photo courtesy of hostaplants.co.uk

Hosta Krossa Regal
Photo courtesy of hostaplants.co.uk

Hosta Sum and Substance
Photo courtesy of hostaplants.co.uk

Hosta One Man's Treasure
Photo courtesy of hostaplants.co.uk

The stems of Hosta One Man's Treasure
Photo courtesy of hostaplants.co.uk

June meeting 2014 - Summer Flower Show

Just a reminder that next week's meeting is the Summer Flower Show at St Agatha's Hall, presented jointly with The Grow With US Club (LODHS).  As things stand, we have received few entries, so please look in your garden and think about items that you can exhibit!

The schedule is in the pink annual programme on page 9, or may be viewed online here.  Please remember also to send you entry forms to ball.jillian@btintenet.com or hggardeningclub@gmail.com (a slowmail address is also on the entry form itself).  The form may be found on page 17 of the programme, or at the end of the schedule online.