March Meeting 2016 - Fuchsias My Way

Fuchsia My Stacey - bred by our speaker
Derek Dexter and named for his daughter.
Photo courtesy of the New Forest Fuchsia Society.

In March, in a talk entitled "Fuchsias - My Way" we were treated to a talk and practical demonstration that was even more entertaining than a concert by Ole Blue Eyes himself, from Derek Dexter.  Derek regaled us with tales of his fuchsia growing triumphs (of which there were many), as well as his disasters (fortunately, far fewer!).

Originally, Derek was a vegetable grower on his allotment, but the demands of a young family forced him to turn his horticultural attention to a site closer to home, and he started to grow fuchsias.  He uses a large greenhouse in his rear garden, but gave us a useful tip to reduce costs - he erects a small 7' by 5' polythene greenhouse inside the larger one (small? That's basically the size of my whole greenhouse - Ed), and it is this smaller greenhouse which is heated and controlled by a thermostat to overwinter the less hardy varieties in his collection.  As well as being cheaper to heat than the larger building, the polythene "insert" is well insulated by the larger greenhouse and suffers much less heat loss.

Fuchsia Gillian Anthea.
Photo courtesy of fuchsiamagic.com

Derek begins the fuchsia year in January (What?  It's far too cold outside for me, I'm in front of a fire until March; dedication has its limits - Ed) by pruning the roots, re-potting them in fresh compost and spraying them with tepid water to encourage them to shoot.  Once this happens, he takes lots of small cuttings composed of just the top bud and a leaf or two.  These root very quickly with or without rooting powder.  After approximately three weeks, he stops the growing tips to produce bushy plants.  After this, it takes about 60 days for a single fuchsia to flower, 70 for semi-doubles, and 80 days for a double variety.  This seems to be a technique that is common to many "proper" exhibitors, rather than just us ordinary gardeners at our own show, as you may remember that Ted Riches uses a similar process for his dahlias, exhibiting only the new cuttings and not using the mother plant from year to year.  He has also bred a fuchsia called My Stacey, after his daughter (available on the internet), and particularly recommended the fuchsia Gillian Althea.



Another image of Fuchsia Gall Mite, not to
be confused with leaf curl.



Fuchsia Gall Mite - closeup.

As well as regaling us with tales (I particularly liked the time his wife flooded the greenhouse - Ed), he provided us with lots of general as well as specific tips; his views on compost from the local recycling depot was particularly illuminating.  Apparently, we are now beginning to struggle with a bug called Fuchsia Gall Mite (no, I hadn't heard of it either - maybe it isn't quite in our part of the South East yet? - Ed), which thrives in hot environments, meaning that it is not killed of in the heat of even a large council compost heap.  Therefore, any council-sourced compost could potentially spread this nasty  bug.  Although this is of less concern to us as our Green Waste system in Surrey does not sell the resulting compost, using it instead for council facilities instead, it will be interesting to see if the local municipal fuchsias start to suffer. (Incidentally, I think that the other localish green waste site in Sundridge - technically in Kent - does sell compost from the green waste, so beware.  Mind you, I tend not to buy it as, frankly, I know what I've put in it, and I don't want it back! I'm a bad, bad person - Ed).  The Gall Mite can devastate areas of fuchsias, with symptoms that can be mistaken for leaf curl, and at the moment can be controlled only through total destruction of the affected plants.  It is thought that a chicken mite spray might also be effective, but there is as yet no conclusive evidence to verify this.  If you have any concerns, the British Fuchsia Society have a leaflet that may be downloaded by clicking here.  Fortunately, this is no longer a notifiable pest if found in a private garden.  (I did wonder about my much-loved diatomaceous earth which seems to be helping with mealy bug in a conservatory - more about this in a later post - Ed). 


Using a 2 litre lemonade bottle as a cheap propagator.

Derek also showed us a tip for plant labels; the large ones so beloved by garden centres (and by us myopic gardeners), can block out large amounts of sun reaching the plant if they are positioned carelessly; he suggested sticking the plant label on the pot itself rather than in the soil.  Hanging basket filler was another useful tip; Derek is a big fan of sphagnum moss, which I have used mainly to grow sarracenias; we will be carrying out a trial this year to see if it stops the baskets drying out as much.  He then showed us a trick with an old lemonade bottle to grow cuttings, in which you leave the cap on the bottle and then cut a section from the side to make a "lid" - put a small cuttings tray inside, complete with cuttings, and then replace the lid section, to make a cheap and easy propagator.  Finally, he very kindly gave us an example cuttings bottle to raffle, as well as some other plants.

February Meeting - New plants; the future for your garden

Helleborus Walburton's Rosemary

At our February meeting, we were treated to a presentation on the introduction of new plants for gardeners by Graham Spencer.  Graham was brought up by parents who ran a nursery, and rather than go into the same business, he now runs a plant agency which promotes new plants introduced by breeders.  The talk covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from the "whys" of introducing new plants, to a discussion of some new plants and their advantages in the garden.

During the evening, we discovered that one of the major sources of income in garden centers is the tearoom, and that many purchases are spur-of-the-moment impulse buys from well-crafted displays on the walk to and from the coffee shop!  We were also introduced to the concept of "competitive purchasing" from two nominal retirees named Doris and Mabel, who turn up to the garden center for tea; Doris sees a plant that she likes, and Mabel decides that she must have one as well, adding another plant from the display to out-do Doris.  Although this seems rather cynical (and possibly a little sexist - Ed!), the discussion during this part of the evening was very informative on the techniques that are used to manipulate purchasers (supermarkets use much the same techniques) - who knew that yellow flowered plants are usually only purchased in the spring, and not later in the year, or that white flowered plants are the least popular if measured by sales? Although this might not seem correct to us as gardeners, you have to remember that the bulk of sales in garden centers or nurseries are to occasional "instant" gardeners, and not fully committed stalwarts like us (who, me? I'm off for a teacake - Ed)

We also found out more practical information, such as the fact that much of the introduction process is about small annual changes that build up to larger improvements over time. In Gardener's World, one of the presenters complained about the plethora of new varieties in bedding each year, and the fact that the differences were marginal, hankering after the varieties that he had bought a year or two before (I admit to having said much the same myself, though I am a little bit of a Grump, according to my wife - Ed); Graham firmly told us that you have to look at the improvements over a number of years rather than taking the more restrictive view.

Graham also discussed the reasons for breeding particular habits in plants, and for reinforcing their existing traits.  Although we all understand the concept of breeding a disease resistant variety, say  a mildew-resistant sweet pea, which benefits the gardener, we also learned that some of the improvements are aimed at benefiting the nurseryman.  As an example, some types of plant do not do well in pots, and these can start to look dejected at the garden centre; a variety that is more suited to pots will benefit the grower as they are more likely to be sold if they look happier for longer (and they require less specialist care).  Also, the major cost of supplying plants nowadays is in the cost of fuel, and in particular the cost of transport.  If you have ever noticed that many of the plants in the garden centres that do not grow their own tend to be short, mound-like plants rather than the taller versions, look no further than the fact that, if you have short plants, you can fit more shelves in the truck and move more plants for the same cost - apparently, they also look better on the display stands to attract Doris and Mabel!

Brachyglottis Silver Dormouse

Lest you become cynical about the breeding programs, Graham also spent a great deal of time discussing some of the new varieties that he manages and promotes.  In particular, your author was taken by the description of Helleborus Walburton's Rosemary, which is a new introduction that starts to flower well before Christmas, and will continue for many months after.  This variety has a current annual production of about 7,500 plants, against a projected annual sale very much higher (as hellebores are notoriously difficult to propagate by division, the supply is limited), and I was even more pleased to find one the next day in the garden department of Waitrose (according to Graham, currently the fastest growing plant vendor in the country). Another plant that was discussed was Brachyglottis Silver Dormouse, which tends to keep its foliage all the way to the base, unlike many other varieties - this is a variety which appeals as a result to both the nursery and the end gardener as it looks good at the point of sale for longer, while providing a positive improvement to the purchaser.  The variety also has much more silvery leaves than others.

Graham runs Plants For Europe, and many of the plants that he discussed many be found on his website, www.plantsforeurope.com, by following the link marked "PFE's Portfolio of Plants").  Clicking on each of the plants will bring up an illustrated flyer for that plant, with illustrations.