Patience is a Virtue ... or Slow Down, And Smell the Roses!

Wisteria Floribunda Alba
Over 10 years in the waiting!

In our last post documenting our May meeting on Lancelot "Capability" Brown, (read it by clicking here) we made much mention of the fact that many of his designs would not have matured in his (or the owner's) own lifetime.  As gardeners, we also face this problem, even if on a more limited scale.  Many of our plantings will take a few years to come to fruition, and if you get it wrong, and have to start again (says the disappointed voice of experience - Ed), the wait will become even longer before results are seen.  If you want a good, well-planned garden, there really are no short cuts to the waiting, even if some television programmes may suggest that immediate gratification is possible.  It might be to a degree - but it probably won't last very long when poorly thought out combinations and positionings of plants mean that they die after the first year, or come back spindly, if at all.  Alternatively, that plant which filled a space so well in its first year turns out to be a monstrous thug in the second, slaughtering everything around it and becoming a complete eyesore.

Long racemes of white flowers mark this plant.
A pain to prune, but the flowers will be replaced with foliage for shade.

For us gardeners, therefore, the old adage "Patience is a Virtue" has real meaning.  It does however also have some positive benefits, as enforced patience in the garden alleviates the hectic life that is all around us, forcing us to slow down a bit and to - quite literally - smell the roses instead.  In addition, very little will beat that sense of accomplishment when a long-term project finally reaches its original aim, and the beauty of the design at last becomes apparent. For your authors - and the reason that this article has been written - this has just occurred, and we thought that we would share it with you in order to give hope and anticipation now that the spring has arrived and everything is growing so well, while encouraging you all to slow down a little and enjoy what is around you, rather than rushing past it (and to allow a bit of bragging, perhaps? - Ed).

About 10 years ago - give or take a few - we constructed a pergola over our raised patio, with the intention of growing some climbers over the top to give shade from the sun.  We had visions of lovely dappled shade coming through a leafy cover, rather than suffering more years wilting under direct sunlight, and squinting unattractively at each other while we ate.  We also had - and still have - an issue with height in the garden as years of removing unchecked and unsuitable growth inherited with the house has left us with a garden that needs a bit more in it that goes upwards, rather than outwards.  Despite the slow growth, we chose to plant a wisteria over the pergola, knowing that it would take years to cover the space.  We chose the white form of the plant, Wisteria Floribunda Alba (at least we think it is floribunda rather than sinensis as the racemes are long, and there are plenty of them).  Incidentally, this is a version that is not well known, as many people do not know that a white form is available - we spoke to a coachload of Americans last year at Sissinghurst, who were bowled over as none had ever seen the white flowered type before, and were completely unaware of its existence.

From underneath, the flowers just clear our heads and
carry a fantastic vanilla fragrance to boot.

And finally,after a decade of training and pruning, this is the year that the plant at last reached the end of the pergola!  It is in the middle of the blooming period, and we have discovered that it has a fantastic vanilla scent as well, making it a delight to sit under the pergola when it is in bloom.  It has been a decade of waiting for the effect to finally be achieved, and we can honestly say that the wait has been worth it.  For a number of years, we have been able to see the framework develop, and we have been able to see that the effect we wanted was coming together, but finally - finally - we are there, and cannot be more pleased.  There is a tremendous sense of peace (and pride) at a job well done.

So, for all of you gardeners just starting, remember that patience is necessary, but that the rewards will come - and they they are all the sweeter for having waited, and for having done the job properly in the first place.  And, as we sit under the blooms and enjoy them as we meant them to be, remember that you need to take the time from everything that is around you - including the drudgery of weeding and actual gardening - to enjoy the garden that you have, and just to have a moment's peace and quiet in it.

May Meeting 2016 - The Capable Mr Brown

Lancelot "Capability" Brown.
Portrait held at the York Museums Trust.

Mr Russell Bowes presented a talk entitled "The Capable Mr. Brown" at our May meeting, focusing on the man himself and illustrating his talk with the gardens that he created.

"Capability" Brown - as gardeners, who hasn't heard of him, but how many could effortlessly state that his given name was Lancelot, or that he lived from 1716-1783?  We all know that he created great landscapes of lawns, trees and lakes for rich landowners to see from their houses, but how much does his work matter now, and what can we learn from it?  Lancelot "Capability" Brown captured the feelings of a time that was turning away from the rigid controls of life in Europe and in society as a whole, replacing formal and controlled parterres and plantings with a more laid back and natural style which we now take for granted.   In doing so, he essentially defined the view that we regard as quintessentially British, partly because he worked with plants that were familiar to him, and to the British Isles, long before the explosion of trees and shrubs from far-flung locations abroad.



Stowe Gardens - one of
the great "Capers" gardens

One of the great lessons of "Capability" Brown is that of the "long game", which we as gardeners or garden designers know so well, even if we operate on a somewhat smaller scale.  We are used to having to wait for our plantings to grow, and to have the patience and long-term satisfaction rather than the instant gratification that is becoming more normal for our age, but even we do not - and cannot - operate on the same scale as Lancelot Brown.  It took decades for his visions of the landscape to mature; often it was not the landowner, but the landowner's sons or grandsons (and presumably daughters and granddaughters, even if they couldn't inherit the estate - Ed) who were perhaps the first to share the reality of his ideas.  We must count ourselves fortunate that we are able to enjoy the consequences of a life devoted to creation, in a way that the designer knew he could not, as they would not be properly established in his own lifetime.

Competition 2016 - Heaviest Tomato

Ovi's Romanian Giant
Photo courtesy of Sea Spring Seeds.

Just a quick post to announce our competition for 2016.  This is for the single heaviest tomato grown from our "competition batch" of seedlings.  These will be available at the May meeting.  We charge 50p each seedling to cover pots and compost, and also the provision of a (tiny, tiny - Ed) prize.  Simply buy one or more seedlings (after all 50p is a small price to pay for a tomato), grow them on and bring your heaviest fruit along to the October meeting for judging.  Please - in this case - not the whole plant!

Do remember therefore to bring some 50p coins with you for this meeting.  If you are not going to be at the meeting, we can bring one round to you afterwards - just email us on hggardeningclub@gmail.com or use the contact form on the right, and we will do the necessary.

The variety chosen is Ovi's Romanian Giant.  We give no other hints on growing it as that is up to you.  It is a beefsteak variety, which can produce fruits often over 1kg each.

Incidentally, you will get a second change (and possibly a third) to win a prize.  The September show has a category for "heaviest truss of tomatoes", and the suppliers of the seeds - seaspringseeds.co.uk - is running a national competition for the heaviest fruit.  Look at their web site (click on the link above) for details.

Spring Challenge Competition 2016 - or "We're Really, Really Sorry, Teddy"

Daffodils Galore!
Our tables were groaning under the number of entries.

Our April meeting saw our annual Spring Challenge Competition, against our friends at Godstone Gardeners'.  The venue of this event alternates each year between The White Hart Barn in Godstone, and St Agatha's in Hurst Green.  This year it was our turn to host the event in what we knew would be a hard fought competition, as we were defending a run of two consecutive wins, and Godstone wanted to deny us a hat-trick.  At stake was the Challenge prize, Teddy.

Avid followers of the blog may have noticed that last year, when we won, a congratulatory post was put up within a single day, but that this year three weeks (or more - Ed) have passed.  Although this was in fact due to our tardiness in posting last month's meeting (and we couldn't get the articles out of sync), and not due to any reluctance in publishing the result, I can confirm the suspicions of those who were not present; we did in fact lose this year, and poor old Teddy has had to pack his bags.  However, the competition was very closely fought, with the final score coming in at 67 to Godstone, and 61 to Hurst Green - a respectable result all round.  We do have to say that Godstone thoroughly deserved their win (Ouch!  That hurt! - Ed)

Pots of daffodils

However, the loss was not as painful as expected, as this was - at least in show terms - a terrific, terrific success.  While we knew that the Dictator - sorry Chair - of Godstone, Sylvia Pocock, was determined to win in this, her last year in charge, and while we knew that she would be massing her troops for the offensive, we were still very surprised (and gratified) at the turnout from both clubs.  Normally, being on home ground would be a distinct advantage, but it soon became clear that Godstone were arriving en masse.  Rumours that Sylvia "had a little list" and that anyone not turning up and exhibiting would be dragged at dawn from their house and shot on Godstone Green were denied - but possibly only the punishment, not the existence of the list!

Miniature Daffs - the shot glasses are on probation.  Comments welcome!

Anyway, as we have said many times, any competition or show such as this can only be as good as its exhibitors, and in this case you all did us proud, regardless of the Club that you came from.  I think it fair to say that we have not seen a Spring Competition like it for many years - one advantage of the turnout was that there was a commensurate increase in the number of exhibits, all of which were of good quality - including the daffodils.  There had been much concern that the daffodils would all be over and that there would be little to exhibit, to the degree that one club member asked whether the event was likely to be cancelled; as you can see from the photographs, this was not the case at all.  In fact, owing to the unfortunate fact that we could not use the normal show tables (as you may remember, the tablecloths were scoffed by rats in the store last year), and we had to rely on the limited number of tables in the main building, the displays were actually overcrowded, with the Show Secretary and Stewards having to resort to putting larger pots under the tables in order to bring them out during judging - there was a point of near panic as we fretted over how more space could be made.  This does not normally happen at shows any more, anywhere in the country, and it is a pleasure for the Committee to organise a show that was so honestly spectacular. I think that we can all agree that this was a special evening, regardless of who actually won or lost.  Our thanks also to Brian Knight and Paul Grimmer, our judges, who were faced with a daunting task with so many entries to choose from!

Tulip pots - exploding from the space, there may
be an argument for resricting the size next year, if only to
reduce the chance of a hernia!

As well as being a formal show and competition, this evening is also a great social occasion, with a chance to meet and chat to gardeners from another club that you often would never have a chance to talk to otherwise.  As it was our turn to host, it was also our turn to supply food and nibbles for the occasion.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to the food table, and also to the raffle (which seemed to go on interminably, there were so many prizes on offer - I know, I had to call out the numbers - Ed).  We also provided an apple punch which seemed to be popular - many members asked for the recipe, and it is simply 1 litre of apple juice (fresh, not longlife, which is horrible in a punch), 1 litre of ginger ale (not beer), a squirt of lemon juice and a splash of grenadine for a touch of colour (the alcoholic version of grenadine is also fine, but we used the kiddie non-alcoholic version so that you didn't crash on the way home).

Flowering spring pots.

We can thank you little more than to say that we have received a number of lovely letters from Godstone Gardeners thanking us for the hospitality, and commenting on how memorable and wonderful a show it was.  So "Thank You" to all, Godstone and Hurst Green alike, who came along, showed their blooms, and contributed to the atmosphere and the pleasure of it all.

All that remains is to say a hearty farewell to Teddy, who begged us not to send him to live in Sylvia's house for a whole year, but had to pack his bags and leave anyway, no doubt sobbing his little heart out all the way.  We're so, so sorry, Teddy, for making you move; after so long away from Godstone, we have heard that there may even be ... cuddles! May we see you back with us again, very, very soon!

Baskets on the theme of "Spring Flowers".  Note to all for
next year - there is in fact a size restriction, although the judges
and show secretary decided not to declare any entries
"Not According To Schedule".  The winner (and many others)
was gorgeous, but very, very oversize!

And finally, vases of spring flowers.  Just look at those tables -
exhibitors, thank you and stand up proud!