Newsletter               February 2007
 
 

 

 

 

 


Cookham and Cookham Dean Horticultural Society

 

         NEXT MEETING:   Wednesday 28th February  7.30pm

                               Cookham Dean Village Hall

                        “Delights of the Kitchen Garden”

                                   A talk by Tim Miles
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Chairman’s Letter

           

I think that January’s meeting – a lecture on Garden Birds given by Brian Clewes must have broken all records.  We had fifty nine members and guests present which I am pretty sure is the highest number of members at any meeting since I have been a member in six years, perhaps anyone can recall a larger meeting?  It really was a huge success in every way.  Brian Clewes was an excellent speaker who not only gave us a most amusing and well illustrated talk, but his knowledge was vast.  Thank you to all who attended and made it such a promising beginning to our new year.

 

There has been terrific response to the seed and plant ordering service now reinstated and run by Chris Sibbald.  Unfortunately, Chris has experienced a few unexpected difficulties but no doubt she will sort it out, and from now on only Suttons seeds of any quantity can be ordered.

 

I wonder how your Society bulbs are doing.  The weather has turned cold again as I write, which will hold them back, although my comparison pots still seem to be ahead so be careful and don’t let them get too advanced at this stage.  If they are beginning to show buds, put them on a north facing wall for a couple of weeks, and after that bring them round to the south or west walls, give them a high potash feed or two between now and the middle of March.

 

The society has been given a full collection of BBC Gardeners World magazines by Kitty Hitchener, they are all in binders and dated from May 1991 -  March 1996. There is an absolute mine of information to be obtained from them, plus some very good quality pictures.  If we can sell them to any interested person for a small amount of money, Kitty would like the proceeds to go to the Society funds.   I will keep them until the end of March so if anyone would like to make an offer for them I will take the highest bid and deliver them locally.  Please phone me on 01628 484821 if you would like to make an offer for them.

 

Good gardening

 

Brian

 

                                                           

When thoughts turn to Daffodils……..

 

As we all prepare in earnest for the Spring Show most of us are thoroughly confused by all the different daffodil classifications and identification rules so I have dug out an article from last year’s English Garden magazine which, for me at any rate, helped to explain the mysteries of the daffodil equivalent to sudoku. I am grateful to Helen Gunn for the article which is summarised here.

 

Daffodils, like footballers, are classified in divisions. Unlike footballers they get more interesting the lower down the divisions they are.

 

Division 1 contains the tall, one flower to a stem daffodils, such as ‘King Alfred’. The rule here is that the trumpet is longer than the petals.

 

Division 2 daffodils can be similar in height but the trumpet must be slightly shorter than the petals. Sometimes the trumpet is a different colour, eg ‘Fortune’

 

Division 3. The trumpet of these daffodils must not be more than one third the length of the petals (or perianth) The effect of this is to give the flowers a flat faced look.

 

Division 4 contains the doubles. They often have more than one flower to a stem, sometimes in mixed colours

 

Divisions 5 and 6 contain the Triandrus and Cyclamineus hybrids….these are the popular small varieties with swept back petals eg ‘February Gold’, ‘Jack Snipe’ and ‘Jenny’

 

Division 7  are the jonquils with their rich scent and

 

Division 8 are the Tazetta types for winter forcing ( eg Cheerfulness and Geranium)

 

So far, so good and these division are clearly labelled in bulb catalogues, such as Bloms, with illustrations. Now things get a bit more complicated as the overlords of the daffodil world have been reorganizing the later divisions.

 

Division 9 is the Poeticus group and contains the cultivars of the old pheasant’s eye narcissus, such as Actaea which is so good for naturalizing.

 

Division 10 is called Bulbocodium and contains the cultivars of the little hoop petticoat daffodil, ( but not the original, see below)

 

Division 11 groups together the split-corona  flowers which, in my catalogue are called orchid flowering (who dreamt that one up!) such as ‘Cassata’ and ‘Lemon Beauty’.

 

Helen’s description of Division 12 is that it is for the ‘broken biscuits of the daffodil world’ Finally we come to the jewels of the narcissus family which is-

 

Division 13 – the species daffodils such as pheasants eye (N poeticus var recurvus), the Tenby daffodil (N obvallaris) and the hoop petticoat daffodil (N bulbocodium)

 

So, know your perianths from your trumpets and you’re there! A more detailed and illustrated description of the classes can be found in the RHS Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers.                     GT

 

In Praise of Swiss Chard

 

I was unsure about liking this vegetable when I planted out the box of rainbow-coloured Swiss chard (also known as spinach beet) purchased from our own Society plant stall last summer.  I have since learned to appreciate its versatility and grown accustomed to its rather earthy flavour.

My plants have continuously produced fresh new leaves every few weeks, providing ingredients for salads, stir-fries and soups.

Here’s a winter warmer recipe in which I used it recently.

 

Lentil and Swiss Chard Soup for Four

 

1 large onion, finely chopped

olive oil

3cloves of garlic, crushed

50g. diced pancetta or unsmoked bacon

250g. green or brown lentils

2 or 3 handfuls of Swiss chard, leaves torn and stalks finely chopped

about 1 litre stock or water

small bunch of parsley, chopped

2 bay leaves

juice of a lemon

sprig of mint

salt and black pepper

 

Cook the onion gently in a little olive oil for a few minutes, and then add garlic, diced bacon and chard stalks.  Stir until golden, add parsley.  Stir in the washed lentils, pour over enough stock or water to cover and bring to the boil.  Skim froth off the top and add bay leaves.  Cover and simmer for about 30 mins. until lentils are tender but still whole.  Wash the chard leaves and steam them over a high heat for about a minute, shaking the pan, then squeeze out any excess liquid and divide them between four bowls.  Season the soup with salt, black pepper, lemon juice and mint and ladle on top of the chard leaves.

 

Seed, for sowing April to July, is available from most of the catalogues, including Marshalls and The Organic Gardening Catalogue.  The rainbow coloured variety looks most attractive and brightens the vegetable patch on a grey wintry day but I think the taste is similar, whatever the colour.

 

Mary Downes

 

Reminder from Chilterns Group of Gardening Which?

 

Friday 2nd March "Talk by Aubrey Barker of Hopleys "The Modern Herbaceous Border".  7.00 for 7.30.   £5.00 members/£5.50 non-members. Cookham Dean WI Hall. Tickets available at the door."

 

Friday 20th April Talk by Timothy Walker  

A Rockery in the Garden.  The rock garden at the Oxford Botanic Garden has been rebuilt three times since 1926, the most recent renovation being carried out between 1997 and 2000.  The talk looks at the building of a rock garden and the plants that can be grown on it.  It includes examples of rock garden plants from all over the world. 7.00 for 7.30.   £6.00 members/£6.50 non-members. Cookham Dean WI Hall. Tickets available at the door.

 

 

WEA STUDY DAY

 

CLIMATE CHANGE & YOUR GARDEN - Michael Keith Lucas

This study day, run by the WEA, will look at the causes of global warming, the lessons we can learn from the past, how animals and plants are likely to respond to global warming, and what evidence we have that they are already responding. It will then consider how we can change energy sources, what we can do in our everyday lives and, in particular, what we should grow in our gardens in our "greenhouse world".

TUESDAY 6 MARCH  10a.m to 4p.m.  £24 (Includes tea and coffee)

At Norden Farm, Altwood Road, Maidenhead

To enrol contact Liz Crathorne 01628 632208

 

 

110 YEARS OF GARDEN DESIGN

 

One of my Friday evening pleasures is to find a copy of Country Life on the kitchen table. I am not a subscriber but the Dental Practice is, and once the weekly copy has moved from the waiting room to the receptionist and then her Mother, it finds it’s way into my husband’s briefcase from where I must wait patiently for the copy to be deposited on the table. Sometimes it is like waiting for a bus, there is nothing for a while and then 2 or 3 turn up together! So it was that I found the issue for January 4th this week which celebrates 110 Years of the publication of Country Life.

 

Once I have studied the houses and estates for sale, deciding that none are suitable due to cost, size or location I turn to the gardening section. In this issue there is an interesting summary of the fashion in plants over the century. Here it is:

 

1900s: Rambling roses, also roses planted with lavender :irises, delphiniums, yew as a striking, dark backdrop

 

1910s: Grey and silver-grey foliage plants mixed with purple, blue or dusty pink flowers-muted pastel colours were preferred to ‘vulgar’ brightness; gladioli and daylilies.

 

1920s: Roses-hybrid tea, perpetual and ramblers -being integrated into borders, rather than isolated; dwarf polyanthus, Himalayan blue poppies.

 

1930s: Whole sections dedicated to Chinese flowering shrubs and trees----rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias and fuchsia: rock gardens

 

1940s: Any flower was treasured amid the sea of vegetable production—they were even smuggled inside cauliflowers or, once, in a coffin; the biggest hit was the Peace rose introduced by Harry Wheatcroft.

 

1950s: Annuals grown from seed-a cheap source of bright colour in a drab era.

 

1960s: The labour saving shrub rose.

 

1970s: Dwarf conifers; heathers

 

1980s: Hellebores, epimedium, snowdrops, box hedging, ferns, alliums, ornamental cabbages,  herbs; the ‘smart’ colours were green and purple

 

1990s: Characterful perennials, peonies, hollyhocks, woodland/shady plants and bulbs, grasses

 

2000s: Snowdrops, tulips, meadow flowers, ‘prairie’ – style perennials, long grasses.

 

Have any members anything to add to this list or any anecdotes of gardening fashion ?

 

GT

 

 

 

. COOKHAM & COOKHAM DEAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

 

PROGRAMME FOR 2007

 

 

                  

February              Delights of the Kitchen Garden – talk by Tim Miles

 

 

March                  Society’s Spring Show

 

 

April                     Container Planting – talk and demonstration by Uel

Magowan, of theOdney Club, Cookham

 

May                     The Water Garden – talk by Alan Buller

 

 

June                     Visit to garden at Crockmore House, Fawley, Nr.

Henley 6pm.

                             (£5 p.p. towards Breakthrough breast cancer charity)

 

September           Exhibiting at Chelsea – talk by Catherine Jago, daughter of a member  

 

October               Speaker to be confirmed

 

 

Deadline for copy for the March newsletter is 6th March. Email or drop a hard copy in the post to me , Gill Townend (gilltownend@aol.com) at The Farm, Church Road, Cookham Dean. Please don’t be shy in contributing. A big thank you to those who have sent me copy for this month.