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CHAIRMAN’S
LETTER
 Once
again, what a super turnout for the Spring Show. Thank you so much to all those who took the trouble to
exhibit and take part in what was a fun evening.
Les
Waldren again judged the show, and once the members had had a quick
look round to see the results Les went through the entries one by
one explaining why he had given the various prizes and also tips on
how to improve on staging the blooms.
The
facts of the Show were:
No
of Exhibitors -
23
No
of Entries overall -
77
No
of Entries in Society Bulb Class
-14
No
of Entries in the Table Decoration Class - 4
Congratulations
to Arthur Burgin (above) who won the Society Bulb Class.
Margaret Maskell was
the winner of the Table Decoration Class and Gill Townend
was overall winner with the most points in Show.
Thanks
to all who helped in any way and of course the tea and coffee
makers.
Becky
and Mary ran a Seed swap table which was a great success and will be
repeated again at a suitable time.
Watch this space, a plant swap table is next.
Next
month’s talk by Hopley’s plants “The Modern Herbaceous
Border” will have plants for sale on the night so remember to
bring your purses with you as I am sure you will be tempted to
spend.
On
the subject of plants for sale, I shall have a few pots of mixed
sweet pea plants for sale, proceeds to the Society, plus some out of
print, but nevertheless most informative booklets on the growing of
sweet peas.
Look
forward to seeing you at the next meeting
Brian
NEWS
FROM GARDENING WHICH?
CONTAINER
COMPOSTS
Best
buy for compost for containers...............................B&Q
John Innes no3 ( £3.48
for 20 litres)
Best
buy for Grow Bags.................................................Homebase
Grow Bag (£1.29 for 33 litres)
Best
buy for Multi purpose compost...............................Homebase
Multi Purpose (£3.99 for 80 litres)
Best
buy for Peat free grow bag......................................New
Horizon Organic/Peat free(£2.99 for 33litres)
PATIO
AND PATH WEEDKILLERS
Best
buys
For
exisitng weeds only
B&Q
Path and Patio Weedkiller 2.............................. ( £2.98
for 1 litre £8.98
for 3 litres (no saving)
Doff
Knockdown systematic Path and Patio Weedkiller......................................(£4.89
for 1 litre)
To
kill existing weeds and help prevent new weeds germinating
Bayer
Garden Advanced Path Weedkiller.............................(.£3.99for
1 litre £14.99 for 4 litres)
Pathclear
Gun Season long Weedkiller..................................(£4.99
for 1 litre £12.99 for 3 litres)
If
you have large areas to cover opt for the easier to use larger 3-5
litre sizes or mix your own.
TRAILING
PETUNIAS
Introduced
in the early 90s, the Surfinia trailing petunias have become a
staple in hanging baskets and tubs. The following varieties came out
well in the trials (out of 34 varieties) last summer...a good test
as it was a wet summer. Blue Topaz, Fanfare Flame, Fanfare Wine,
Conchita Collection, Purple Picotee, Viva Forest Fire, Surfinia Lime
and Priscilla
LOCAL
‘GARDENS OPEN’ REMINDERS (April)
Sunday,
6th April
and Wednesday 7th May(2-5pm) Stoke
Poges Memorial Garden SL2 4NZ
Unique
20acre Grade ll registered garden, constructed in 1934-9.Recently
completed £1million restoration.
Sunday
27th April
(2-5pm) and Monday 28th April
(10.30 am-1pm) Little
Harwood, Choke Lane, Pinkneys Green SL6 6PL
2
acre formal and informal garden and 16 acre bluebell wood. Plant
sale.
ALSO, don’t forget the Cookham Dean
Open Gardens Day on 15th
June, 2-6pm in aid of Thames Valley HospiceCare. Plant stall and
teas; volunteers needed and offers of plants and cakes to Barbara
Dent
on
476512. Please support this local event in any way you can.
Seed Swap
Thank
you to all those who supported our first Seed Swap! Those of you who
didn’t have any seeds to exchange generously gave a donation to
Thrive instead. Members seemed pleased with their bargain
packets…free!
It was a good opportunity to try something new, without incurring
any expense. I brought home seeds of Shoo Fly plant, and some
tomatoes ‘Tiger Tom’.
Later
in the year I will write about the best ways of saving seed from
your own plants. Then the seeds will be ‘locally grown’ and
really free. We won’t have to rely on the seed firms so much and
can try some different varieties.
Good
luck to those who swapped, it will be interesting to hear of how you
got on with your seeds. Please let us know of any successes!
Becky
Pinniger
Braywick
Heath Nurseries
Last
year Braywick Heath Nurseries celebrated it’s 10th anniversary.
The company is a not for profit organisation and works to improve
life chances of people with disabilities, and others needing
support, in a commercial environment.
The
nurseries are open throughout the week and the shop has a good range
of plants which are grown and tended by the team at the nurseries.
On offer are;
·
A wide
range of high quality plants
·
Accessible
and knowledgeable staff to help and advise
·
Hanging
baskets, tubs and containers planted to customers’specifications
·
Organic
and recycled compost
·
Seasonal
specialities and bedding plants.
·
A
private design and build service and maintenance contracts
The
management team is assisted by regular volunteers and if you are
interested go to www.braywickheath.co.uk
Please support this valuable resource and visit to check out
the plants on offer. The nursery is on the Braywick Road in
Maidenhead, at the entrance to the Rugby Club and Stafferton Lodge
Restaurant.
HOLEHIRD
GARDENS
On
your next visit to the Lake District, we recommend you visit
Holehird, the Lake District Horticultural Society’s
ten acre hillside garden. Whenever we visit our flat in the
Langdale Valley we spend a few hours at Holehird.
·
It is open all the year, parking is free, as is
admission but they ask for a donation of £3.
·
It holds three national collections, Astilbes,
Hydrangeas and Polystichum
ferns
·
The views of the Lakeland fells from the garden are magnificent
·
The gardens are maintained by the society’s
volunteers
·
There is a splendid walled garden which has a skeleton
of small trees and shrubs, under planted with a mixture of annuals,
perennials and bulbs which give long lasting displays from spring to
autumn.
·
Walks along well made paths on the gentle slopes have
seats scattered at key vantage points
·
Obviously the seasons determine which plants are at
their best but there is always a good show.
·
Access is 1 mile up the A592 which itself is off the
A591 Windermere to Ambleside road.
·
The LHS took over the gardens in 1969 and restored
them. Unfortunately there is no tea room.
We
will leave the guide book for you to see at our next meeting as it
has more details on the plants in the garden.
Arthur
and Joan Burgin
David
Penny
We
are sad to report that David Penny,
Berkshire lecturer and horticulturalist, died suddenly on
17th March. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and by
those who had been taught by him during his years at BCA.
Contributions
for the May newsletter are welcome! Deadline is 6th May to Gill
Townend at gilltownend@aol.com
or by post or dictated over the phone.
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