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CHAIRMAN'S
LETTER
Last month's lecture given by Victor
Scott on wild flowers was extremely interesting and he certainly
knows his subject. Surprisingly a lot of the rarest
plants in England are found in this area and the rarest of all ,the
Ghost Orchid, is found near Marlow.
I have just spent a few days in Paris
visiting family, whilst there I visited a little known garden in the
area of St Cloud. The visit was originally two fold,
first to see an exhibition of photographs and second to visit the
garden in the grounds but it didn't quite turn out like that.
The house where the photo exhibitions
are held and to which the gardens are attached were owned by a
wealthy banker called Albert Khan (1860 - 1940) Between
1909 and 1931 he used his private fortune to supply Autochrome
plates and cine film to professional photographers and dispatched
them around the world to capture in particular the living
experiences and cultural practices of people in around 50 countries.
The museum today preserves the first collection in the world of
Autochrome plates (72,000 - in true colour) and 180,000 metres of
black and white still film. As there are so many photos to see
the Museum continually changes the exhibits and unfortunately the
day we were there they were in the process of a change....so we
continued into the gardens which luckily were open. What a
surprise we had.
The gardens cover forty thousand
square metres and into this space the enterprising gentleman has
packed a number of different types of gardens - a Japanese garden,
English garden, formal French garden to name but three. They
are there to show the different aspects of the art of gardening in
the early 20th century, and Kahn's philosophy of
internationalism is reflected in the gardens, which contain plant
species from all over the world.
The Japanese garden was beautifully
done with water everywhere, bridges, stepping stones, a village
house, temple, lanterns, and of course Azaleas,
mostly over now so a visit earlier next year is definitely on the
cards. The formal French garden was bursting with roses of all
descriptions. The woodland areas had a magnificent display of
rhododendrons, though of course not a patch on Savill Gardens!
Wild strawberries were everywhere in
the woodland areas as were enormous Blue Atlas Cedars and Colorado
Spruces. The English garden had a greenhouse, orchard
and false rock, not quite sure what it was supposed to depict but it
was the most disappointing of them all, possibly there is
a little bit of 'attitude' problem there!!
I think what I came away with having
wandered around the garden for a couple of hours was what an oasis
of tranquillity it was in the middle of urban Paris, and so
unexpected.
The Fuchsia plugs which we sold at
the last meeting (I still have a few spare if anyone would like one
- please phone) should have been potted on by now. Keep
feeding them every week with any of the shelf plant foods you can
buy. Stop the plant continuously to produce a nice rounded
plant before allowing it to flower - from about mid August onwards.
Pests to look out for which love
fuchsias are white fly and aphids. Use whatever your preferred
measure is to combat these and good luck.
Here's hoping we have a great summer
of gardening now that we have had so much rain and got everything
growing.
Brian
01628 484821
RANDOM JOTTINGS
from
New Zealand
On
our last trip to New Zealand, can it really be thirty years ago, I
remember nasturtiums growing wild beside the roads on the North
Island. Now there seem to be none but they have been replaced by
wonderful displays of agapanthus that the new Zealanders regard as
weeds. I have been trying to grow them here in my garden in England
for several years without much success. Perhaps someone can give me
some tips? The other thing that made an impression on my last trip
was the pohutukawa trees totally covered in red blossom. The trees
are certainly still there and still look magnificent but as our trip
this time was nearly two months later the blossom, unfortunately was
over. The new Zealanders call them Christmas trees as their
flowering time is around the Christmas period. One plant I don’t
remember as being as prolific as it is now, although I suspect it
probably was, is flax. It was called flax because its fibres are
similar to those of true flax found in other parts of the world. The
Maori use the leaves for weaving and there were workshops throughout
the country where one can learn how to do it. This flax is not true
flax but is really a lily. It is unique to New Zealand and is one of
the countries oldest plant species. While I am talking about lilies
I saw a common plant in most gardens that had a lily like flower and
seemed to be a bulb sitting at ground level with just flowers and no
leaves. On mass it was colourful – usually a pale pink and it was
called “Naked Lady.”
More
or less the last thing I saw on T.V. before we left was the
beginning of Monty Don’s series on gardens around the world. It so
happened that the program included two gardens in New Zealand. I
happened to mention the program to our friends in Auckland and was
told that we could visit the garden Ayrlies in Howick, a suburb of
Auckland close to Pakurwranga where we were staying. To my shame I
can’t remember what Monty Don thought of the garden but David and
I thought it was wonderful. The garden was created from twelve acres
of bare paddock by Beverley McConnell starting in 1964 and is
managed by four gardeners. The garden is based on many ponds with
connecting streams and waterfalls each with an independent pump to
circulate the water. All of these ponds have been excavated and
built by the gardening team. They look as though they have always
been there – very natural to my untutored eye. Many of the plants
were ones we would expect to see in an English country garden such
as roses, azaleas, clematis, wisteria, lavender and hydrangeas.
There were, however plants from all over the world including
tropical plants such as bananas. There were huge sheets of clivias
and a giant fig tree. One of the ponds had a swamp area to one side
displaying the aerial roots of swamp cypress trees - one of the
things that have always fascinated me when we have visited Florida
in the U.S.A. Other areas included regenerating wetland, wildflower
meadows, native bush and an architectural succulent area. Definitely
a garden not to be missed.
It
seemed to me when I read the guide book that most towns of any size
had botanical gardens and I was really looking forward to visiting
some of them. Due to the pressure of time this didn’t happen but
when we were staying in New Plymouth we were able to visit Pukeiti
Garden. This is an internationally-renowned rhododendron garden on
the lower slopes of Mount Egmont, a dormant volcano. The garden is
home to 2000 different species of rhododendrons unfortunately not in
flower when we were there except for a few very late varieties. The
garden also has a large number of azaleas and there were a large
number of hydrangea species that were in flower. The plant
collection is augmented by other tree and shrub genera including
magnolia, pieris, prunus, styrax, camellia, deutzia, daphne and many
more. Whilst the original aim was to grow rhododendrons in the bush
many nature species have been preserved including rimu and totara
trees. There is a magnificent Giant Rata, Metrosideros robusta that
now has massive crowns 30-40 metres above the forest floor and is
thought to be more than eight hundred years old. The garden was
begun in the early 1950s when there was no electricity so an old
waterwheel was re-erected on a stream to supply water and power and
is still there providing the surrounding area as a lush, cool spot
with plenty of tree ferns, moss and other fern varieties. The garden
was originally 150 acres but now covers 900 acres. We were able to
wander along the extensive walking tracks through regenerating
mature bush representing a full range of species and hybrids.
New
Plymouth also boasts one of New Zealand’s best known public parks
– Pukekura. It is approximately 50 hectares and has been developed
and improved since its inception in 1876. It has a unique amalgam of
botanical environments, many paths, lakes and gardens. The main lake
was constructed in 1878 and now has a fantastic fountain that can be
turned on by the press of a button and can be illuminated when it is
dark. When we visited before one had to put a N.Z. dollar in a slot
to turn the water on. The lake also has a fine bridge called the
poets bridge. This was donated in 1884 by a local businessman who
successfully backed a horse called the Poet in an Auckland race and
used his winnings to build the bridge. As well as the more usual
park gardens that can be seen in England the park has a fernery
containing native ferns, orchids and begonias. One enters the
fernery through a cool, shadowy earthen entrance tunnel and walk
through into the most amazing display of ferns, orchids and begonias
overhanging the gravel paths inside.
I
can’t finish without mentioning how stunning/ spectacular the
scenery is on the South Island, from the sweeping plains and rolling
farmland of Canterbury across the mountains of the Alpine Chain to
the awe inspiring mountains of Milford Sound, the beautiful
coastline and the farmland of Otago. We were also surprised to see
how much of the farmlands has now been put down to vines. It is
rather like the South of France.
Because
of the remote nature of New Zealand from the rest of the world land
masses New Zealand remains home to plants (and animals) that are
found nowhere else in the world. Despite the influence of humans on
the flora (and fauna) much remains unspoiled and to fascinate.
JANET SHANKS
Keeping
Garden Pests at Bay
Scarlet
Lily Beetle
Watch out for these on lily and fritillary
plants between now and Autumn.
Tell-tale holes appear in the leaves.
They are easy to spot because of their
colour but less easy to catch because they tend to jump quickly to
ground level and hide upside down!
Hold a plastic container under the leaves and flick the
beetles into it. Their
grubs may be hiding under the leaves.
Then it’s up to you what you do with your catch.
MD
Reminders
of local
NGS Open Days...
But
don’t forget the Cookham Dean Open Gardens on Sunday 15th
June!
Lords
Wood,
Frieth Road, Marlow Common,SL7 2QS on Thurday
12th June (11-5pm)
5
acre garden, lovely views, meadows, orchard and large water garden.
Teas.
Manor
House, Bledlow HP 27 9PB Sunday 15th
June (2-6pm)
Paved
garden, parterres ,shrub borders and old roses. Water gardens and
sculptures. Home of Lord and Lady Carrington. Teas.
Manor
house, Hambleden RG9 6SG Sunday
15th June (2-6)
Informal
garden, sweeping lawns, conservatory and a rose garden designed by
Peter Beales.
Magnolia
House and The Shades, Grange Drive, Wooburn, Bucks HP10 0QD on June 22nd (2-5) home made teas
Both
gardens contain mature trees, shade tolerant plants ,water features
and acers.
Waltham
Place Gardens Church Hill, White Waltham SL6 3JH Every Wednesday until 24th September (10-4pm)
New
style naturalistic plantings, organic kitchen garden, lake and
woodland. 170 acres in all.
A
Visit to Highgrove
“Beware! You are now entering an old-fashioned establishment and GMO
–free zone.”
Thus
reads the warning sign at the entrance to Highgrove, the Prince of
Wales’ home in Gloucestershire.
Security is understandably tight even for the illustrious
members of the WI and we had our ID checked before meeting our
charming, green welly clad volunteer guide.
As we approached the entrance to the garden she explained
some architectural, historical and design details.
We were asked to close any doors or gates behind us so that
the following group could enjoy any surprise vistas, of which there
were to be many.
Opening
the first gate required the combined strength of two WI husbands but
the view beyond was certainly worth the effort.
Immediately
we felt that we were somewhere really special.
The rectangular shape of the stone house (1797) is echoed in
the topiary, designed by Sir Roy Strong.
Walking along a path lined with red pulmonaria, past
magnolias and scented viburnums through a laurel tunnel, we reached
the Thyme Walk. Hedged
by hornbeams and lined by more fanciful topiary (designed by the
gardeners themselves,) this sweeps up to the house from a low
fountain complete with croaking frogs.
Facing the other direction there is a statue of a gladiator,
one of the Prince’s many gifts of statuary and the view is
completed by a dovecote.
Then
we were led across wild flower meadows. Thirty two varieties of
endangered native plants grow here but for us fritillary and
camassia were flowering among the National Collection of Beeches.
Arriving at the Woodland Garden, designed by Isabel and
Julian Bannerman, anemone blanda and muscari in deep shade gave way
to a semi-shaded area surrounding a pond built from redundant
ecclesiastical stone (a Prince has no trouble recycling this kind of
thing!) The National
Collection of hostas was busy unfurling its leaves around creamy
patches of erythronium pagoda.
Stunning!
Then
followed one of the most magical and controversial areas of
Highgrove: the Stumpery. Prince
Charles originally commissioned it as a home for his hostas but this
revival of a Victorian habitat for ferns is now colonised by
hellebores and euphorbias too. Steel rods hold gnarled roots of
sweet chestnut together and the whole has quickly become very
natural-looking. Tree ferns and wildlife thrive in the protected
environment. When the
Duke of Edinburgh first saw the stacked up tree roots of the
Highgrove Stumpery he reportedly turned to Prince Charles and said,
“When are you going to set fire to this lot?”
Quirky
structures using natural materials abound here, including the young
Princes’ tree-house, a fern pyramid and a wooden temple, adorned
by a picture of the Queen Mum, surrounded by a sunburst.
Around every bend is a new surprise, but thoughtful planting
adds to the charm: a viburnum plicatum mariesii, magnolia stellata
and many types of prunus.
Emerging
from the shady wood, a path leads to the Southern Hemisphere Garden,
sheltered by a tall wall, where more tree ferns (from Osborne House
and more recently gifts from New Zealand,) bananas and eucalyptus
grow alongside a water course.
Through
an Islamic Gate a fern-lined path takes us along The Azalea Walk,
(in pots to ensure acid soil conditions) to a gate framing another
vista. Carved Egyptian
hieroglyphics proclaim, ”A garden is a reflection of the stars in
the sky.” Behind us is the Walled Kitchen Garden – self-sufficiency
in fruit and vegetables is achieved at Highgrove.
Nothing is wasted, jams and chutneys are made and Clarence
House supplied too.
Prince
Charles aims to preserve rare plants and seed groups.
Designed on the crosses of St.Andrew and St.George, apple
tunnels lead away from a central Italian marble fountain.
Malus golden hornet are “crown-trained” in a goblet
shape, which is an experiment to deter aphids.
Needless to say everything is grown organically here!
Box hedges have not escaped blight and are now trimmed in a
Gothic shape, again to deter aphids.
We
then crossed a ha-ha and entered the arboretum. Westonbirt was
consulted on the contents of the Spring and Autumn Walks.
Large-leaved rhododendron, scented viburnum, cornelian cherry
and magnolia grow amongst carpets of narcissus; Here we were allowed
a welcome sit-down around Frederick Hart’s delicate bronze
sculpture of the last Tsar’s martyred daughters which originally
came from The Healing Garden, designed by Prince Charles for Chelsea
in 2002.
The
woodland path led on past a chapel made of organic materials, built
in memory of the Queen Mother.
This was another indication of how personal a garden
Highgrove is. It is very much Prince Charles’ own.
The
Tulip Walk is a work in progress.
After 15 years of planting eleven thousand tulips annually,
this is now considered unsustainable and they are being replaced
with fritillaries. Fastigiate
hornbeams border the walk, leading back to the house, from where
there are fine views of Tetbury church spire and an obelisk topped
by an exotic golden bird.
The
black and white garden is one of the original features close to the
house. Here we found
planting ideas which could be reproduced in a small garden.
Woven obelisks are placed among blocks of anemones,
hellebores and pittosporum.
A
200 year old cedar has had to be cut down as it was unsafe, but is
replaced by a new pagoda round the stump and one branch has been
kept to hold bird feeders. Then
a rose-entwined pergola led us into the cottage garden where a new
bench of Derbyshire gritstone has been installed.
The planting scheme is blue and yellow but may well be
changed by the new Head Gardener when she arrives in June.
We
admired the many pots Prince Charles has collected around the world
and continued through the carved Indian doors through the orchard
back to our starting point.
In
the Orchard Room we were served tea and biscuits from china
decorated with summer flowers.
This seemed a most appropriate conclusion to our thoroughly
enjoyable visit to a very special garden.
Mary
Downes
FUTURE
SOCIETY EVENTS (next
Newsletter in early September)
Tuesday,
12th August at 5.30-6pm
The
return visit to the Mill House at Medmenham. Please car share if
possible. For those who missed the last rain soaked visit this is a
garden
well worth seeing. Entrance on the main Marlow –Henley road at the
bottom of the hill that goes past Danesfield Manor. There is a
wicker fence with thatched roof; about 10yds along is an electric
gate which opens as you approach. Once inside bear left and park
among the trees. Latecomers may find parking in Ferry Lane. This
visit is open to members only. There will be a collection of £2 per
person as a donation towards the owners chosen charity, Swanline.
September
24th
‘ Garden and
Landscape Design Projects’ Talk by Graham Pockett. Cookham
Dean Village Hall 7.30pm
Contributions
to September’s newsletter to Gill Townend 01628 483092 or
gilltownend@aol.com
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