Cookham & Cookham Dean

Horticultural Society

To create a garden is to search for a better world. Whether the result is a horticultural masterpiece or only a modest vegetable patch, it is based on the expectation of a glorious future

Newsletter November 2005

Cookham and Cookham Dean Horticultural Society

NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30^th 7.30pm

Cookham Dean Village Hall

AGM and Social Evening

How to make an Advent wreath –a demonstration by Mollie Hurley

and

Competition for Christmas table arrangement

Chairman’s letter

We had yet another excellent turnout for our last lecture - we have had better speakers but he did have some nice slides to show. We can’t win them all!!

I’m afraid all the bulbs for the Society’s Spring Show have been sold, which makes me think we have a potential for 40 entries in this class - we’ll see. For those of you who wonder what it is all about, as for some reason I didn’t give my usual lecture on what to do with them, they should be potted up, three to a 5” pot in some free draining compost and the pot plunged into the ground with a marker so you know where they are next Spring. I will keep you up to date with what to do next when we get to next February.

This month is our AGM and I am pleased to be able to report that most members of the Committee are prepared to stand again. Please do think about standing for committee membership…new blood is important in the Society.We will of course be sampling Mabels’ mince pies together with a glass of wine plus the competition for the best Christmas table decoration.(not to exceed 12”high, wide or long) As an extra bonus this year we will also be having a demonstration from our own Molly Hurley on Christmas decorations for the house, which should be good and make the evening a little more interesting than usual. She will also have some candles etc for sale.

We are still looking for a seed purchasing co-ordinator to replace Jaqui Beglow who did the job last year but is reluctantly giving it up. She is more than happy to help show the ropes to any new person who offers to take up this post.

See you at the AGM

Brian 484821

GARDEN AT BROOK COTTAGE, ALKERTON (NEAR BANBURY)

Alan and Sheila Jay have recommended that members try to visit this garden in Oxfordshire set in 4 acres. The garden has been developed by an architect and a plantswoman since 1964 from an original site which comprised of a paved courtyard surrounded on three sides by a 17^th century Hornton stone house and barn. Limitations of the site were an alkaline soil and frost pocket conditions. A wide variety of plants is grown to provide a display through the seasons. There is a pond with bog garden, roses, alpines, over 50 varieties of clematis and colour coordinated herbaceous borders. Open every weekday from Easter to end of October. Light refreshments available and unusual plants for sale, Tel. 01295 670303 for details.

Cracking ‘da Gardener’s Code’

By Becky Pinniger

Amo..amas amat..the remnants of 5 years learning Latin ended in a resounding FAIL at ‘o level’. I was finally defeated by the Gallic Wars, and thought I had left Latin forever.
That was until I became interested in gardening…and there it was again, wherever I looked…Latin names!

Of course it made perfect sense for the Swede Linnaeus to look for a common language when he started giving plants their names in the 18^th century. Where would we be today if plants were known only by ‘common’ names which vary, not only from one country to another, but with different localities or generations?

At last this ‘dead’ language took on a new relevance, and gradually but by no means accurately I began to learn the language of plants. When Mary Downes ( an excellent linguist ) suggested I might like to join her on a day’s course of ‘Latin for Gardeners’, I decided to go, so long as I could hide in the back row. Alas, it had no back row as there were only five of us on the course! However, it was an excellent day.

No prior knowledge was assumed and Dr. David Noy, the lecturer started from basics. He explained that the first Latin name,

the genus is a Proper noun, hence the capital letter.
The second name or names describe the particular species of that genus, and is an adjective. In other words the species describes the plant.

This is where the ‘cracking the code’ comes in. Once you have some basic Latin, learning the name of a plant helps you begin to learn something about it. Many of us understand more Latin than we may realise because so many of our words have Latin roots.

For example:

Helliborus niger=black hellebore

Allium nigrum= black onion

Viola nigra=……….?

The species in this case tells you something of the plant’s colour.

Other descriptions may relate to:-

· size - Stipa tenuissima = very slender

· shape - Lavandula angustifolia = narrow leaved [ angusta-narrow, folia –leaves]

· Habitat - Clematis montana = found in mountains

· country of origin - Cordyline australis = Australian origin

· who the plant was ‘discovered’ by - Rosa banksii = discovered by Joseph Banks.

There are probably many of you who know all this already. But for those who find Latin names daunting, look on it as cracking a code. Once you can decode the Latin names they will be easier to learn and you will have the bonus of knowing just a little bit more about the plant.

The five hour course went swiftly and we had fun giving names to plants and decoding others ( with the help of a sheet of meanings!), but were glad to get home for a well earned cup of Camelia sinensis ( sinensis= Chinese origin)

Books and web sites for those interested:

Hillier Plant names explained- David & Charles £9.99

William T. Stearn Botanical Latin –David & Charles £19.99

http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/

http://www.winternet.com/-chuckg/dictionary.html

OH DEER!!

The joy of local wild life

Since the removal of a hedge between a nearby field and the farm land behind we have had a serious problem with sika and roe deer. All the roses in our front garden were raised to the ground last year and, because we particularly enjoy our roses, we have caged them as one would soft fruit. Not particularly pretty but it does work unless the rabbits get in and eat the low, young shoots. Rabbits are not a problem in the back garden as we rabbit-wired it 4 years ago so we thought we were safe! Not so, the deer leapt the back hedge and enjoyed the French beans and later on the runners too. So the battle goes on . . . . . .

Christine Denniford

MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS 2005/2006

Membership subscriptions for the year 2005/ 2006 become due at the AG.M. on November 30^th 2005. The subscription will remain at £5 for this year.

It helps me if you fill in your details on the form below and bring it with you to the A.G.M. together with your £5 sub. If you are unable to attend the November meeting please send your completed form and subscription to me at the address below together with a stamped addressed envelope and I will send your membership card to you as soon as I am able.

The committee is asking everyone who has an Email address to receive the newsletter by Email as it saves on the cost of postage for the society.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

TELEPHONE NUMBER:

EMAIL ADDRESS:

The address to send your subs is:

Mrs Janet Shanks, 144, Whyteladyes Lane, Cookham Rise, Maidenhead,

Berks SL6 9LA

Thank you, Janet , Treasurer

Copy for January newsletter to Gill Townend by January 6th please (gilltownend@aol.com or 01628 483092 0r The Farm, Church Road, Cookham Dean.) Thanks to all contributors in 2005!