1. Watch out for Cabbage White caterpillar on your Nasturtium: at our allotments they appear to be the new delicacy which they are devastating and they look like the only butterflies that are thriving.
2. Make sure to plant lots of butterfly-friendly plants next year like Sweet Rocket, Scabious, Honesty and others. The butterfly count showed that butterfly numbers are very much down this year and we desperately need them. Please ask me for Honesty seeds if you want some.
Only our second foray into the world of London in Bloom (part of RHS Britain in Bloom) and we have achieved a coveted Gold award!
Last year, we only entered the Walled Gardens category, but this year – since we now cover most areas of the whole estate – two categories were entered: the competitive “Our Community” and also the RHS “It’s Your Neighbourhood”. Although these look for gardening excellence, they also cover community involvement.
The judges visited on a very hot day in mid June and had already been to several local gardens including Charlton Station and Orchard when they arrived at the gates of Charlton House. On reflection, it was a great idea to show them around the estate in reverse order – we did the Meadow and Wilderness, followed by the Glade and Long Garden, then finishing with the jewel that is the Walled Gardens. Following that route they saw the progression of work and Jason was able to explain his ideas for each different area.
They loved the Glade, with its mounds made of green waste and excess soil, demonstrating how nothing goes to waste and the creativity of making a flat area more interesting. Remember this?
The best words in the report were reserved for the Old Pond Garden – the judges report says “Jason, working with the volunteers, has restored the walled garden quite possibly to something that is better than the original walled garden.” Wow! They go on to say ”Jason truly understands the secrets of good design and plant combinations, and makes an excellent Head Gardener. We see the harmony of working with volunteers, who have been able to put many of Jason’s thoughts, with his expert guidance, into reality.” What an accolade!
Continue reading London in Bloom 2024: Gold and more for Charlton House Gardens!Salvia ‘Amistad’, in less than 20 years, has become a much-loved cultivar throughout the world. and is known as the ‘friendship sage’. It was discovered in a tray of salvias at a plant sale in Argentina in 2005 by Dr Rolando Uria, and he decided to name it ‘Amistad’, meaning ‘friendship’ in Spanish.
There is much to love about this plant, in that its 1.5m high, bushy, rounded habit is ideal for planting schemes, guaranteeing a display of purple flower spires, with highly aromatic foliage, from mid-summer until the frosts in October-November. It’s not 100% hardy, so I have lost it a couple of times over the years but it’s always worth repurchasing. The young growths are adored by slugs and snails, so during wet weather in spring it can be difficult to get going.
I have noticed, however, that in London’s parks, Salvia ‘Amistad’ really thrives and can be seen growing happily and well-established in May, beneath London Planes in much drier soils, where the mature trees are protecting the plants during the winter months. And the drier soils obviously do not attract the slugs during early spring growth.
Continue reading Plants of the Month: Salvia (October 2024)We hope you enjoy walking around the walled gardens at Charlton House!
This month, look out for:
‘Violetta’ is a spectacular New England aster, which for a couple of months from late summer, bears a prolific display of violet-purple daisies. A naturally tall plant, it provides a regal purple splash of colour – long after many other perennials have finished flowering. Our plants are originally a donation from CABAHS member Anne.
A bushy perennial with clusters of yellow-centred, lavender-blue daisies that flower right through the Autumn, it is very attractive to pollinators. One of the most reliable and popular Michaelmas daisies (so called because they flower at the time of the feast of Michaelmas on 29 September), it was bred by a Swiss nurseryman called Frikart and named ‘Monch’ after a Swiss mountain.
Continue reading What to look out for in the Walled Gardens: October 2024Before the 1920’s, the ten acres of land at Canford Cliffs was heathland. But along came a man with vision, one Thomas William Simpson, and, with the help of his head gardener Mr Middleton, a magical garden was created.
Mr Simpson was a businessman and entrepreneur (margarine) and having visited many countries, knew exactly what he wanted. Influenced by the gardens and architecture of Italy, Japan and the UK Arts and Crafts movement, he and his gardener set about creating a series of gardens, starting with the Italianate gardens, then a necklace of paths and ponds which connected finally to his Japanese Garden, thus turning his vision into reality, right up until WW2.
The garden sadly fell into neglect following the conflict, but in the 1950’s and 60’s, a new owner set about restoring it, planting the magnificent trees we see today – their maturity and majesty makes this garden quite a magical place to explore.
Upon entry into the garden, I came into the Roman Garden, passed through the Grotto and into the very impressive Grand Italianate Garden, the focal point being the rectangular formal pond and beyond, the statue of Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine, sheltering within a temple at the far end of the garden. This sheltered, south-facing, formal garden is a relaxing place to sit and admire its many features. This garden then leads into Palm Court, a formal garden with its row of impressive Chusan palms.
Continue reading Compton Acres, Poole, DorsetJason Sylvan, Head Gardener at Charlton House, has designed the Old Pond Garden to be as attractive to wildlife as possible. Because we talk about monitoring moths, he asked if we could check how many moths are visiting the garden. We should have tried this in the warmer months when there are more plants in full flower but we had missed that for this year so we gave it a shot on a warmer dry night in September to test out a strategy.
As we wrote in an earlier post, we have been monitoring moths for the Garden Moth Scheme since 2013 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and since 2019 in Blackheath. The moth trap is a box with a light (our type gives off no heat), and below the light are two panels of see-through Perspex, one each side and shallowly angled down, with a slot/gap between them. The moths ‘funnel’ into the box, and it’s difficult (but not impossible) to get out. Inside are egg-trays, which provide resting places.
Why do moths fly towards the light? Until recently, the correct answer has been that nobody knows, but researchers in Sweden found the answer: for aeons, light at night was above and dark was below, so moths orientated themselves to fly with their backs to the light above. In artificial light – fires, candles, street lamps – they still try to fly with their backs to the light, circling round and round, and sometimes become disorientated.
The trap is placed before sunset, and collected at sunrise the next day. So an early start.
Continue reading Moth Night at the Old Pond Garden 18/19th September 2024The 2024 Autumn Show was held on Monday 16th September in the Old Library of Charlton House. It was well attended and the standard of entry was very high – particularly given the strange growing year we’ve had.
Jason judged the flower classes and Melanie the vegetables but there was lots of discussion between the judges and Stella, the Chair. Anna judged the cakes and preserves, ably assisted by Annette, and Hugh weighed the potatoes. As ‘Best in Class’ winners and ‘Highly Commended’ entries were announced, the judges explained the reasons for their decisions. Finally, they agreed their choice for Best in Show.
Continue reading Autumn Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Show 2024What a struggle it has been to protect the shoots of these two clematis from sustained attacks by the usual culprits this year! Not only did I use a garlic spray (one clove of garlic simmered in water) but I also liberally (and continually) sprinkled spent coffee grounds around the base of the plants. Although they were saved, I did lose other clematis: scented C ‘Betty Corning’, C ‘Rising Star’ and C ‘Wedding Day’ – all absolutely lovely and such a loss that I will need to repurchase them.
Clematis ‘Princess Diana’
This clematis is definitely one of my ‘top five’. The tulip-shaped flower is an unusual shade of bright pink, with beautifully striped markings both inside and outside of the petals (sepals). This variety (texensis) was introduced by a British breeder to honour the Princess of Wales in 1984 and has deservedly been given the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
As to be expected ‘Princess Diana’ came into flower late – in July, rather than June – and has been flowering continually, with eight flowers and a few buds on the vine at present.
Continue reading Plant of the Month: Clematis (September 2024)1. Start ordering your bulbs now as all the bulb catalogues are arriving – though prices don’t stop going up!
2. Start planting bulbs when they arrive but save your tulips until later as they are prone to virus and rotting, and to theft by squirrels.
3. Divide large established clumps of perennials by cutting back first, then splitting either by hand or with two forks back to back. Delay if soil is heavy or too wet.
4. Replace tired summer bedding in pots and replant for winter and replenish with fresh compost.
Continue reading Pat’s Jobs for September 2024We hope you enjoy walking around the walled gardens at Charlton House!
This month, look out for:
With velvety plum-purple flowers, this Salvia is attractive to moths and other pollinating insects and flowers over a long period – well into late Autumn.
It has deliciously blackcurrant-scented leaves and is said to protect roses against black spot when it is planted under them. A large clump is now happy in the Peace Garden.
A bushy perennial with clusters of yellow-centred, lavender-blue daisies that flower right through the Autumn, it is very attractive to pollinators. One of the most reliable and popular Michaelmas daisies (so called because they flower at the time of the feast of Michaelmas on 29 September), it was bred by a Swiss nurseryman called Frikart and named ‘Monch’ after a Swiss mountain.
Continue reading What to look out for in the Walled Gardens: September 2024
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 