Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

June 2023 Talk: Success with Seeds

CABAHS welcomed back Tim Ingram who last gave a talk in the 1990s. Along with his wife, he is the owner of Copton Ash Gardens in Faversham. He has featured in a wide range of publications and is co-author of Success with Seeds, a Hardy Plant Society Booklet published in 1997. He is a member of the Hardy Plant Society, Alpine Garden Society and the Plant Fairs Road Show. He is a very keen grower of plants from fresh seeds, most of which he sources from his own garden. He gave a very informative visually illustrated talk on seeds with great enthusiasm which was catching.

He started the talk with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: “Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay.”

Tim described how he grew fresh seeds, and the conditions they need for successful growing, the how and when to grow different seeds. Seeds sold in Horticultural Garden Centres are grown to germinate easily at 20C. Fresh seeds may need different and specialist requirements. Seeds vary widely and some seeds are more difficult to grow. Seeds vary in size and shape. The orchid is very small whilst the coconut is very large and size impacts on how they are sown and the conditions needed for growth. Some fresh seeds have to be sown soon after they are picked, whilst others may be kept for a long time. Cowslips for example, need to be sown quite fresh in autumn and need a spot of outside winter cold to kickstart them. Early flowering plants such as bulbs and ericaceous need a cold bout to kickstart germination too.

Stella’s Scottish odyssey

The week didn’t start well. The train was delayed at King’s Cross and then got stuck behind a freight service so was an hour and a half late into Edinburgh. The visits, next day, to two lovely gardens near Peebles, about three quarters of an hour south west from the city more than made up. The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh took responsibility for Dawyck in the 1970s. The gardens of this country estate are renown for their woodland areas and spectacular plantings of rhododendrons and azelas. All tastes in colours are catered for: from deep reds and oranges to more subtle whites and mauves. There are also areas covered in beautiful blue Meconopsis. A former owner, Sir John Naesmith was a patron of the plant-hunter, David Douglas (1799-1834) and there are splendid examples of his fir here as well as some impressive redwoods.

While we were in the area we decided to call in at Kailzie Gardens which are undergoing significant development. Their glasshouses were one of the first installed in the 1860s by the famous Scottish firm of Mackenzie and Moncur. We were fascinated to read about the restoration which involves much linseed oil to ensure the wood-framed structures last for another century and a half at least! The gardens themselves provide a peaceful but colourful sanctuary with herbaceous borders to inspire and walks with views of the lovely countryside beyond. We finished our outings with tea in a stylish courtyard café.

Visit to Community Garden in Open Gardens Festival 2023

Given the hot weather for this year’s Festival and that this is our third, we focused on Gardens we haven’t seen before. So this afternoon we set off to Christchurch School Community Garden to see what was going on there. And we were pleased. It demonstrates what can be done with a pocket of land, off a busy main road, with some funding and lots of enthusiasm and knowledge – and effort. The description on the Festival brochure referred to raised beds for food crops, a community orchard, ornamental borders, a Forest School and a covered meeting hub. They also have a hugelkultur bed, a bee hive, a wildlife pond – and they were selling goji berry plants!

Never say ‘Never’

A few years ago I cleared out my greenhouse following the losses of the winter and dumped in my compost the remains of pelargoniums and other dead items. It’s always a little sad to lose much loved plants which have given you their best. I then had some fun ordering new plants to replace the old ones (and some others!). A couple of weeks later, I found several of my ‘dead’ pelargoniums lying in the compost and sprouting new shoots from the roots. Of course, I swiftly took them out and potted them up to achieve lovely healthy plants. I am now a little less impatient to discard anything that looks dead.

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden: June 2023

We hope you are enjoying a walk around the walled gardens at Charlton House! This month, look out for:

Catchfly (Silene armeria ‘Electra’)

Silene armeria 'Electra' in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, June 2023

Blue-grey leaves and hot pink flowers for weeks on end. An annual which self-seeds prolifically. It is called catchfly because there is a sticky area on the stems just below the flowers, which greenfly and small insects get stuck to. Feel it gently with your fingers!

Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)

Lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina) in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, June 2023

Lamb’s-ear or woolly hedge nettle, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, native to Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. Very drought tolerant. Loved by the wool carder bee, which combs or ‘cards’ the leaves to make a hairy nest to lay her eggs.

May 2023 Talk: Tresco Abbey Gardens

Dr John Hughes, an RHS judge and a long term friend of CABAHS, gave an entertaining and informative talk on Tresco Abbey Gardens in the Isles of Scilly, situated just 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall. Benefiting from the Gulf Stream and Atlantic Drift, it has a mild climate and the magnificent garden is full of exotic and glorious plants from every Mediterranean garden zone, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. It has been called a ‘Kew without the glass’. It is also home to a range of fauna including the red squirrel.

Dr John Hughes with the Acting Chair, Stella B

Augustus Smith, the founder of the garden, bought the island from the Duchy of Cornwall in 1830 and it has been in his family, who have remained keen horticulturalists, ever since – though all the land, except the garden and house which he had built on it, was given back to the Duchy in 1922. The seventeen acre garden has been designed around a ruined Benedictine Abbey and within a sympathetic hard core of paths and arches, including statues supplied by the latest owner.

Plant Sale and Community Day 2023

THANK YOU to everyone who supported our Plant Sale and Community Day on May 21st at Charlton House. Whether you donated plants or bought them, you are all heroes! Your generosity will help the Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice, the Walled Gardens and our speaker programme, with many thanks!

OPG in morning light — The garden first thing, looking beautiful and calm..

Set up started early, we had sooo many plants to get out to the Back Lawn, and all the tables to position according to Mandy’s Grand Plan.

11 am rolled around quickly and the selling started..

Selling plants — I’ll have that one, and that one, and

We shared the day with lots of community groups as well as stalls from the Producers Market and everyone had a great time networking and selling their wares.

A visit to Perch Hill

A few weeks back Vija and I went to one of the open days at Sarah Raven’s farm Perch Hill in East Sussex. The preceding evening had seen torrential rain and an email arrived on the morning of the visit warning people of the muddy conditions and that a four wheel drive was essential. And they weren’t exaggerating… the field we were to park in was a mud slide with a tractor towing cars out of the mud!

But the rain hadn’t affected the garden. The tulips, many of which were in pots,were stunning with the same colours used repeatedly throughout the garden. They were well labelled so we could make a note of them and there seemed to be loads of new varieties and quite a lot in oranges and shades of reds. There were lots of pots with pastel shades too and it wasn’t just tulips. There was a whole bed planted with a tall variety of fritillary which you don’t see very often and is certainly different.

Additionally there were displays in pots of some lovely frilly violas and the glasshouse was planted with ranunculus and other early varieties of annuals. There were displays of early vegetables but they were small and obviously affected by the cold spring. And the tea and cakes were good too!

All in all a stunning display and worth a visit despite the mud and flooded roads.

Pat K

Spring at Exbury Gardens, Hampshire

A visit to Exbury Gardens in the week between two May Bank Holidays was a treat for the senses. I last visited after the summer drought and before the winter storms and asked myself, ‘how would everything look?’ In short, everything looked thrillingly fresh.

There have been some losses, which, while regrettable, have provided opportunities to the gardeners to open up views, plant new (drought-resistant) species and create entirely new gardens.

Anna visits Salters’ Garden

The City of London is a wonderful place to explore and is full of hidden- away gardens for us to access. We came upon this garden in early spring when we were meandering (slightly lost, really) towards the Barbican to visit the Conservatory.