Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

‘Unearthed: the Power of Gardening’

I visited the ‘Unearthed: The Power of Gardening‘ exhibition (on until Sunday 10 August 2025) at the British Library recently, the third gardening-related exhibition at a non-garden-related institution that I’ve seen in the past few years (I’m sure there have been others!). The first two were ‘Rooted Beings’ at the Wellcome Collection in 2022 and ‘Soil’ at Somerset House earlier this year.

Illustrated herbal in Old English, about 1000-1025.
Unearthed exhibition at the British Library, 2025 — Beautiful gardening illustrations from the 11th and 17th centuries

Sketches of gardening tools by John Evelyn, approx. 1660-1680. Unearthed exhibition at the British Library, 2025 — Beautiful gardening illustrations from the 11th and 17th centuries

This exhibition, as the title suggests, was more about the actual act of gardening than the other two, and as such had quite a lot in common with the permanent display at the Garden Museum. The British Library’s advantage was its access to phenomenal (and in some cases phenomenally old) examples of historical books, and its focus on gardening and gardeners, rather than the gardens.

A visit to Great Dixter, July 2025

Fresh off a flight from America, Fergus Garrett addressed approximately 300 people seated on hay bales in the Plant Fair Field, in one of the regular Friends events held at Great Dixter. He had returned that morning from a 20 day stay, lecturing and touring, with some of the stay devoted to Chanticleer. Fergus drew comparisons between the gardening practice there and at Great Dixter. At Chanticleer they artificially oxygenate their compost heaps to accelerate the process, whereas at Dixter these are left to decompose naturally. He also drew attention to how little water is used at Dixter – at most, the Long Border has been watered three times this year – but at Chanticleer watering is a regular feature of garden maintenance.

July 2025 Talk: Adventures with Bulbs

Following on from a talk given in October 2024 by Dr Tim Ingram about his family run garden – Copton Ash – he returned for a more detailed presentation about the bulbs grown there. As he was not well that evening, his wife Gillian gallantly stepped up at the last moment to deliver the talk.

Gillian Ingram of Copton Ash Nursery speaking at CABAHS July 2025 meeting

A wealth of bulbs have now been planted at Copton Ash, in beds, under trees and also allowed to naturalise in long grass. In particular a circular sunny gravelly bed was highlighted. The planting was at first inspired by the Lime Walk at Sissinghurst Castle which is very much a spring show of narcissus, tulips, primroses, anemones, scillas, violets and erythroniums. Tim has continuously added to and altered the planting in the circular bed so that there is now interest throughout the year.

July 2025 Meeting and Show Table

Lots of variety on the Show Table this month, just as we like it! The Show Table is a chance for members to bring in and display plants and flowers that are performing well in their own gardens each month, be that a single flower / stem / fruit / vegetable or a display of all that is looking good – or indeed something in between. It’s lovely to see what people are growing.

A Trip to Audley End

On a very hot Friday in July we set off on a CABAHS coach trip to Saffron Waldon in Essex, to visit Audley End House and Gardens.

The Audley End site was originally a Benedictine monastery, but following the Dissolution of the Monasteries the land was acquired by Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk between 1604 and 1612, who built a very grand house on the site on a par with a royal palace. It has been altered and added to throughout the years, and the grounds were originally designed by Launcelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the usual parkland style of the time, together with a temple in the distance.

Our group decided to visit the Parterre first at the side of the house. There were beautifully shaped beds and lovely planting just humming with bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Plants included lavenders, Nepeta, day lilies and Phlomis which were being watered in the very hot sun.

Plants of the Month: The Whites! (July 2025)

My garden is looking past its best now, as the heat-waves and lack of rain having taken their toll, but these three plants are looking stunning and all worthy of the status of Plant of Month for July 2025.

Mandevilla laxa (Chilean jasmine), July 2025 — *Mandevilla laxa, Hydrangea quercifolia,* and *Clematis* ‘Kaiu’ (V): the whites for July

Hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf Hydrangea), July 2025 — *Mandevilla laxa, Hydrangea quercifolia,* and *Clematis* ‘Kaiu’ (V): the whites for July

A visit to Long Barn Gardens, Kent

The courtyard at Long Barn Gardens, June 2025

Among the services offered by Perennial are a range of garden tours, many to gardens which are not often open to the public. Long Barn Gardens is one of those. Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West bought Sissinghurst in 1930, but for 15 years before that they lived at Long Barn and it is interesting to look for the elements here which they later expanded and refined at Sissinghurst. On the edge of the village of Sevenoaks Weald, the garden has retained its long views over wooded countryside and has been the family home of Rebecca Lemonius and her husband who have lived here since 2007.

Like the house itself, the garden has developed as a kind of hotch-potch with bits added on over the years and there is a wonderful informality and intimacy about the place. Rebecca emphasises that although they garden with Vita Sackville-West’s ethos and style in mind, the emphasis is on the atmosphere which she created.

Pat’s 10 jobs for July 2025

1. If herbs like thyme have finished flowering, trim them back to keep them compact and use the trimmings to do some cuttings.

2. Stake Dahlias before they get too tall and straggly or the stems may snap. Keep well watered in this dry weather.

3. To conserve water and before we get a hosepipe ban, just water around the roots of plants and mulch them if you can. Some are really suffering at the moment. So why not start sowing seeds of Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Wilmott’s Ghost’ for a drought proof plant for next year? Loved by pollinators too.

Eryngium giganteum 'Miss Wilmott's Ghost' at Great Comp, covered in pollinators — Drought resistant plants that pollinators love: *Eryngium* and *Pseudodictamnus*

Bee on Pseudodictamnus mediterraneus (formerly Ballota) — Drought resistant plants that pollinators love: *Eryngium* and *Pseudodictamnus*

Have you been to Beckenham Place Park lately?

Signpost in Beckenham Place Park, April 2024

Not too far away (and on the 54 bus route from Charlton and Blackheath!) lies a ‘new’ old park: Beckenham Place Park. The name can be confusing – it lies on the border between the London Boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham, but is run by Lewisham Council. It is larger than you might think, at 96 hectares (well over 200 acres), and stretches from Beckenham Hill railway station in the north to Ravensbourne railway station in the south, west into Beckenham ‘proper’ and east toward Bromley.

Beckenham Place Park information sign (2024) — Park map with trails: download

Beloved of dogwalkers, wild swimmers, park runners, bluebell spotters and vintage shoppers, since Heritage Lottery Funding was awarded in 2016 there have been many changes and a huge increase in community use. Old features of the 18^th century estate have been brought back, playgrounds added and the 1762 mansion (which was formerly a golf club house with a small visitor centre) is now home to artists’ studios, a café, a vintage shop and hosts multiple events.

But to the gardens…

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden July 2025

Penstemon ‘Garnet’ – Beardtongue

Although at its peak in July, this has been out since May and is one of the longest-flowering plants in the Old Pond Garden. At the moment we really love it for it’s drought tolerance – no need to water this one! It has dainty, tubular flowers which insects with long tongues like bumblebees can enjoy, and it provides both pollen and nectar for visiting insects. Prefers a sunny spot but will do well in part shade too, so you can spot it in several of the beds. It is a semi-evergreen, only losing it’s leaves in the very depths of winter.

Dianthus carthusianorum – Carthusian Pink

Another lovely drought-tolerant plant that we don’t have to water! It must be in full sun to flower well, so it just loves the gravel garden in the central bed of the Old Pond Garden. It’s a perennial, forming bigger clumps each year and giving that great “pop” of colour. A gentle self-seeder and long season in flower.