A few years ago, my garden would be looking quite green at this time of the year. But not this year; I am pleased to say that it’s actually very colourful, all due to my collection of salvias, which I’ve added to year-on-year. As you know, they are not 100% hardy as they originate from hotter climates, but, they do appear to survive in sheltered, London gardens if the winters are not too severe. And, as a precaution, we have learnt to take cuttings – just in case!
This month’s meeting included an interesting talk from Clare Lanes about the three-year renovation project of the Rose Garden at Greenwich Park, the monthly Show Table display, the raffle, the potato competition, the sales table and of course plenty of chat and information about upcoming events (NB: Horn Fair on 19 October!).
If your own space is looking ‘a bit green’ at the moment, think about adding annuals to liven up your garden in 2026. Here are a few I highly recommend:
This year I’ve grown Zinnia elegans SPRITE MIXED at my allotment and they are looking good – tall, healthy, robust, colourful and bee-friendly. I am very pleased with them, as the flowers themselves are a mixture of vibrant and subtle shades, and, as an added bonus, no signs of stem rot (fungi/bacteria more prevalent in warm, wetter summers that attack the stems).
I sowed the seed straight into the soil in two rows. Two or three weeks later, I thinned the seedlings and replanted those thinnings into a third row. So, they are tightly packed and they don’t seem to mind that and I don’t need to stake them. Flowering from July to October, this robust variety is perfect for displaying in gaps in borders or containers. And ideal for picking, although I don’t have the heart to do that yet!
Continue reading Plants of the Month: The annuals (September 2025)1. Well at last the rain has arrived and is ready to drown all our plants! You may need to empty those saucers you put under pots for some of your more tender plants before they drown or rot…
2. This month and next is a good time to cut down and split many perennials ready for our sale at the Horn Fair on 19 October which soon comes round. I split sedum and Hesperantha the other day. I needed two forks back to back but made about fifteen plants! Check which plants are suitable for splitting in Autumn as some are better done in Spring.
3. Increase your supply of Pelargoniums by taking cuttings now below a leaf node. It also provides insurance for next year. We always love unusual varieties for the sales table if you can spare them.
The 2025 Autumn ‘Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Show’ was held on Monday 18 August in the Old Library at Charlton House.
As it is usually held in September, there were some adjustments to the range of classes. It was a well attended and lively show, and our fears that perhaps there would be fewer entries – due to the date change or the fact that we have had such a long period of drought – were unfounded. In fact, across the 18 classes there were 150 entries and we had to extend the show tables!
As this year is a special one, in which we celebrate the 75th anniversary of CABAHS, there were a couple of ’75th anniversary’ themed classes, and we were delighted to welcome as judge Jillian Smith, long-time CABAHS member and Chair of the Society, and now joint Vice President with Ron Roffey. Jillian has a long experience in judging shows over many years and has a beautiful garden in Winn Road, which was opened to the public on a number of occasions to raise money for charity.
Continue reading August/Autumn Show 2025This year’s Autumn Show will be held a month earlier than usual, on Monday 18 August, at 7.30pm in the Old Library at Charlton House.
Please note that due to the earlier date, the Potato competition will be judged as part of the Show Table at September’s meeting.
Here’s a reminder of last year’s efforts!
The classes you can enter this year are shown below, please have a go at as many as you like!
Continue reading August Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Display 2025 – classes to enterOne autumn Saturday morning in 2024 my companion and I visited the Sarah Price-designed garden at The Exchange in Erith, South-East London and we were in for a treat.
As Erith Library for over 100 years, and Grade II-listed, this Carnegie-financed building of 1906 finally closed its doors in 2009, thus becoming an unused space with unkept grounds. Two visionary locals, respectively with conservation and community arts experience, approached Bexley Council in 2016. Their initiative resulted in a community arts hub which opened in 2022 – a refurbished building with a new garden to match.
The garden surrounds the building on all sides, with various plantings complementing each of the four different areas. The forefront of the building has become a Mediterranean garden with a tapestry of lime-greens, blue-greens and greys. In amongst the herbaceous and shrubs I noticed Myrtle, Euphorbias, Irises, California poppies and particular favourites, sub-shrub Dorycnium hirsutum and several Hesperaloe parviflora (red yucca), a very choice succulent that I have at home (and managed to keep alive!). On our visit we noticed that flowering was just finishing, with its tall stem of red-orange pendulum flowers just going over.
Continue reading The Exchange, Walnut Tree Road, ErithWe welcomed back Tim Ingram who has a passion for alpines, and is a member of the Alpine Garden Society. He gave us a talk on the evolution of Copton Ash, his garden in Faversham, Kent where he also has a specialist nursery. He also brought with him a selection of alpine and perennial plants for sale. He illustrated his talk with a series of photographs showing the development of his garden over the years and seasons.
Tim’s garden is a large and mature family-run garden, about one and a half acres in size, which has been in existence for nearly fifty years. He comes from a family of avid gardeners and so was brought up with a keen interest in plants and gardening. His father worked at Brogdale (home of the National Fruit Collection): his mother too a keen gardener: his grandfather was into market gardening. Tim first worked in academic science in London, specialising in plant hormones. He and his wife returned full time to Copton Ash in the late 1980s when they soon started a nursery.
Continue reading October 2024 Talk: Tim Ingram on Copton Ash GardenIt wasn’t all that “fair” this year, in fact it was fairly wet, but we had such a great day! So many volunteers and visitors turned out to support this traditional event, thank you so much everyone. As well as a huge number of plants for sale, we also had fun with the Gargoyle Trail in the Gardens, which were specially dressed up and Haunted for the day!
Inside Charlton House there were lots of craft and artisan stalls, Frilly’s was open and there were food stalls on the back lawn. The Heritage Hub featured the Ottoman stone and some interesting watercolours of Charlton House over the years. Local community groups had stalls in the Grand Salon and St Luke’s was open for tower tours. Spotlight Dance group and the Morris Dancers were on show as well.
The gardens looked beautifully Autumnal and we had over 85 children and their families charging about looking for bats, gargoyles, pumpkins and spiders!
Highlight of the day was the Splat the Slug game, all ages had a go!
Continue reading Horn Fair 20241. 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.
