daffodil – Page 2 – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

March flowers shared by Members

We are always keen to hear about how member’s gardens are growing or about what you can see from your window but occasionally we receive shorter messages. So here are a few we’ve had recently.

Angela thought members might like to see a photo of her Amaryllis lily. She says “Their sale in supermarkets at Christmas has rapidly become a tradition. Their very decorative, over the top flowers people either hate or love. I love them. They are easy to grow and spectacular. I planted mine after Christmas and it has now produced amazing flowers.”

Viv sent us a photo of the first tulips of the year in her garden with some other pots. Unsurprisingly, she is getting excited about spring…

Viv's pot of Tulip Stresa with other pots

Spring Show 2023

Well, as we now know from a trawl through the CABAHS archive, our first Spring Show took place in April 1978, when the entries were recorded as “good considering the wintry conditions”. 45 years later, in 2023, our display has once again risen above the challenging weather and looked frankly fabulous!

Thank you to everyone who carried their exhibits into St Thomas’ Church hall, we had more entries than in the past few years, 73 in total, and everyone seemed to have a great evening. Our judge Mrs Norma Leslie said she had a hard time choosing the winners, listed below. Best in Show was awarded to Sharon’s “Perfect Pot of Pipits”, well deserved, and it was good to see so many entries in this class. The Wild Card class generated a lot of conversations around the range of entries, so that will be a fixture from now on. The short talk about past shows sparked some good ideas for future classes, such as one for Primroses and Auriculas and perhaps we can revive a “Domestic” class to add a baking angle to the evening (followed by some munching probably).

OPG diary – September 2020

25 September
Starting to plant things instead of just weeding and pulling up. This picture shows newly planted clumps of lilyturf (Liriope muscari) looking happy under the Tree of Heaven. The lilyturf was kindly donated by a CABAHS member.

Liriope muscari (lilyturf) in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, September 2020

We are ordering 2,000 bulbs of Narcissus ‘Tete a Tete’ and Thalia, for some spring colour, these should arrive in a week or so. Lots of planting to do!

28 September
A lesson and/or debate on how to plant a shrub! These are the Pittosporum “Tom Thumb” being planted.

CABAHS volunteers in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, September 2020