March – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

Pat’s 10 jobs for March 2026

1. Time to cut back Buddleja davidii hard… don’t be timid, take it right back to 40cm to a pair of buds. If you want a taller plant make the cuts higher up the stem. It will grow back in no time. The prunings make good hardwood cuttings and root easily straight in the ground.

Buddleja davidii in need of a hard prune — *Buddlejas* before and after a hard prune (not the same plant!)

Buddleja davidii after a fairly hard prune - already developing new shoots! — *Buddlejas* before and after a hard prune (not the same plant!)

2. You can pot up Dahlia tubers now by placing in pots or trays of peat-free compost in a frost-free place, and water once with no need to water again until shoots appear. Make sure the tubers are firm with no sign of rot.

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden: March 2026

We hope you enjoy a spring walk around the walled gardens at Charlton House! Look out for:

Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Elka’)

Narcissus 'Elke' in the Peace Garden at Charlton House

A fragrant, small and early-flowering daffodil, you can spot Narcissus ‘Elka’ spreading gently in the Peace Garden. It has pale petals and a creamy yellow trumpet. The name ‘Elka’ comes from a combination of the names of two ‘lady daffodil growers’: Elizabeth and Kate.

Wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae)

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae (wood spurge / Mrs Robb's Bonnet) in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, March 2024

Wood spurge is in the Euphorbia family, so take care! If the stems are broken, they gush with a thick milky latex substance that can cause irritation. They are handsome perennial plants, shade loving, with zingy lime-green flowers in late Spring and rosettes of glossy dark green leaves. Another name for this plant is ‘Mrs Robb’s Bonnet’ – we would like to see the hat that inspired that name!

Orchids at Kew Gardens

It’s celebration time for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as this is the 30th year of their much-loved Orchid exhibition, set within the rare and exotic planting in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Orchids at Kew, February 2026 — The magnificent variety of Orchids on display at Kew Gardens

This year, China is the inspiration for the exhibition, in particular the Yunnan Province, where 1,000 species of Orchid are to be found.

March 2025 Talk: Fiona Davison on Pioneering Women Gardeners

Fiona Davidson is the head of Libraries and Exhibitions at the RHS as well as being an author. Her talk at our March meeting was based on her recent book ‘An Almost Impossible Thing – the radical lives of Britain’s pioneering women gardeners’ (previously reviewed by Stella). She described the lives of female gardeners in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a reflection of the restricted lives led by women in general during this time. Yet despite this, some pioneers became gardeners and had successful careers in gardening.

Fiona Davison talking about pioneering women gardeners, CABAHS March 2025. Showing a quotation from the RHS about Olive Harrisson (medal pictured) being denied the gardening scholarship she had won.

March 2025 Meeting and Show Table

A packed library for the March meeting, and the first Show Table of the year – congratulations to Kathy for winning this month’s Best on the Table prize with her Narcissus ‘St Patrick’s Day’.

There was also a Plant Sales table and the usual raffle with lots of lovely plant prizes. The main event was a talk by Fiona Davison, author of ‘An Almost Impossible Thing: The radical lives of Britain’s pioneering women gardeners‘.

Ali H

Plant of the Month: Camellia (March 2025)

During March, when the changeable weather still surprises us, it is wonderful to see the Camellias in flower, as they provide the much-needed WOW factor during the colder days – their profusion of flowers, colours, shapes and patterns add an immediate vibrancy and character to any garden or parkland.

In my neighbour Linda B’s garden, there are three Camellias but one stands out. The flowers are smaller and single, white (blush-pink as they age), scented and beautiful. The leaves are also different: matt-green and elongated and the overall appearance of the shrub is more elegant. It has grown, albeit slowly, and is now approximately 2’ in height. A plant app identifies it as possibly Camellia sasanqua.

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden: March 2025

We hope you enjoy a spring walk around the walled gardens at Charlton House! Look out for:

Daffodil (Narcissus ‘Elka’)

Narcissus 'Elke' in the Old Pond Garden at Charlton House

A fragrant, small and early-flowering daffodil, you can spot Narcissis ‘Elka’ in the Peace Garden. It has pale petals and a creamy yellow trumpet. The name ‘Elka’ is apparently from a combination of the names of two ‘lady daffodil growers’: Elizabeth and Kate.

Wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae)

Wood spurge is in the Euphorbia family, so take care! If the stems are broken, they gush with a thick milky latex substance that can cause blisters on skin. They are handsome perennial plants, shade loving, with zingy lime-green flowers in late Spring and rosettes of glossy dark green leaves. Another name for this plant is ‘Mrs Robb’s Bonnet’ – we would like to see the hat that inspired that name!

Pat’s Jobs for March 2025

Time to pot up those Dahlia tubers in 3 litre pots, making sure the tubers have an ‘eye’ which will shoot. Cover in compost, allowing the stem to rest at the surface, then label and water and keep somewhere reasonably light and frost free (greenhouse or windowsill) until they start growing.

2. Now is the time I start sowing sweetpeas: five seeds to a 3 inch pot and keep on a light windowsill or greenhouse until they germinate. You can try sowing directly into the soil which I think works well for some.

The View from my Window

The small patio is shielded from the sun, in a south facing garden, by an Acer palmatum ‘Katsura’. The tree caught my eye while on a trip to Kent. Must have one of those I thought. The sapling was bought and is now well mature. Some of the limbs show signs of viral attack, but it soldiers on.

Early to leaf, in February, the leaves are green and red. It produces sap, which attracts the aphids. With the aphids, the small birds make regular visits to eat the goodies. The birds include Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Robin and Goldfinches. The Dunnocks also pay a visit, foraging in the growth below, together with a variety of bees including the distinctive yellow faced variety. Soon after, it will produce a vast amount of blossom, and after that very small sycamore-like seeds. In time and onto autumn, the leaves go from yellow to orange and then fall, covering all the surrounding ground.

March 2024: Down at the CABAHS Shed

We attempted something a bit different at this meeting! Our Chair Stella introduced the evening by asking the audience to imagine we were all sitting relaxing in the CABAHS garden shed surrounded by our gardening friends. She then introduced the “panel” and to start the conversation rolling, asked how they first became interested in gardening.

The four panellists, Ruth, Kathy, Lynda & Pat each had different but similar personal stories, and it was usually a parent or grandparent who first sparked their interest.

The next question was about the tastiest vegetable or fruit we had ever grown.

For Pat this was Sungold tomatoes. Lynda is known among members for growing Goji berry but she chose sweetcorn as the tastiest ever. Ruth thought figs from her allotment were amazing, especially as she had inherited them from the previous holder. For Kathy it was “Mr Green’s” (the previous owner of her garden) summer raspberries, which have been in the same bed for over 35 years.

Now on to the best Show flowers (topical as we have the Spring Show coming up next month). Stella put in her vote for Penstemon ‘Garnet’, certainly a very good do-er in the Walled Gardens at Charlton House.