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!).
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 20251. Border irises are really doing their thing now and the show can be brief but make sure to keep the soil around their roots free of weeds so their rhizomes can bake a bit in the sun.
2. Time to Chelsea chop your tall perennials to stop them flopping later or to extend flowering. Good candidates are Phlox, Penstemon, Helianthus, Sedum/Hylotelephium – and I include vigorous Clematis too. You can either do the whole plant at once or just some stems to extend flowering, although it may result in smaller flowers.
3. Deadhead displays of pot plants like Violas to keep them flowering and stop them going to seed. Remember to give them a feed to keep the display going.
1. Pinch out sweet pea plants above the third leaf to make bushier plants and then, as the shoots grow, pinch out side shoots in the same way.
2. Sow hardy annuals now like Nigella, opium poppies and poached egg plants in any bit of empty ground you may have and mark them so you don’t forget where they are. Many of these are excellent for pollinators.
3. Prune hardy Fuchsias now to stimulate growth by cutting back to just above a healthy bud which will prevent them from getting too woody.
4. Check Dahlia tubers for any growth and make sure they’re getting enough light by turning them round regularly towards the light.
Continue reading Pat’s 10 jobs for April 2025The 2024 Autumn Show was held on Monday 16th September in the Old Library of Charlton House. It was well attended and the standard of entry was very high – particularly given the strange growing year we’ve had.
Jason judged the flower classes and Melanie the vegetables but there was lots of discussion between the judges and Stella, the Chair. Anna judged the cakes and preserves, ably assisted by Annette, and Hugh weighed the potatoes. As ‘Best in Class’ winners and ‘Highly Commended’ entries were announced, the judges explained the reasons for their decisions. Finally, they agreed their choice for Best in Show.
Continue reading Autumn Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Show 20241. Start ordering your bulbs now as all the bulb catalogues are arriving – though prices don’t stop going up!
2. Start planting bulbs when they arrive but save your tulips until later as they are prone to virus and rotting, and to theft by squirrels.
3. Divide large established clumps of perennials by cutting back first, then splitting either by hand or with two forks back to back. Delay if soil is heavy or too wet.
4. Replace tired summer bedding in pots and replant for winter and replenish with fresh compost.
Continue reading Pat’s Jobs for September 20241. It’s a good time to take softwood cuttings of both tender and hardy perennials such as pelargoniums, anthemis and penstemons. Place in a shady spot until roots begin to form.
2. Put plant supports in place to stop things flopping and make them yourself from shrubby prunings or just push prunings in the soil around the plant.
3. I’ve Chelsea chopped my phlox today and also done a few clematis as they are far too tall and leggy after all the rain we’ve had.
1. Prune hardy fuchsias now both in pots and in the ground to promote new growth and to prevent the plants from becoming too woody.
2. Plant out pot grown sweet peas now making sure to pinch out the shoots to promote bushy plants. You can also sow directly in the ground now if you didn’t sow earlier but watch out for slugs munching new seedlings.
3. Someone said the other day that they hadn’t cut back their clematis but I don’t think its too late as the growth on them is phenomenal. It just means they will flower a bit later but then that extends the season.
To be honest it has been so wet and now so cold that the ground is frozen but if conditions return to normal maybe you can try some of the following…..we live in hope!
1. Today according to the RHS is National Houseplant Appreciation Day so try giving those houseplants some attention and if they’re not looking good, treat yourself to a new one checking you have the right conditions for it.
2. Remove old hellebore leaves right back to the base to show off their flowers and to stop any leaf spot or other diseases from spreading.
3. All my violas in my front window box have died and a good gardening friend reminded me it could be vine weevil larvae chewing the roots which I haven’t had for ages so turn out the window box and check for those grubs and replace with fresh compost.
4. Start pruning roses cutting back with a slanting cut to above a bud and use the resulting prunings for cuttings 6 to 12 inches long and insert into either a pot or the ground so that 2/3 of the cutting are below the soil. They take a good while to root but its worth the free plants if they root.
5. Winter prune wisteria by cutting back shoots to 3 or 4 buds from the main stem.
6. Cut back really tatty herbaceous plants but leave anything with hollow stems or stems and foliage that may harbour overwintering insects. I started cutting back a bay tree until I saw the ladybirds amongst the stems.
7. Seed potatoes can be chitted from now on by placing them so they don’t touch in boxes, egg cartons are ideal, and placing in a light frost free place. Don’t forget to label the variety.
8. Prune established soft fruit bushes such as gooseberries, red and white currants removing any dead wood and cutting back main shoots by a quarter. If grown as a bush aim for a goblet shape with an open centre to aid air circulation.
9. Look at your seed catalogues and order anything you especially want before they run out.
10. Make sure to have some scented flowering shrubs either in the garden or in pots for pollinators to include winter honeysuckle, sarcococca, daphne and viburnham and aim to plant some by your door so you can catch the scent.
Happy gardening all!
Pat K
Ed: The RHS has a shop at Bluewater, perfect for browsing for some houseplant updates, all UK grown. (Note they don’t take National Garden Vouchers though)
I was very pleased to receive the award for the heaviest potato yield this year at the Autumn Show, but this was only part of my potato story for 2023. We have a small garden and so the space for growing vegetables isn’t great, but I’ve grown potatoes in containers for a number of years. My older grandchild, George, has often been involved and now he and his father grow potatoes in their own garden.
When we went to buy our seed potatoes this year, George quickly filled his bag with the remaining Charlottes that were available so I was left with Casablanca, a variety I’d never heard of before. In fact, I bought more than my garden could accommodate, and it was around this time that CABAHS were distributing the potatoes for the annual competition. This was the inspiration for me to use my extras in a similar way…..
I shared the spares with 11 family members, including the two grandchildren, and gave them pretty much the same information as CABAHS issues. This was met by great enthusiasm all round and with a general competitive buzz and with regular progress reports throughout the year.
Fast forward to July 31, our results day. Instructions were similar to CABAHS except there were three categories – the heaviest total yield, the heaviest single potato, and the total number of potatoes, with junior sections for each.
Continue reading Inspired by CABAHS
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 