roses – Page 2 – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

A visit to Hidcote

Hidcote Manor has existed in one form or another for centuries, but the present garden was only established in the early twentieth century when Lawrence Johnston bought the property at auction on behalf of his mother and the two moved in in 1908, adapting the house to suit their requirements. Having been farmland for much of its history, Johnston had a blank canvas on which to begin work. He was a keen plantsman and went on plant-hunting expeditions himself – today Hidcote’s plant collection still contains many species regarded as of national importance, and many gardeners will be familiar with Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ and Rosa ‘Lawrence Johnston’.

Plants of the Month: The Oranges! (August 2025)

Rosa glauca garland, with hips — Rosa glauca adorning a pergola

After a brilliant summer, autumn is not too far away and this is when we start to notice more and more orange-flowered plants and berries becoming features in gardens and parks. Orange is a warm and comforting colour, and I’ve listed three that you might be interested in:

A visit to the Old English Garden in Battersea Park

Pergola cathedral.
Old English Garden, Battersea Park, July 2025

A group of enthusiastic members visited the Old English Garden in Battersea Park last weekend, led by Ruth, who worked there for Thrive, during the period during which it was transformed from a rather overgrown historic site to an award winning and inspirational garden reimagined by a well-known designer.

The original garden was designed by JJ Sexby in the early 1900s and renovated a couple of times in the 1960s and 1980s, during which the lily pond was drained and filled with bedding schemes, the hard landscaping changed to crazy paving and then to the current brick pavers, and the splendid Wisteria pergola deteriorated.

Old English Garden with sundial and Wisteria pergola. Battersea Park, July 2025

Old English Garden. Battersea Park, July 2025

August Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Display 2025 – classes to enter

This 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!

Whole table of entries, Autumn Show 2024

The classes you can enter this year are shown below, please have a go at as many as you like!

June 2025: Gardeners Question Time

This is now a regular and popular event in which our panel answer questions sent through in advance from members, some with illustrations or examples sent in plastic bags. The panel this year consisted of our very own CABAHS committee member and all-round plant guru Pat K, our President Sir Nicolas Bevan and horticulturalist and teacher Joe Woodcock. Sir Nicolas invited advice and contributions from the audience too, saying that in a room full of gardeners, the panel did not “have the monopoly on wisdom”. We did our best!

Our 'Amateur Gardeners' Question Time' panel, June 2025 — Our esteemed panel: Pat, Nicolas and Joe

Last year we were all overwhelmed by slugs and snails, this year’s scourge is aphids! The first question related to a particularly damaging infestation on Buddleja, which seemed to have caused a virus. Several people, including Joe, have experienced the same this year. He was able to tell us that it is likely to be a specific species, the Melon-cotton aphid, which the RHS are monitoring (you can report cases to the RHS here).

Pat’s 10 jobs for June 2025

1. Plant out Dahlias in a sunny spot in fertile soil adding some compost to the planting hole. I have to surround mine with Strulch on my allotment to protect them from the hundreds of slugs and snails lurking all around.

2. Take softwood cuttings now of Anthemis, Salvia, Verbena, Penstemon and Fuchsia. Cut below a leaf node and dibble around the edge of a pot. Salvias will also grow fine roots in water to give them a head start.

3. Look out for hellebore seedlings around the base of your favourite plant. The resulting plants may not resemble the parent but they could be even better.

New Dahlia shoots (not yet eaten by molluscs)

Pat’s 10 jobs for May 2025

1. 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.

Hylotelephium telephium 'Touchdown Teak'

Pat’s Jobs for January 2025

1. Prune Wisteria this month and next by taking all side shoots back to 2 or 3 buds. Very old plants may need severe pruning to show off the flowers.

Very tangled wisteria waiting to be pruned — Very tangled Wisteria in need of pruning!

2. Start pruning roses in earnest although some are still unbelievably flowering. Remove any foliage with blackspot and don’t compost. Old roses respond well to hard pruning so don’t be afraid, removing all dead and dying wood and cutting stems back to above a bud.

3. I had to remove dead Clematis shoots from a Daphne Jacqueline Postill and in doing so pulled off some of the flowers so take care and do it soon if you can. But leave the main prune until next month.

The Exchange, Walnut Tree Road, Erith

One 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.

Pat’s Jobs for November 2024

1. Check for blackspot on roses and make sure to remove the leaves by checking the bush itself and below it. But don’t add to the compost heap.

2. If you have to, this is the best time to move trees and shrubs, but have your planting hole ready, and dig up with all the root ball and replant quickly, watering well until settled.

3. Plant your tulips and hyacinths now. either in the ground or in pots – but protect from squirrels.

4. If you sowed sweet peas last month. harden them off now and it’s still not too late to get some going for an early crop.