tulips – Page 2 – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

July 2025 Talk: Adventures with Bulbs

Following on from a talk given in October 2024 by Dr Tim Ingram about his family run garden – Copton Ash – he returned for a more detailed presentation about the bulbs grown there. As he was not well that evening, his wife Gillian gallantly stepped up at the last moment to deliver the talk.

Gillian Ingram of Copton Ash Nursery speaking at CABAHS July 2025 meeting

A wealth of bulbs have now been planted at Copton Ash, in beds, under trees and also allowed to naturalise in long grass. In particular a circular sunny gravelly bed was highlighted. The planting was at first inspired by the Lime Walk at Sissinghurst Castle which is very much a spring show of narcissus, tulips, primroses, anemones, scillas, violets and erythroniums. Tim has continuously added to and altered the planting in the circular bed so that there is now interest throughout the year.

Keukenhof, April 2025

I returned to Keukenhof for a brief visit again this year. Transport in the Netherlands makes this a very easy trip and it is well worth making a stopover in Haarlem, which is a lovely town. I have little to add to the descriptions of my previous visits (April 2022, April 2023) so have just included a selection of photos which lovers of colour and tulips might enjoy!

Vija V

Spring Show 2025

A good time was had by all at our 47th annual Spring Show on Monday 14 April. A great turn out of members and several entries for each class – including a magnificent 18 Narcissus ‘Pipit’ pots!

In total there were over 90 entries in 14 classes – well done everyone. Thanks is due to all those who organised, set up, judged, prepared the flags / certificates and did the raffle and refreshments.

Getting the 2025 CABAHS Spring Show set up and ready for judging

Some of the 18 entries for Class 13: Narcissus 'Pipit' CABAHS Spring Show 2025

We welcomed horticulturalist Joe Woodcock to judge the classes* and he was full of praise for each and every entry. Joe interspersed his judgments with interesting facts, tips and growing advice on everything from the merits of deadheading to an explanation of the source-sink theory.

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.

Spring Show 2024

Congratulations to all our entrants, spectators and winners at our 46th annual Spring Show! Despite lots of comments like ” I have nothing left, the snails have had everything” it’s clear CABAHS members rise to a challenge as we had 80 entries in total. Monday evening was a great opportunity to show off our collective gardening skills, as well as have another little trip down memory lane about Shows of the past.

Floral display — The Pipit competition – a definite challenge this year!

Birds-eye view of the show — The Pipit competition – a definite challenge this year!

Kathy covered the origin of the Spring Shows at last year’s meeting, with the first one held in 1978, and as a result of that research we resurrected two new classes – a Primulas & Auriculas class and a Baking class. They were well received, with 5 and 8 entries respectively.

Mention has to be made of Mandy’s wonderful shortbread shapes – the wheelbarrow filled with chocolate earth was apparently Brownie’s contribution!

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

A visit to Perch Hill

A few weeks back Vija and I went to one of the open days at Sarah Raven’s farm Perch Hill in East Sussex. The preceding evening had seen torrential rain and an email arrived on the morning of the visit warning people of the muddy conditions and that a four wheel drive was essential. And they weren’t exaggerating… the field we were to park in was a mud slide with a tractor towing cars out of the mud!

But the rain hadn’t affected the garden. The tulips, many of which were in pots,were stunning with the same colours used repeatedly throughout the garden. They were well labelled so we could make a note of them and there seemed to be loads of new varieties and quite a lot in oranges and shades of reds. There were lots of pots with pastel shades too and it wasn’t just tulips. There was a whole bed planted with a tall variety of fritillary which you don’t see very often and is certainly different.

Additionally there were displays in pots of some lovely frilly violas and the glasshouse was planted with ranunculus and other early varieties of annuals. There were displays of early vegetables but they were small and obviously affected by the cold spring. And the tea and cakes were good too!

All in all a stunning display and worth a visit despite the mud and flooded roads.

Pat K

Labour of love – Keukenhof (2)

A visit to Keukenhof for the second year running found a different garden, although the visits were only a week apart. Spring has evidently come later and most of the narcissus and hyacinths were still in full flower. Last year there were very few remaining in flower. The scent from both filled the air.

Even where some of the tulips had gone over they were still exquisitely beautiful – like a Dutch still life painting.

At home my hyacinths have been swept around by the rain and wind, but at Keukenhof they stand firm.

But then I looked closer. Each individual hyacinth has been individually staked, so discretely that it is hardly noticeable! What a labour!

Vija

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).

Keukenhof

The gardens at Keukenhof in April are quite remarkable. Great rivers of tulips are everywhere. Small exhibitions in the Juliana house give background information to the history and also to the planting practices of this huge venture: 7 million tulips (and other flowering bulbs) are planted each year and each year, at the end of flowering, these are all taken up and crushed to be used as compost around the trees in the garden and made into pulp for the paper which covers the guides to the estate.

As a not-for-profit organisation, in addition to the garden architects, the gardens rely on an army of volunteers. From May onwards the gardens are closed to allow time for the essential work of taking up the tulips and replanting, until reopening for the spring display. The bulbs in each garden area are given to Keukenhof by growers in the Netherlands and the name of the company appears as signage on the beds. For those wishing to make a note of their favourites, tulips are also discretely labelled, although it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormous range on display!

Vija