winter – Page 4 – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

The View from my Window

Vija and Anna started these great posts about the view from their windows, and I thought I would add my bit. Really, in these cold, grey days of winter, it’s a bit odd that I should find the view from my window at all exciting. We have big patio windows which are unforgiving at this time of year and expose everything in the garden: the ragged border edges, uneven lawn, leaning obelisk (Storm Henk!) etc. But I can sit in my comfy chair looking out and now the leaves are all gone I can see all the way to the end fence..

…and I can Plan.

When I say I can see the end fence, this is because we took out a row of 20 ft high Leylandii trees last October. (Did we buy the house with them, I hear you ask? No, I actually planted them, one of those teeny gardening mistakes surely anyone can make..?) The idea behind getting rid of them is that it will let lots of light in, when next we have any. The stumps have been left, as I couldn’t face a stump grinder trolling through the house, so I need to Plan some sort of feature around them. (Maybe a birdbath on top of one..!)

A bonus is that for years and years I had been piling leaves and cuttings out of the way under the trees – so I am now left with some truly gorgeous compost! A little silver lining.

January 2024 Show Table

Well done to CABAHS members who managed to find something to display on the Show Table in the depths of freezing January, it was lovely to see. Congratulations to Sian for winning this month’s Best on the Table prize with her camellias.

Kathy A

Pat’s 10 jobs for January…

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)

Leave old stems over perennials to protect the crown and give shelter

Sarcococca — Leave old stems over perennials to protect the crown and give shelter

Plant of the Month: Iris unguicularis (January 2024)

As much as I love this perennial and have planted many clumps over the years, I find it struggles in my clay soil. My now, one-and-only plant, obviously needs more sun and perhaps lighter soil, as it has flowered perhaps only once this winter and that was on 23rd November, when I took the photograph below. But Margaret T’s winter irises have been really putting on a display, with her two clumps producing 2-3 flowers at a time, on and off since December. And these will carry on flowering well into March. I’ve seen them flowering profusely when nestled against sunny, front elevations, in poor soil. But in Margaret T’s garden, the soil is rich from regular additions of compost and manure and you can see by her photograph that she has healthy, plump plants.

Sparkle in the Park 2023 – Avery Hill Park, SE9

As a special, early, Christmas treat, on a very mild evening on 30th November 2023, a friend and I visited Greenwich Council’s Light Festival, the magical Sparkle in the Park, held this year at Avery Hill Park. This was Greenwich Council’s 4th Sparkle in the Park event, this time featuring many new displays, and it was nice to see the many artists being acknowledged for their spectacular creations. The excitement was palpable as the winter wonderland trail lead visitors through an illumination of lights and enchanting displays amongst the trees.

New Year Flower Count at Charlton House

Our first volunteer session of 2024 fell on a wet and windy day (a Severe Weather Warning day in fact), so we decided to abandon gardening tasks and go for a bracing walk around the estate to spot for plants in flower and work off a few mince pies.

Although a lot of our findings were to be expected (Primroses, Hellebores, Mahonia) others definitely felt wrong – Penstemon Garnet, you should NOT be out! It will be interesting to do the same exercise next year and compare. In the meantime, below are some cheering pictures of our walk:

Volunteers counting flowers — Mahonia japonica in the Glade

I think you could say that the Mahonia in the Glade was a “Star Plant” for this time of year.

Penstemon ‘Garnet’, top left, then Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’, Sarcococca confusa (you should smell this!) and Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’.

Are we Feeling Christmas-y yet?

At this ho-ho jolly time of year I expect everyone is looking forward to getting some good Christmas gardening presents! (Yes? No? Bah Humbug?)

I asked the committee what ideas they have this year, and we came up with the selection below. I hope it gives you some inspiration, or at least is something you can use when asked the dreaded question “What would you like for Christmas this year?”

Books: The Power of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. This was reviewed recently in the RHS magazine and I have seen it recommended elsewhere too. Waterstones says it is “a manifesto aimed at preserving the future of our forests and debunking accepted wisdom about tree-planting schemes”.

Books: What did the Tree See by Charlotte Guillain. I bought this for my grandson, it’s one of those childrens books that covers a huge age range. He is far too young to understand the whole thing at 3, but loves the pictures and storytelling. Much older children will like the historical side of it. And OAP’s like me love it too!

OPG Diary – Dec to March 23

Here is an update on what Jason and the Gardenauts have been getting up to in the gardens since my last post. Apologies it’s rather long, we’ve been doing lots!

December turned the gardens into a winter wonderland, and caused us to miss a few days volunteering, but gave some great photo opportunities. The prolonged cold period hit a few of the more tender shrubs quite hard and we lost some big favourites like the Teucrium.

January was about cutting back, the ivy in particular. The old walls cannot take the weight of the ivy so we are taking it off in stages and being careful of wildlife. Our efforts revealed the top of the doorway for the first time in some years!

We have removed the palms from the front lawn beds and the beds will be re-designed this summer. The Palms were planted as part of an annual bedding scheme years ago and never envisaged to get as tall as they have. The Tete-a Tete daffodils have all been lifted and will go in the woodland glade next year. The Summerhouse has had a good weed and tidy-up, as has the Mulberry. Snowdrops and Hellebores popped up in the OPG woodland side.

In February, we discovered our regular feline visitor is called Casper and he lives in Canberra Road but clearly considers the gardens his playground.

February 2023 Meeting

Our February meeting on Monday 20th, comprised our AGM, with the usual election of officers and presentation of the Annual Report, followed by a talk by Ruth Cornett on the work she has done on her Eltham Palace Gatehouse garden and her passion for roses.

Show Table Winners 2022
The Show Table cup is presented to the member who has garnered the most points on the monthly Show Table, over the past year. We have not been able to present the cup for the previous two years due to Covid, so we are delighted to be able to revive this tradition that has been running since 1955! This year, we had Joint Winners, namely Annie and Terry. Second place went to Pat K and Third to Anastasia. Well done all.

President presenting the Show Table Cup to joint winners Terry and Annie

Sian won Best on the Table for February 2023 for her display of Mimosa

For the coming year, we have introduced an additional award, “Best on the Table” given to the best display each month. This time it was Sian’s turn, with her wonderful aromatic display of Mimosa.

A report on the talk will follow shortly.

A Unique Question – one for you!

As a Garden Volunteer at Charlton House Gardens, I was recently asked to explain what makes the walled gardens and estate “unique”. The question was born of a genuine desire to understand and perhaps help the gardens become better known. Of course, it’s one of those questions that you go away and carry on thinking about.. and wonder what you should have said.

I asked our regular Volunteers what they thought (they keep on coming back, so they must love it for some reason!)

Peace Garden in snow — Peace Garden, Winter 2022, by Head Gardener Jason Sylvan

Lots of great ideas came up around biodiversity and pollinators and sustainability. But you could argue that every garden is unique – what makes this particular combination of place and plants so special? We kept coming back to community spirit – particularly as the gardens have had only a tiny amount of external funding – the majority of their transformation has come from community fund raising and effort, and crucially, the use of a professional garden designer.

A good point was made that if you compare Charlton House Gardens with, say, Greenwich Royal Park, Charlton attracts mostly local people and not your average tourist – so there is an great feeling of ownership and responsibility. They may attract the discerning tourist in future (we certainly hope they do) but for now they are in “our” Trust.

We often call the Old Pond Garden the “Secret Garden”, after Frances Hodgson Burnett’s childrens story, but one Volunteer suggested the Lost Gardens of Charlton (Heligan) might be a better comparison now, as we re-discover and re-imagine the original spaces.

What do YOU think? Send in your ideas of why Charlton House Gardens are unique, we would love to hear from you (anyone, not just members) to cabahshortisoc@gmail.com. We will encapsulate your ideas into one “unique” statement in the New Year – and hopefully answer that question.

Old Pond Garden in snow — Old Pond Garden, Winter 2022, by Head Gardener Jason Sylvan

Kathy