June 2010

Horticultural & Craft Show
Monday 30 August 2009
In the Marquee on the Village Green
2.00pm

What a difficult spring and early summer for gardeners. So many people’s flowers and roses did not reach their usual blossoming peak.

The date coincided with Ingfield Manor's big do at Billingshurst, whilst our School children and parents were taken up with the big School Fete here the previous day. Quite apart from that the World Cup was kicking around the TV screens. The competition was pretty stiff, but determined gardeners and entrants fought valiantly. The entries that made it were still of a high calibre though the growing conditions had been so tough.

A couple of stories from the Show to hearten you.

One entrant in the flower arranging class had been to a lecture about this topic. She saw, she heard and she conquered winning a prize at the Show. Her use of foliage was creative. Big strapping New Zealand flax plant leaves were filleted and curled into loose ringlets. The large deep green glossy lobes of a leaf apparently curled over into a ring around the edges. They were stapled into place. The effects were most pleasing.

Another entrant had not entered at all in any show but decided to join in with her old fashioned roses. She was full of doubts and foreboding as to doing the right thing. Can you imagine her feelings on seeing that her bowl of old fashioned roses won first prize? A hemisphere of cupped blossoms. Poetry in shades of pink. Perfumes of Araby as well.

If you were not able to go to the Show you missed a treat in the tale of the cactus that only flowers once a year and then only in the nightime. It has no reason to hide as the flower is so striking and the perfume so heady. Photographic evidence was there as was the shy flowerer.

Maybe you will be at liberty to go on the trip to Kew Gardens on Monday 12th July. By then everything should be very fulsome and colourful. There are a few seats left at the time of writing so do check as unavoidable cancellations sometimes happen. Jane Lyewood 01403 820225 is organising this, which includes a tour and talk by a Kew Guide, which are really interesting and lively.

A recently published book on women gardeners mentions that the very first lady gardeners at Kew were not allowed to wear trousers bit had to wear special bloomers. Very suitable! Apparently charabanc parties going past referred to these as Kewriosities. Oh, how we English like a pun.

Let not all these diversions of the summer distract you from the serious business of being ready and getting the youngsters ready for the big August Bank Holiday Show.
Using your own pink show schedule or getting it from the village shop, read through the classes and read through the tips and rules. The weather cannot get the better of us.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• Stake tall plants against the might of the wind and rain.
• Water thoroughly at the base in the evening to be most effective with least water use.
• Enjoy a gentle amble, dead heading your way around the garden.

May 2010

June Horticultural and Craft Show
Village Hall, Wisborough Green
Organised by the WGHS Committee
Sunday 13 June 2010
2 pm

Dank and grey was the day, yet people were already waiting ten minutes before opening. At 2.30 pm. it was crowded. Good memories from last year’s events and, there will be good memories again, from comments heard about this year’s event.

“Strong and sturdy healthy plants.” “Look as if they are bursting with life.”
“The plant growers need to be applauded.” “ Colourful.” “Lots of choice.”
“Vegetables as well.” “ Top quality tomato plants.” “Tearoom practically cleared of cakes and cream tea scones.” “Great tea, as good as in Yorkshire.”

Come to the June Show and have another special teatime treat.
While you are there, your eyes may be drawn to the floral exhibits and your nose to the sweet peas and roses.
The seven years and unders could surprise you with a furry spoon, a picture of a monster, a potato man or they might touch your heart with a Father’s Day card.
The twelve year old and unders may intrigue with a computer generated design for a party invitation, an own designed, painted/decorated pebble or charm you with a drawing of a bird or a flower arrangement in a teacup. Some might even enter all these categories.
No names or ages will be displayed, so even the shyest one can join in without being self-conscious. By the way, children can enter any of the adult classes free of charge.

The makers and bakers amongst us have a choice of following the given Tea Bread recipe – see the pink Show schedule booklet obtainable from WG Stores- or following their favourite recipes for cheese straws, fudge chocolate brownies, mince pies or Elderflower cordial/squash. Some lucky grandmas might be presented with the “Basket of goodies for Grandma”, when three types of making and baking will be showcased.

The glories of the English garden – the roses, Sweet Peas, Delphiniums, Pansies, Pinks and Sweet Williams – there are classes for all. Let’s not forget the flowering shrubs, Clematis, Iris, foliage shrubs, Hostas and all those outdoor and indoor pot plants. There are classes in all these to enter and of course to view.

Back to food again –early potatoes, cabbages, garden peas, lettuces, broad beans, rhubarb, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries and anything else that’s fruit or vegetable – all to enter and all to view and drool over.

Back to the visual delights of flower arranging. We all ooh and aah, sigh how lovely and what originality or how pretty. Five classes to enter and five classes to admire.

The WGHS extend a very warm welcome to people entering and to visitors. It is such a memorable village occasion. It would be so missed if it were not there.
Just join in as doer or viewer.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips for the month.
• Be daring and give it a go. Enter.
• Knead, bake, make, design, pick and snip and arrange.
• Come, view, sniff, chat and have a cup of tea and a cake.

P.P. S. If you have not yet booked your place for the Kew Gardens Visit and official Kew tour on 12th July by air-conditioned coach, please contact Jane Lywood 01403 820225 or tell one of the committee members at the June Show.

April 2010

Plant Sale at Ivy Cottage, Wisborough Green
Hosted by Richard and Helen Vause
Saturday 8 May 2010
2 pm
Opposite the Sports Pavilion

This is an opportunity to see how this delightful garden has filled out and changed since last year’s Plant Sale. You are most welcome to come and enjoy it.

Catch the planting bug and stock up on old favourites, necessities and have an adventure with new varieties and different plants you have never heard of.
Advice will be there in plenty.
Sit down with a cup of tea and homemade cakes in the open fronted “café” at the end of the garden.

Please bring your contributions big or small for the Sale to Ivy Cottage in the week before. These can be left in the garden or knock at the door for queries.
We really need tomatoes, outdoor and greenhouse, as well as cucumbers, ridge and straight.
Trevor Benson is potting up garden ready fragrant pansies this year, Rainbow antirrhinums, Destiny begonias, Fire Queen geraniums and Seascape Salvias.
Trevor’s garden was a picture of daffodils and primulas in April, when this article was written. He is hoping to produce ready to plant out primulas for the Autumn Plant Sale, so you too can brighten up next spring.

June with the Flower Show on the 13th is on the horizon. Will this year’s winter affect the timing of roses and sweet peas? The microclimate in your garden might just give you an edge over the competition.
Spare copies of the Show Schedule can be got at the Village Shop. Do remember to read the tips and advice at the back. They might be just enough to enable David to triumph over Goliath. In any case have a bit of fun and adventure by doing something for the first time. There is such a satisfaction of seeing one’s plants and blossoms being admired and enjoyed by others.
Time and time again the comment is “Mine are at least as good as those.” accompanied by a longing that they had entered too. Be brave in 2010. Enter.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• Enter Plant Sale on 8th May in your diary.
• Bring your spare plants to Ivy Cottage.
• Come and enjoy the company and garden.

March 2010

Clematis through the Seasons
Talk by Everett Leeds
Monday 12 April 2010
8 pm Village Hall

It is a rare garden that does not have a clematis in it. It even rarer to meet a person who does not enjoy clematis flowers. Swathing pink clematis montana is almost ubiquitous, because so many people love its masses of flowers and its vigorous covering growth. Other clematis flowers always draw attention as the varieties are so varied in form and colour and flowering period.

Pruning the montana poses no problems but the others fox so man of us. A reminder of what to do with what is in the November’s Newsletter.
When you come to the talk you will not need to make notes on this aspect, just refer to the Newsletter later.

Sit back. Enjoy the beautiful and interesting pictures. Absorb the wealth of information about these beauties from one of the top experts in Britain – Everett Leeds.

Everett Leeds and Dr Mary Toomey have written “Illustrated Encyclopaedia Of Clematis”. This includes the care and cultivation of clematis, an A-Z directory of more than 550 clematis plants together with 650 colour photos. You could find out about the origin, habit, height, actual flowers and flowering period as well as pruning and cultural needs from this one tome.
The Times review of this book – “ a masterpiece”.

Or you could come to the talk and hear Everett Leeds, a founding member of both the British Clematis Society and the International Clematis Society, right here in Wisborough Green. A rare opportunity indeed.

We will have a raffle and refreshments afterwards as well as the competition.
Competition – Six stems of one or more variety, BUT, the plants name has to begin with the letter P, e.g. Primulas.

Are you remembering the Spring Sale at Ivy Cottage by the Green on 8 May? We hope you have got plants that you have divided or brought on to bring to the Sale. Twenty people with a couple of plants each would cover a large part of a table. The more the merrier.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• Be patient with plants that appear to have been destroyed this winter. Some may eventually pop through very late.
• Remember that seeds sown in the open ground need the soil to be warmed up.
• This spring should be memorable with a rush of colour. Get that camera out.

February 2010

AGM and Talk on Tips for Showing
Monday 1 March 2010
8 pm Village Hall

As if you needed a reminder!

If you do read last month’s article. Thought you might like to prepare questions for the speaker, and bring notebook and pencil to note the tips. We hope that you would consider helping at an event or two, for instance at the Plant Sale on 8th May.

Another job we needed to fill was for arranging the news items on our newsletter using a desk publishing programme. A WGHS member was delighted to take it on, “Just up my street”, he said.
The Newsletter is planned to appear three times a year - February, May and October.

The Chris Beardshaw event was a great success. The talk far overran the time he had allocated to it. Perhaps it was the appreciative audience that stimulated him. His knowledge was really wide and deep. Most impressive.

As we get back into gardening mode, please be aware that WGHS needs loads of plants; either split up ones or rooted cuttings, for the May Sale. Last year so many people contributed that we needed extra tables. If you have only one extra plant do bring it. Like shopping for a few things it mounts up so fast.

Keep in mind our Kew Gardens visit on 12th July. There should be a booking form at the AGM.

You can renew or become a WGHS member at the door en route for the AGM. The Schedule is ready in its pink glory to be picked up once membership has been paid for. Quite timely really with regard to the tips talk that will follow!

WGHS, which means the members, has a lot to be proud of. We have great talks and put on really splendid Shows and have a terrific Plant sale and a fun trip.
If you are not a member, come and be part of it. It’s a friendly welcoming Society.

Aija Hamilton

January 2010

AGM and Talk on Tips for Showing
Monday 1 March 2010
8 pm Village Hall

It’s that time of year again. The Annual General Meeting.
Find out about the finances.
Catch up with the Committee, even joining them (Please do. Tell us and any member of the committee will nominate you very gladly indeed).
Comment on last year’s activities and help to make decisions on next year’s ones.
It is after all, your society. So, your views and votes count.

As usual there will be refreshments to help refresh the brain.

This year we are going to have tips form Barry Newman who is a judge of very many years and who also enters lots of Shows himself. Somehow he manages not to judge his own entries! Most slips between entry and cup are to do with presentation. This is very reassuring because those aspects we do have control over, whereas the weather often foils us.

Several people have said that they think that this society is for the knowledgeable and time rich gardeners.

It is, but it is even more for people just discovering the ups and downs of gardening. Maybe a new garden has been taken over with many unfamiliar plants and shrubs.
Maybe a TV programme has given courage to tackle that boring patch and get some colour in it.
Lots of WG people have really attractive gardens already but some do not think they are knowledgeable enough to be a member. They are.
If you do not know a thing about plants but like to potter in your patch, come and join us. The Hort.Soc. is for you as well.

Enjoy entertaining talks. Chat, someone is bound to be able to advise on a gardening problem or you may be able to help them with your experiences.
Get 20% discounts on seeds.
Donate your spare cuttings and plants to the Plant Sale in the spring. Come and have a bit of fun in getting things you did not dream about growing or take a chance on a strange plant. Get advice thrown in.
Be part of the June and August Show. Help in someway to set it up or just enjoy. With a member’s card you get in free.
Membership costs £5 per person or £8 joint membership.

See you there.
Aija Hamilton

December 2009

Next Talk – The Quintessential English Garden
Tuesday 26 January 2010
7.30 pm Village Hall

Chris Beardshaw should be talking to a packed house. All the tickets are accounted for, but there is a waiting list for returns.

A fourth birthday present of a propagator, seeds and a watering can started him off. Out of school jobs were as a dogsbody on a nursery. After school Chris studied horticulture at Pershore College. Not content at that he went to university to tackle Landscape architecture. After working for a while, he returned to Pershore to teach horticulture and garden design.

Whilst Chris was finishing a show garden at the Malvern Flower Show, he was picked up by a TV crew and told, “You’ll do”. They had been looking for a likely person to interview and this was the start of a marvellous career in TV, radio and lecturing as well as writing. All quite by chance. Carpe diem and all that.

Books followed. “ The Natural Gardener” blurb states that it is about how to develop a garden in tune with nature, where plants will flourish with a minimum of effort.
“How does your Garden Grow” is to do with furthering your understanding the way nature works, which will make you a better and more confident gardener.

Chris’ latest project is a new garden within Ness Botanic Garden in South Wirral. Back in 1898 a Liverpool cotton merchant started this Botanic Garden, which was later given to Liverpool University. Arthur Bailley was passionate about plants, especially new exotic ones and also about sharing his passion with the public.
How suitable that Chris is creating a unique garden for this Botanic Garden, truly likeminded gardeners.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• What would improve the view of garden from the most looked out of window?
• What breath of perfume could greet you as you reach the front door?
• Plan now. Action later, before spring beguiles you.

November 2009

Next Event – A Mince Pies and Mulled Wine sociable evening
Gardeners’Question Timetime with Ray Broughton
Monday 7 December 2009
8pm Village Hall

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• Be brave -enter December’s competition – 3 stems of flowering shrubs.
• Keep outside pot plants out of standing water.
• Check roses etc. for wind rock. Heel down if needs be.

October 2009

Next Talk – A Year on a Herbaceous Nursery.
Monday 2 November 2009
8pm Village Hall

Correction: Helen Vause is our dynamic chairwoman and Philip Midwinter is our very hard worked secretary. Apologies. Thank goodness the role reversal in last month’s article made them rib each other in very good humour.

Another correction, this time due to Stuart Etherington pulling out of the Gardening Speakers organisation. He was to deal with the “Earth Cycle – Organic Growing”.

Will George has stepped in at the last minute. He runs a nursery and is hopefully bringing herbaceous plants for sale. Will is giving his speaker’s fee to charity. We are hoping to run a visit to his nursery next year.
Will gave time and effort to out August Show. He clocked up the most points in the cookery sections and so won the Domestic Cup in the baking classes.
A man of many talents.

Another man of many talents is Chris Beardshaw, the TV gardening presenter, who will be here on Monday 26 January 2010 speaking on a topic that still has to be disclosed. So will it be potluck or will we know in time for the next Parish Magazine?
The talk will start at 7.30pm.
To buy a ticket, come to the next meeting and buy or ring Helen Vause 700 567.
The tickets are £10 each, subsidised by the Society. Think of this as a Christmas treat!

The Mary Howe Trust, a very local charity for women’s health screening, is having Helen Yemm from the Saturday Daily Telegraph to speak. Tickets are more than double, but they are fund raising.

Our speaker last month was full of ideas. Next year try growing courgettes up canes, tying them in with flexible ties - less chance of mildew or slug damage.
His squash bed could have been mistaken for runner beans as the squashes were rampaging up the canes. The answer to how he grew such luscious plants right next to a hedge lies in the soil. A trench was dug and filled in with pure farmyard manure.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• If thinking about a raised bed, remember about extra watering needs.
• Extra watering can be reduced by having loads of compost/manure in the soil.
• Only mulch after lots and lots of rain to maximise soil moisture.

Aija Hamilton

August

September Break

It’s very frustrating. It’s just before the Bank Holiday Show that this article goes to the Editor Sally Bowes, but it is published after the event.

Your attention cannot be directed to Dick Carter’s mighty scales for weighing the pumpkins and marrows. No digital readouts here. Traditional weights are used to balance and when one was lost, traditional country cunning with a hook and nuts and bolts made good the set of weights.

Your attention cannot be directed to our local honey exhibits to see if Mr Wells, who actually sells his Fittleworth honey at the Village Store, won an award.

You will be able to gaze over the gate at the allotments to see if you agree with the judge’s decision in this aspect of village life.
If, of course, you are an allotmenteer, as one of the locals calls herself, then you have an even better view. Do talk to Geoffrey Preston Jones if you would like to take up a plot or part of a plot.

Working on an allotment brings its own surprises. As a result of chatting while they worked on separate plots, Philip Midwinter, our secretary, acquired our new treasurer, Sue Appleton, who is an accountant.
We are absolutely delighted that she has joined the committee, subject to being approved by the membership at the AGM next year. She will take up active duty earlier to take over Colin Lacey’s work as Treasurer, as Colin and Jenny have now moved home.

The Committee has thanked Colin for his invaluable help, not only with the finances, but also with everything the WGHS does. He has been a mine of information, so good-humoured and pithy. It really has been a joy to work with him and Jenny.

The evening talks begin in October, when real autumn has set in. September is a month for enjoying our gardens and what they produce as well as any Indian summer we may have.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• Snip the bottom off a litre water bottle. Pack it with hollow stems of whatever you have, so that ladybirds and pale green lacewings can snuggle in there for the winter. Hang it in a sheltered spot. Help Nature to keep your garden clear.
• Leave what top growth you can on perennials. Great feeding opportunities for birds. Great anchors for autumnal webs that will shimmer with dew.
Great bases for frost sculptures if we are lucky enough to have deep frosts later on.

July

Horticultural & Craft Show
Monday 31 August 2009
In the Marquee on the Village Green
2.00pm.

The June Show certainly had the “Wow” factor. One of top judges in the country said after the judging was over that it was the best June show he had gone to. Congratulations to absolutely everyone. The quality of all the entries was high. What an accolade.
On coming in it looked gorgeous. The air was softly perfumed with sweet peas and roses. The tea area was inviting in gingham and more flowers. No wonder so many stayed and carried on enjoying the scene – a fast for the senses followed by a feast of homemade cakes. So many contributed to make the whole show so memorable. Thank you one and all.

Now for the results.

Gaye Harris - Norman Carter Cup
Richard Steele - Reg Hardman Bud Vase
Richard Steele - Joy Jefferson Rose Bowl
June Clark – Eddie Luckin Cup
No entries – Prue Poole Cup
Philip Midwinter – Garden News Top Vase1
Reg Snelgar – Garden News Top Vase 2
June Clark – Garden News Top Vase 3
Gaye Harris – The RNRS Rose Medal
Richard Steele – McClagen Cup
Tom Christopherson – Trestrail Trophy
Philip Midwinter – Howfold Cup
Philip Midwinter – June Cup
Bill Hammond – Betty Procter Memorial Cup
Andrea Parr Mary Benson Millennium Cup
Emma Clemens – Junior Cup
Aidan Osgood – Junior Cup
R & S Armistead – Wallabies Prize
Helen Vause – Mrs Sizzey Prize
No entries – WG Stores Prize
Emma Clemens – Eric Clark Prize
Bill Hammond – Horticultural Diploma
Sheila Goodchild - Horticultural Diploma
Reg Snelgar - Horticultural Diploma
Helen Vause – Floral Arrangement Diploma
No entries – Junior, under 12
No entries – Junior, under 7
Tammy Harris – Cookery Diploma

The next big event is the August Show. Look in the schedule for entry ideas.
To get a schedule (handbook) ask at the WG Stores as they are behind the counter. Full details will be revealed inside.
If you can help on the day please get in touch with Helen Vause 700 567.
Above all do come and enjoy yourselves.

Aija Hamilton

June

Summer Enjoyment in the Garden

Going to print in mid June means that reporting the June Show is delayed.

One of our members, who happens to be WGHS’patron, wrote the following.

Hot colours in July bring the realisation that we are already in Mid-Summer. The hugely bold and beautifully veined leaves of the Cannas are the perfect foil for the vibrant orchid-like flowers. The Dahlias, almost lost from the garden to be seen only at the show bench, are now an essential part of the flower border. These plants were very popular in Victorian times, grown in both borders and the "cutting garden". They formed an element of tropical splendour and allowed the rich fraternity to show off. Thankfully many of these beauties are easily available to us now. The Bishop is of course, the most popular dahlia. Its brilliant red flowers being enhanced by dark ferny leaves. There are many varieties now available from your favourite nursery, that is, if you haven't saved the tubers from last year. Look out for the colarette Chimborazo, I love its dark maroon outer petals, surrounded by a yellow collar and deeper golden centre, a tall one though, about 1m. Smaller amongst my favourites is a bright orange beauty, Melody Swing, 40 cm ht. Both Dahlias and Cannas are very hungry feeders. They enjoy the sunshine, but more importantly they need food and water to grow to their best. When the first buds appear then feed the reliable, worthy, Tomorite or a high potash feed, you will be well rewarded.
Gaps in the flower beds left from some of the spring flowering plants can be filled by sowing some seeds of the humble marigold (calendula). These flowers will cheer the spirit and keep flowering well into the autumn. Now is the time to sow Sweet William seeds. They can be sown in the open, if so watch for insect attack! or let them germinate in a cold greenhouse or windowsill. Amazingly rich colours are available together with the "old fashioned" ones with a different coloured "eye".

Keep sowing at fortnightly intervals all the salad leaves, together with a few of the many attractive lettuce varieties and this month is the time to enjoy the soft fruit; pick and freeze and share with neighbours. Blackcurrants are particularly good this year and if your bushes are more than 8-10 yrs old, look out for some new varieties to replace them with. Blackcurrants together with sweet peppers are a rich source of Vitamin C and therefore well worth growing.

My plant of the month has to be the Penstemon. Although the flowering period is over several months, in July there are many different colours in bloom. They enjoy the sun and a fertile, well drained soil. Never give them manure! As a general rule, the larger the leaf and flower, the less hardy they are, but the plants are easily propagated from cuttings. Another point to remember with the Penstemon is not to cut down too low in the autumn, they are best pruned just enough to stop the wind rock in the autumn, and in spring prune when basal leaves are in full growth.

Thank you very much for this. Loads of tips for us. Thanks again.

Aija Hamilton

The plant sale at Ivy Cottage was a tremendous success. The money raised will go to help finance the June and August Shows. An enormous thank you to everyone involved. So many people contributed a terrific variety of plants and gardening accessories that the stalls and ground were crowded. A special thank you to Con Siburn, a local nurseryman, who gave us so many bedding plants. A special thank you to our very own Chelsea Gold Medal winner, Doris Smallwood, Patron of our Society.

The cakes and teas were very popular indeed. The Vause’s garden setting for the sale was absolutely delightful. A free “Open Garden” visit as well as the best plant shopping opportunity with genuine home made cake teas.

Above all, do come and enjoy yourselves.

Aija Hamilton

Ivy Cottage is nearly opposite the sports Pavilion. Not only will there be loads of plants of all sorts and sizes for sale but there will be cakes and teas in the garden. Another traditional event that marks our village life.

It would be great if anyone who has plants to spare, grown on or split, would bring them on the morning of the day or call and leave them at the cottage or just leave them there. Non members and members are most welcome to bring contributions, edible and non-edible, and to buy, sit and enjoy what our community produces.

It would be such a great pleasure to everyone coming to the June Flower and Vegetable Show on 21 June if we had a wider spread of entries. So many people, who do a spot of gardening, underestimate the quality of their plants and flowers. I bet you have heard comments such as “ The one at home is as good as that”’. Even if you have a tiny garden just put an entry in for fun and possibly a surprise.

An extra to this year’s programme is WGHS visit or two to Five Oaks Garden at West Burton. This features in the Country Living Magazine (June I believe) and also in the Yellow Book - gardens open for charity. Quoting from this “A botanical watercolorists’ garden. Maintained in an ecologically informal way, allowing plant populations to fluctuate naturally with an ever-critical artist’s eye. …. Plants, plant supports and botanical cards for sale.” We might be lucky and have the opportunity to enjoy original paintings and purchase too.
Please put your name down for this visit with Helen Vause 700 567.

WGHS annual outing is to Sissinghurst on 30 June. Please get payments in to our treasurer Colin Lacey at Wilton Cottage, Kirdford road. Put your names down for any remaining seats and cancellations. If you do not know this NT garden, do visit it. People from all over the world do. The food is highly regarded as well.

Hope you enjoy our menu for the summer.

Aija Hamilton

P.S. Wisborough Greenfingers tips’ of the month.
• Become a member and enjoy our jaunts.
• Jump in and put an entry or two into the June show.
• Grab the chance of getting interesting plants to fill in those patches

Our light relief was refreshments and a pub style quiz with people in little clusters around tables. Now we did have more fun than anticipated as we used a gardening quiz from the Internet. Questions included “ Blue tulip, fact or fiction?” What type of plant could be described as having a facial hair problem?” “Rhizomes are a type of what plant?” Answers in due course.

Ray Waite is an author on gardening topics. His credentials are impeccable. He has written Handbooks for RHS Wisley on Growing Grapes, Gardening in Ornamental Containers, House Plants, Conservatory Gardening, The Small Greenhouse and Hanging Baskets. He is a Chrysanthemum enthusiast, who selected and named the “Wisley Bronze” variety. Ray used to be the Superintendent of the Glasshouses at Wisley. Pretty impressive knowledge base.

Come and get your seed potato at the talk. The August Show includes a competition for the largest yield from one given seed potato. Whilst the expert on growing in containers is here he might be questioned. If you cannot come do phone and arrange for choosing a seed potato. The prizewinner will walk off with a £10 WG Stores Voucher as well as admiration.

April’s competition – three stems of tulips.

PLEASE do sow/plant/do cuttings for other gardeners to buy at our Plant Sale at Ivy Cottage facing the Green on 9 May. We can raise lots money to help to pay for Show expenses. PLEASE.

Aija Hamilton

February 2009

So the snow in Kew prevented our talk on Arctic and Alpine plants from taking place. The speaker’s next slot was in 2010, so he is coming in October. Three of our committee trudged to the Village Hall to explain why the talk had been cancelled. The cancellation sticker on the village notice board by the A 272 and people’s wisdom about staying in meant that few were inconvenienced.

On 2 March 8 pm our AGM will start. This year we are extremely fortunate to have lots of new comers to be voted for. Had they not come forward then the future of the society looked very grim. Without lots of organisers the Show could not go on.
There are still lots of changes to discuss and for you to decide upon about how to manage the two Shows.

Once the serious stuff is over then we will be having our Quiz. People will make up table groups with whomever they are sitting near.
The format will be like a pub quiz but with a gardening theme with a wide range of questions. As usual there will be refreshments to help refresh the brain.

Several people have said that they think that this society is for the knowledgeable and time rich gardeners. It is, but it is even more for people just discovering the ups and downs of gardening. Maybe a new garden has been taken over with many unfamiliar plants and shrubs.
Maybe a TV programme has given courage to tackle that boring patch and get some colour in it.
Lots of WG people have really attractive gardens already but some do not think they are knowledgeable enough to be a member. They are.
If you do not know a thing about plants but like to potter in your patch, come and join us. The Hort.Soc. is for you as well.

Enjoy entertaining talks. Chat, someone is bound to be able to advise on a gardening problem or you may be able to help them with your experiences.
Get 20% discounts on seeds and 10% off gardening items at Austens.
Donate your spare cuttings and plants to the Plant Sale in the spring. Come and have a bit of fun in getting things you did not dream about growing, like I did with freesia bulbs. Get advice thrown in.
Be part of the June and August Show. Help in someway to set it up or just enjoy. With a member’s card you get in free.
Membership costs £5 per person or £8 joint membership.

Aija Hamilton

January Report

Another interesting year ahead. What challenges and delights will we experience with the New Year’s weather?

Challenges and delights are guaranteed at the next talk and meeting on Monday 2nd February.
The challenge is the competition for five heads floating on water – hellebores naturally.
The delights will be contained in the talk and photos by Dr. Peter Brandham about Arctic and Alpine plants.
Dr. Brandham is one of our country’s leading botanists. He is an Hon. Research Fellow at Kew, after thirty years there culminating as the Head of Cytogenetics at the Jodrell Laboratory at Kew. I admit I had to resort to a dictionary and found out that cytogenetics is about investigating the role of cells in the phenomena of heredity and evolution. A good start for this year celebrating Charles Darwin.
Actually he is such a fine specialist photographer that the Royal Photographic Society invited him to lead members around Kew and give advice on taking photos in the plant world. His slides must be quite something, with his background and experience. The Alpine Society had him as a speaker too, so he obviously has deep knowledge and experience of these plants.
If he is good enough for Kew, he is certainly good enough for us.

Just to tempt you further, next January 2010, the TV presenter gardener Chris Beardshaw will be coming for an extra special January talk. Chris was on Gardeners’
Question Time on Radio 4 January 11th. He certainly is a lively speaker.

So do join us whether you are a plants person, a photographer, an extreme walker with a passion for wild flowers or if you fancy a really pleasant and interesting evening out in the company of other village people. You are all most welcome Members or Visitors on their own.

Aija Hamilton

PS Wisborough Greenfingers’ tips of the month.
• Drain those water butts and hose clean in time for new rain to fill them up.
• Give the Azaleas and Rhododendrons a dose of their specialist fertiliser to encourage buds.
• Hydrangeas might like a dose of their bluing brew to get right in their system.