Two events which are no doubt already in your diaries……….
First off is our big speaker meeting with Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers (preceded by Pie Night at the Dolaucothi Arms) ……….
………….. and that is quickly followed John and Helen’s plant sale. This goes from strength to strength this year with Keith Brown selling plants as well as (it is rumoured) his friendsTony and Sylvia Marden, from Shady Plants in Gloucestershire.
A little while ago I had an email from Maria Cannon asking whether she could write an article for the website on the subject of how gardening promotes general well being and mental health. “Gardening has been a blessing for me, helping me work through the depression, anxiety and pain I experience as a result of fibromyalgia. I’d love to spread the word about how gardening benefits the mind, body, and soul.”
The consensus of the Cothi Gardeners committee was that it could be a useful and interesting thing to do. The following is the finished article. Many thanks to Maria for sending it in.
Gardening promotes physical and mental health through a variety of ways. It promotes relaxation and overall life satisfaction, better nutrition, and physical activity. Gardening can be a catalyst to improve your life in multiple areas, giving you a better and longer life to enjoy.
A Diet Booster
Backyard gardening is great from a nutritional standpoint. After starting a garden, you may take an interest in the origins of other foods you consume, and thus make better choices about what you eat. Maybe you enjoy it more because it’s fresher, or maybe you savour it more because of the effort it took to get to the table, but food you grow yourself just seems to taste better, which makes consuming plenty of vegetables and fruits a lot easier.
Since you’re the head gardener, you get to decide what kinds of fertilizers and pesticides you allow and don’t allow to touch your food. You also have more control over when to harvest. Waiting to pick vegetables and fruits until they’re truly ripened ensures they have their maximum amount nutrients locked in, which isn’t the case for some store-bought produce that must be picked early.
A Form of Exercise
Have you ever worked in your yard all day and woke up the next day feeling quite sore? Believe it or not, gardening can provide the same exercise as walking or riding a bike. Of course, it really depends on which activity you’re doing and how long you do it. While weeding, digging, and planting are on the lighter side of the spectrum, cutting down bushes, digging up stumps, and mowing your lawn rank on the higher end. The disabled, elderly, and those suffering from chronic pain can benefit immensely from the lighter gardening activities. If you need more vigorous activity, you can take on the harder jobs.
Gardening works your legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back, and abdomen. It builds muscles and burns calories. Just 30 minutes of gardening several times a week can help to increase flexibility, strengthen joints, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels, lower your risk for diabetes, and slow osteoporosis. You can even break the 30 minutes up into smaller, eight-minute intervals if you need to, and you’ll still reap the benefits.
A Method for Improving Mental Health
People who garden are less likely to have signs associated with unhappiness or depression. Gardeners score higher than the average person on depression screening measures. They’re more likely to report that their life is worthwhile and report an overall satisfaction with their lives. In fact, 80 percent of gardeners feel satisfied with their lives, while 67 percent of non-gardeners feel the same. And what’s even more telling is that an astonishing 93 percent of gardeners believe gardening improves their mood.
Gardening is a great tool to add to an individual’s treatment plan for depression. Depression affects our bodies in a negative way. It can affect appetite and cause digestive issues, result in lack of sleep or constant sleepiness, and even make an individual more prone to diabetes, heart disease, and drug and alcohol addiction. Those who suffer from mental illness are four times more likely to abuse alcohol and 4.6 times more likely to engage in recreational drugs. Keeping your mental health in order helps to keep the rest of your health in check.
Getting Started
Growing your own food is fairly simple. It mostly requires patience. Many vegetables, fruits, and flowers are great for a novice gardener, so don’t worry if you have zero experience. When just starting out, plant things you’ll likely eat or flowers you really enjoy looking at, and don’t go overboard with the size of the garden. Be sure to research spacing, sunlight, and watering preferences for the plants you choose.
Farmers and other backyard gardeners in your area are great resources. They can give you advice on what to plant for your region and answer any questions you may have. If you lack the space for a garden, many plants can thrive in a container. You can also search for a community garden near you if you don’t have the space for a garden.
Gardening is fun, and it’s good for you. It feeds the body, mind, and spirit in a variety of ways. Preparing fresh and healthy foods at home is easier when you have the food at your fingertips. You’ll also get in exercise and improve your mood. This year, be sure to take advantage of the many benefits of creating your own garden.
Maria Cannon
Roddy Milne – Picton Castle
More tips and information were absorbed when Roddy Milne from Picton Castle joined us for our May meeting. He brought with him a colourful selection of blooms from some of the many Rhododendrons, Deciduous Azaleas and other plants currently in flower at Picton.
He then gave us a fascinating talk on the ethos of the garden, the trials and tribulations of managing it with very few full time gardeners and keeping interest going in the garden beyond the Spring; plus the joys and wonders of living and working in such a beautiful environment, the role of gardens such as Picton in conservation and education and his hopes for its future. Apart from the actual flowers his talk was illustrated with many photos showing the glorious splendour of the Rhododendrons for which Picton is rightly renowned, along with vignettes of Magnolias, Myrtles, the distinctive Gunnera Walkway and many understorey plants. Well worth a visit at any time. Click here for opening times etc.
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Team Large Snowdon Night Hike
Setting off…….
At the summit! (Philip is behind the camera)
Back home with t shirts, medals and certificates
Anne and Philip together with their daughter, Sarah, completed their Snowdon Night Hike on Saturday 22nd May in aid of Breast Cancer Care. According to them both it was surprisingly enjoyable, not as arduous as expected and all this in spite of horizontal rain and strong winds at the summit. They reached the summit in just 3 hours and a further 3 hours saw them back in the hotel enjoying a much deserved, slap up Welsh Breakfast. They have raised over £2,400 for Breast Cancer Care. Donations can still be made, just click here to go to the JustGiving page.
They would like to pass on their thanks to everyone in Cothi Gardeners for their fantastic support – an edible thank you will be at the next meeting on June 21st
Many congratulations and well done!
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NGS Garden Openings
The NGS has launched a photo competition as part of the 90th Anniversary celebrations. Anyone visiting an NGS garden can take a photograph and submit it – details, rules, etc can be found on the NGS website (click here)
Some Cothi members’ gardens are due to open shortly for the N.G.S., so get your cameras out and pay them a visit!
Click here for more information on our website or here for the NGS website
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Gelli Uchaf – Gardens Illustrated Magazine
Julian and Fiona were delighted to have their garden, Gelli Uchaf, featured in an article by Noel Kingsbury with photos by Claire Takacs, in the June edition of Gardens Illustrated Magazine (out now) . Click here for a taster of the article (NB only available until the next edition comes out mid June).
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June Meeting
We are in for a perfumed treat in June when our speaker will be Kari-Astri Davies telling us all about gardening with scented plants.
Lavender, old fashioned roses and jasmine are some of the best-known scented plants but Kari-Astri will recommend some more unusual specimens to try. You may want ideas for containers to stand near the door so you can enjoy your perfumed plants as you step outside. Kari-Astri regularly writes for ‘Landscape’ magazine, so we are looking forward to welcoming her on June 21st at 7.30 pm for an evening of “Scents and Scentsability”.
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Our 2017 Challenge
Our 2017 Challenge is underway, simply grow something edible and make a dish with it to share at our August meeting. If you haven’t already done so, please indicate on the relevant sheet at the next meeting what type of dish you are hoping to bring so that we can try to balance savoury and sweet offerings.
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Big Speaker Early Notification
The renowned plantsman, speaker and garden writer, Bob Brown, of Cotswold Garden Flowers is our big name speaker for this year. We will need to start advertising this early so in order to have an idea of how many places we can offer to other gardening clubs we need a rough idea of how many Cothi members are hoping to come, so please can anyone planning on attending sign the relevant form at the next meeting.
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Monthly Tips
Tip 1 Frost Damage
(From Yvonne) If any plants have suffered from the late frosts, don’t panic! Leave them alone, and then, when the new growth has come through, you can prune the dead ends off.
(and from Jan) Cut off damaged areas, feed the plants, in Jan’s case all the vines in the polytunnels, and remember that it will be the end of May before we can safely say no more frost!, so cover over with fleece if cold nights threaten again. All Jan’s survived and new shoots are appearing
Tip 2 (Yvonne) – It’s nearly time for the Chelsea chop for herbaceous perennials to prolong their flowering. Reduce about a third of the stems, and they will flower later. This can be done with Sedum spectabile, Phlox, Veronicastrum, among the many.
Tip 3 (Yvonne) – When your Geraniums have flowered, cut all the growth off, and they will have a second flush of flowers later in the summer.
Tip 4 (Julian) Growing Phalaeonopsis, or moth orchids
Firstly a reminder about our visit to Picton Gardens……………..
This is a brilliant opportunity to see these beautiful gardens under the expert guidance of head gardener Roddy Milne. We need to get the numbers in very soon so please if you haven’t already done so, contact Margaret or Daisy asap to confirm whether you are able to go or not. The more we get the cheaper the cost of entry (20+ = £4.50 – a real bargain!) We meet at 5pm for a picnic (bring your own) in the gardens followed by the garden tour. Plants will be for sale but please take cash with you as the shop will be closed
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Plants for Colourful Shade
We had a well attended meeting last week at which Richard Cain of Penlan Perennials gave a very informative talk on colourful plants for shade, covering the different types of shade and a whole variety of plants both familiar and not that can be used in these conditions to give colourful interest.
Richard had a good selection of plants for sale and offered to take any pre-ordered from his nursery to any of the plant fairs he will be attending for members to collect. See below for details of fairs. Click on the link to go to his website: penlanperennials.co.uk
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Our next meeting ……………………………….
Gardeners can be a funny lot….One minute they’re talking about Galanthus, the next Snowdrops. First it’s phormium, then it’s flax.
If you would like to untangle the Latin, then come along to our illustrated talk “Botanicus Tongtwistii” in May, when the speaker will be Carrie Thomas from Touchwood, Killay, Swansea.
Carrie holds degrees in botany and zoology so we are looking forward to an informative and entertaining evening, after which we’ll know exactly why a Red Hot Poker is called Kniphophia.
Visit Touchwoodplants.co.uk for more information about Carrie and her garden.
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Gerddi Cae Hir Gardens Plant Fair
May 2 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cae Hir Gardens Plant Fair. Come and enjoy this lovely six acre garden in the heart of Ceredigion. It is an RHS Partner Garden and entry to the Garden and Plant Fair is free. There is a small charge for parking at the local school.
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Ceredigion Garden, Craft & Food Festival, Aberaeron
May 29 @ 10:00 am – May 30 @ 5:00 pm
Free entry
Now in its 7th year and expanding all the time. Held on Alban Square Field, Aberaeron and organised by Ceredigion & District Growers Association, this is the premier event of its type in West Wales.
Over 70 stalls selling plants, craft and food, together with music & entertainment. Something for everyone and FREE ENTRY.
No dogs allowed on the field (except service dogs).
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Aberystwyth Summer Plant Fair
June 11 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
A host of great nurseries from three counties on the Farmer’s Market site from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Summer bedding, veg and perennials amongst others. FREE. Organised by Ceredigion & District Growers Association
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Llanllyr NGS Garden Plant Fair
June 26 @ 12:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Ceredigion & District Growers Association hold a Plant Fair at Llanllyr Garden on their National Garden Scheme Open Day. Entry to the Plant Fair is free, however normal NGS charges are payable to go into the garden. Ample free parking. Please note the Plant Fair finishes at 5.00pm and the Garden is open until 6pm.
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Finally……………………………
Dismantled Greenhouse – details of this came through by email. Please contact Carolyn Somers if interested: ceejaysom@btinternet.com
An Eden greenhouse, 6’x8′ . Most of the glass is there with some pieces broken, all the frame is there but without the door as this was lost to the storms. The only thing is there are no nuts and bolts but these can be bought from B&Q. I am in Nantgaredig just outside Carmarthen.
Gardeners’ World
Saturday March 5th at 8pm (Friday March 4th if you are in England!)
Gelli Uchaf Garden
We were rather pleased to get a call from a BBC2 Gardeners’ World researcher a few weeks ago asking about what Spring bulbs we grew and a bit of background to the garden and ourselves. We were told decisions would be made whether to come and see if we were suitable in the next few days…… a call duly came through and a visit from the recce team was scheduled for the following week. Two very nice chaps came and spent a couple of hours with us walking round the garden and chatting in cold, mizzly conditions while recording it all on a hand held video camera. Now we have been down this path before with the Beeb and it is at this point that we don’t hear anything further – for whatever reason we haven’t been quite what they were looking for. So we were more than a little surprised but delighted to get a call a couple of days after the recce to arrange dates for filming the following week.
Filming crocus in the snow!
Crocus opening in some sunshine
Another take – in the rain!
Filming Carol Klein as dusk falls
We would have to say it was the garden with its profusion of early spring flowers – Cyclamen, Snowdrops, Hellebores, Iris reticulata, Scilla mischtschenkoana et al all doing their best to impress, rather than the 2 gardeners that convinced the Beeb to come. The weather threw everything at us, mercifully with the exception of strong winds, which was brilliant as it demonstrated just what these wonderful Spring plants have to cope with and yet still manage to delight us with their early colour.
The three days of filming, one with the full team of five including the lovely Carol Klein, will be condensed down to about 6 minutes and will be broadcast in the first episode of the new series of BBC2 Gardeners’ World on Friday 4th March if you live in England, and Saturday 5th March at 8.30pm if you live in Wales.
You can read a write-up about it on the NGS website by following this link:
or our own blog/website by following this link:
https://thegardenimpressionists.com/2016/02/15/tarka-on-stage-imogen-and-typhoon-tv-funny-valentine/
Fiona and Julian Wormald
Cothi Gardeners 