Uncategorized

‘A Garden above the Estuary’ – a Talk by Adam Alexander; Pottiputki; Updated Website

/ wildwelshgardener / 1 Comment

The 2023 year of talks opened with this fascinating and entertaining talk on the creation of Adam’s current garden which combined practical tips with stories of adventures tracking down vegetable seed and its links with food identity and culture, and the history of many vegetable seeds and their names. Adam’s particular interest is the conservation of the genetic diversity of edible crops.

As background, Adam told us that he has grown something every year for the table from a very young age. Despite having trained as a film-maker, Adam became a market gardener in the mid-late seventies; then that was what Adam describes as a “mug’s game”, as there was little interest in unusual vegetables such as purple-podded peas or yellow courgettes, and he returned to the film industry. That was a job that enabled him to travel widely and led directly to Adam’s interest in acquiring and protecting vegetable seeds with a history and cultural connection.

That is where this story begins – in Donetsk in 1988, where Adam had travelled as producer of a film about a Welsh industrialist who founded the steel industry in Ukraine. In the hotels of the time vegetables were not in great supply on the menu, and Adam ventured to the local market with an interpreter. There he encountered an old lady selling the surplus of vegetables she had grown, from seed she had saved herself, from seed saved previously by her mother and her grandmother. Adam bought some peppers and took them back to the hotel kitchen and was blown away by the sweetness, fruitiness and hint of heat. During his stay Adam returned to the market several times to buy more peppers (which are a very important part of the culture in parts of the former Soviet Union and eastern and central Europe, and central to the food identity of the peoples there). The taste of the pepper was unique and he wondered about saving seed to take home to propagate for conservation purposes; seed was duly dried on the window sill of the hotel and has successfully been propagated and conserved, so that it can now be distributed to displaced Ukrainians to reconnect them with their home.

Fast forward to 2013. By now, Adam was growing over 500 varieties of vegetable for the various seed libraries and gene banks. He grows at least 70 varieties each year to renew each of the seeds that he has. This takes a lot of space, which Adam found in different gardens, but he really needed to have everything in one place. So in 2013 he moved from the Forest of Dean to Monmouthshire, to a property outside Chepstow 170m above the Severn Estuary.

With the property came a field to transform into his garden; it was effectively an unrestored wild flower meadow, in which the previous owners had kept chicken and had a lot of bonfires (as the opening slide of the presentation illustrates).

In the spring of 2014, having covered parts of the ground with anything he could find (polythene, corrugated iron sheets etc.) for weed suppression, he planted potatoes (excellent for cleaning the ground) through black plastic. Then some raised beds were built in terraces to maximise the light in an East-West orientation. Adam had always used cedar for his raised beds, as it was readily available from plantations in the Forest of Dean. If you turn the cedar boards in your raised beds around every couple of years, they can last for up to 20 years.

Within 2 or 3 months, Adam had created the framework and the shape for the garden that he needed. There were 14 raised beds, each one-metre wide, which means you never have to walk on them. You can extend the season by using clear polythene film with metal hoops. As the beds are all the same length, these cloches can be re-used, and typically last five years. He also uses and re-uses fleece in the same way for warmth and to keep pests out.

While some digging was required to create the framework of the garden, the basic philosophy is to keep digging to a minimum and use black mulch (polythene or membrane) to grow through; it warms the soil and gives off heat at night creating a micro-climate for the plants. The aim is also to recycle and re-use materials as much as possible.

The contents of a 40-foot duck pond provided the base, spread on the ground and covered with black polythene, for two 30-foot polytunnels, the first of which was erected in October 2014. The polytunnels had been with Adam since 1976 and have moved with him to all of his different gardens ever since. In his raised beds within them, now in March, he has peas and broad beans in flower, fennel for eating, herbs, salad crops right through the winter and cauliflowers beginning to heart up. A trickle irrigation system is essential – he is lucky to have his own spring water (with a pH of 6.9) for this, one of the original attractions of this site.

One of the crops that Adam plants in his polytunnels is garlic – but not any old garlic! One of his filming assignments took him to Oman, home to damask roses and famed for its rose water. In Oman terraces tumble 100 metres down into ravines with the most amazing irrigation system. Adam saw garlic being cultivated, and got into conversation with the owner of the hotel where he was staying. It turned out that the plantation of garlic that Adam had seen belonged to the hotel owner; this was in April, and Adam asked him to send some garlic when it was ready, not really expecting that this would be possible. In June, having been away, Adam walked into his house to find a strong smell and a large plastic sweet jar covered in stamps and with the appropriate immigration certificate. In South Wales, Adam plants this garlic in a polytunnel in October through black polythene. The mountains of Oman in the winter experience a dry cold. This is replicated in the polytunnel where, even if the air temperature drops, the soil temperature is maintained. The garlic in the polytunnel can be harvested in the green in May, and then after that for storing in June/July. It is a hardneck variety, and doesn’t keep terribly well beyond October.

Adam also wanted polytunnels for broad beans; he grows three crops in a year in sequence, from autumn through to April, so that they do not cross-pollinate. A delicious broad bean is ‘Bowland Beauty’, which was originally bred for exhibition.

It has to be said that timing is key in terms of getting crops into the ground. Since 1976 Adam has kept a diary of what he sows when, the temperature, conditions etc. This is giving very direct information about climate change. Saving seed helps to build in local adaptations, which means that plants from very different environments from our own will in time thrive here. Carrot ‘Red Elephant’ from Australia is a good case in point. Adam has grown it outside in beds for a number of years. He discovered by chance, from seed spilt in the bed while collecting, that it can grow with absolute neglect when sown in October outside for early harvesting – there is no need for special forcing varieties.

None of Adam’s growing would be possible without compost. He uses all sorts of old materials to make the compost bins, including pallets and old carpet (this has to be pure wool). A lot of grass is used in the compost, which has the benefit of generating heat, but it does have to be turned regularly (once a week).

The last thing that Adam installed on his new site was a greenhouse, which he uses for tomatoes, capsicum, cucumbers, lemongrass, okra, ginger etc. A propagator is also key for starting seed off in early spring. There is only one cucumber which he now grows, for its taste, which comes from Syria. He encountered it in Aleppo, in what was known as the ‘fertile crescent’, and he now grows out a number of vegetables from the seed bank there for seed. The cucumber is unusual in that it has both male and female flowers. Seed is now being distributed to displaced Syrians, including those in camps in Jordan; later this year they will be sent to camps in Kurdistan.

Polytunnels or greenhouses allow you to create controlled environments for the production of seed; you can water when necessary during the growing period, and keep the crops dry when seed is setting.

One of the things that Adam has discovered on his travels is that growers like to mix things up together, and that plants don’t mind being crowded; polytunnels or a greenhouse allow him to do both of these things. Sweetcorn is an example: he has had good success growing 9 or 10 plants in a small block a foot apart, producing very good crops. Sweetcorn is a wind-pollinated crop, and growing them in a polytunnel gives good control (rather than the wind blowing the pollen far and wide, tapping the plants means the pollen falls where it needs to).

Moving on to the seed that Adam grows, here is a whirlwind tour through just a few of them:

  • Fava bean ‘Syrian Small’ – first seen in Damascus, being wheeled through the streets in barrows piled high. They are traditionally eaten whole when young, but can also be eaten shelled. The seed is now primarily being distributed to displaced Syrians.
  • Radish ‘Pasque’, is a French radish, which is lifted in the autumn, stored in clamps, and then eaten at Easter. It is an interesting plant in that the flowers start white, but then turn pink once they have been pollinated.
  • Fava Mourda Reina Mouz (‘Purple Queen’) is a purple broad bean from Catalonia (another very interesting area for endangered vegetable varieties), which Adam is growing out to make safe for the future.
  • Blue potatoes from Atacama in Chile – they have a shape like Pink Fir Apple, but are deep blue right through; they are now being included in an official breeding programme to establish their blight-resistance.
  • Pea ‘Champion of England’ is the only pea still in cultivation of the 13 listed as having any merit out of the 200 catalogued by the RHS at the end of the nineteenth century. Although held in seed libraries, it returned to commercial seed catalogues in 2016, originating in the US. Adam still held some seed from 2009, so that seed is now being grown for comparison to see whether the newly-listed variety is the true original variety.
  • Pea ‘Daniel O’Rourke’ was one of the most successful varieties of pea in the United States until the 1920s. Its name derives from the 1852 Derby winner, when it was introduced to the UK the following year, as a marketing strategy to encourage growers in the UK to buy it.
  • Pea ‘Fesol Negre del Belgarda’ is a purple-flowered, black pea from Catalonia grown for drying and storing.
  • Pea ‘Panther’ is a pea that the Heritage Seed Library was told grew to about two foot in height – but in fact grows to three times that!
  • Pea ‘Jaune de Madras’ is one of the peas used by Mendel in his work on genetics. It is a mange-tout pea, its name implies it had originated in India. However, it was being introduced to the UK at the time that yellow Madras curry, which was a British invention, was very popular, so the name was purely a marketing strategy. In the US, it was called ‘Golden Sweet’, and it is now sold here as that as well.
  • Blue Hopi Maize hails from very arid regions of Arizona, where three inches of rain falls in a year if they are lucky. There it is sown in very deep holes to reach the damp where it can germinate. It is sown in clumps, and the drooping leaves create shade and a particular micro-climate which enables them to grow in such a harsh climate. There is a particular culture around blue maize within the Hopi nation where it used to make blue polenta, and the ability to grow blue maize is key to winning the heart of the woman a man wants to marry.
  • Tomatoes – Adam grows many different tomatoes from all over the world – including ‘Burmese Sour Tomato’ from Yangon (which is recently in demand thanks to ‘Gardener’s World’), and ‘Bolivian Orange Cherry.’

Adam stressed the importance of using green manures over winter. A very important one is Caliente Mustard – its biofumigant properties attack pathogens such as onion white rot in the soil. He also grows comfrey as a feed for plants, particularly tomatoes.

Autumn in Adam’s garden is all about harvesting. Beetroot is a great crop, as you don’t need many plants to produce masses of seeds (33,000 seeds from a single plant!). Cucumbers are much tricker – the cucumbers have to be almost rotten, and even then there is no guarantee the seed will be viable.

On that note of seed harvesting, Adam’s talk came to a close. Appreciative thanks were expressed for such a wide-ranging, erudite, and engrossing talk, and there was then a rush for the table where different seed varieties were laid out, along with Adam’s book ‘The Seed Detective’.

Pottiputki

At our last meeting Julian introduced us to the Finnish tree-planting tool, the Pottiputki. Although originally designed for forestry planting, Julian has discovered it is invaluable for transplanting snowdrop divisions. He has created this video to show how the tool can be used and to demonstrate the process of dividing snowdrops in the green. Thank you Julian!

Updated Cothi Gardeners Website

The Cothi Gardeners website has recently undergone a bit of an update, and now includes a new section for members to write about their garden as it changes through the year – highlight ‘Members’ Gardens through the Year’ from the main menu at the top of the page. The more members who would like to contribute pieces about their gardens the better! Please contact cothigardeners@gmail.com with your text and photographs (or any queries you may have), and the web editor will do the rest.

Sex, Lies and Putrefaction – a talk by Timothy Walker; October Plant Swap and Sale; December Festive Tea

/ wildwelshgardener / Leave a comment

During the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020-21, the Zoom talks organised by Fiona Wormald in lieu of our in-person meetings were a beacon of light which helped to lift the gloom of the general isolation. This repeated Zoom talk at our November meeting was shown in our meeting hall so that we could all enjoy for a second time what was a fascinating talk with the added benefit of social interaction, tea and biscuits!

Timothy Walker is a highly respected British botanist who was the Director of The Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Aboretum from 1988 – 2014. He is passionate about plants, particularly regarding conservation and pollination, and is the author of several books on these subjects.

The talk began with with a quote from Charles Darwin in his ‘Origin of Species’ where he identified the relationship between the flower and the bee, and how they were perfectly adapted to each other, describing “pollination biology”. One of the many ways in which this was demonstrated was with the orchid, where a visiting hawk moth was able to reach over 12 inches into the flower in order to obtain the nectar. So, it was pointed out, not only did the moth end up with food, it also helped with pollination by dusting itself with pollen as it left which was then transferred to the next orchid it visited.

Pollen grains are different on each variety of plant, and fertilisation will generally only work when pollen of one variety is transferred from the anthers (male) to the stigma (female) of another plant of the same variety. Moving the pollen from one plant to another occurs via animals, insects, wind and (rarely) water. Even slugs can be pollinators (!), but not often. Plants have different ways of attracting pollinators, such as colour and scent, (though some use both, plus pattern); some, such as a number of trees, produce catkins where the pollen is then blown away to hopefully land on another catkin. The birch tree cleverly has a flap on the flower which protects the catkin and opens on landing, thus preventing random spillage of the seed. There are plants which actually inject pollen into the atmosphere. Grasses are almost always blown on the wind with only very few, such as the Canadian Pondweed, using water as a vehicle. Around 87% of water plant pollination is done by animal life, the majority being bees and wasps.

Night-flowering plants (such as nicotiana and night-scented stock) are hard wired to attract (mostly) moths via scent. Again, a short proboscis is catered for with a short pollen tube (or it could be the other way round!). The same theory applies to butterflies.

Birds obviously help with pollination and they particularly favour red flowers, although they also see UV colours; bats help as well, although they are quite clumsy and throw stuff around a bit.

Pollen is a highly nutritious substance and the whole organisation of fertilisation runs on a reward or bribe system benefitting both parties. The fig is a clever example of pollination where the fig flower is hidden inside what is effectively a brood chamber and a female wasp enters through a hole. She lays eggs; the male wasps hatch first and fertilise the unborn female wasps, create exit tunnels for those female wasps to move on to the next fig, and then die. Thus, if humans eat the fig they also eat the poor dead male wasps – not a reward for them but probably extra protein for the human!

Victoria amazonica is a South American water lily, which attracts a beetle of the Scarabaeidae family; it crawls into the flower, eats so much pollen that it gets drunk & is then too confused to remember its way home, eventually leaving the flower only to stagger on to the next one. Hopefully the wife (or husband) doesn’t possess a rolling pin otherwise there will be trouble!

There are, however, flowers that don’t smell good at all (to humans anyway), such as Dracunculus vulgaris, which smells like rotting meat and Helicadiceros muscivorus (or Dead horse Arum, which is probably a clue). These plants are largely pollinated by flies.

This really interesting Zoom talk by Timothy was just as entertaining the second time around, very well put together and certainly educational.

John and Helen’s October Plant Swap and Sale

John and Helen Brooks held a plant sale at their garden Ty’r Maes on a Sunday afternoon in October to raise funds for the National Garden Scheme charities. It was very well attended, with visitors coming from as far away as North Pembrokeshire.

There was a great variety of plants on sale, provided by members of the Cothi Gardeners, and mostly of course by John and Helen themselves. The plants on offer ranged from trees, such as Paulownia tomentosa (the Foxglove tree) through to a great variety of perennials, including asters, geums, crocosmia, geraniums, hesperantha, persicaria, primula, rudbeckia, salvia, and many others. A great bonus of the afternoon was the enormous quantity of delicious cake provided by volunteers along with teas, and the opportunity to chat with other gardeners.

In total the amount raised for the NGS charities was a fantastic £900! This is a reflection of the tremendous generosity of the plant providers, Cothi Gardeners members and other visitors, and we should never forget the hard work that goes into organising such an event, including the refreshments.

Festive Christmas Tea on 14 December

This year the Cothi Gardeners are celebrating Christmas by holding a festive tea at Granny’s Kitchen in Lampeter at 3.30pm on 14 December. Twenty-two of us are attending, and it’s bound to be a jolly (and delicious) event, bringing to an end a year when we have finally been able to hold in-person meetings and celebratory gatherings again. Long may it continue!

Native Plants as Garden Flowers; Invitation to Local Gardening Clubs; Plant Swap and Sale

/ wildwelshgardener / Leave a comment

Native Plants as Garden Flowers – Talk by Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers

We were lucky to once again hear an entertaining talk from Bob Brown, founder of the Cotswold Garden Flowers nursery. He started by encouraging us to put the right plant in the right place – something we all know but need constantly reminding of! 

The initial list of headings was to outline the bullet points of his talk i.e. Acclimatised & Easy, Invasive, Garden Worthy etc. Bob went on to describe the different types of plants within the headings and started with the Welsh poppy (hurrah!) and we had conversations about the habits of the plant. He continued to describe many different types of plants which come into the native plant varieties including Achillea, seakale, viper’s bugloss, Mullein, Veronica spicata and many more.

Woodland plants were described next and include Aquilegia vulgaris, Allium sphaerocephalon, wood anemone amongst many others. 

Woodland Edge plants  & bulbs came next, such as the lawn daisies, hen & chicks, single Campanula, Colchicum autumnale, Pulmonaria, celandine varieties etc.

Grasses were the next category, including woodland grasses and Bob is keen on using plants needing structural support being grown within grasses, using the grasses as the support. Dogwoods, which look good with grasses, (Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ in particular) are a favourite – he advises to cut them right down in winter.

Ferns of different types were next and his particular favourite, Polypodium vulgare, because it is evergreen in the winter but has died down by June and so makes way for other plants.

Iris types and the different areas in which they flourish came next and we discussed the very smelly Iris foetedissima (roast beef plant) & had a chat then about what the smell actually is like!

Primula varieties, which have been grown here since Eizabethan times, are a good bombproof plant for many areas. 

Roses, particularly varieties of the small Rosa pimpinellifolia ,were discussed, and then many more of the different native plants including the shrubs Salix purpurea (purple willow) and the different varieties of Sambucus nigra (elder), both of which are fast growing and invasive.

We thanked Bob for his informative and entertaining presentation and took full advantage of the beautiful plants which he had brought for sale from the nursery.

Some of the beautiful plants from Cotswold Plants for sale
Bob Brown advising on the choice of plants

Invitation to Local Gardening Clubs

Drefach Felindre Gardening Club and Llechryd and District Gardening Club have each kindly invited all Cothi Gardeners to attend any of their meetings, which are listed below. We hope that their members will also choose to attend our meetings this year and beyond.

Drefach Felindre Gardening Club

All meetings are held at 7.30 pm in the Red Dragon Hall.  Guests simply pay £2 per meeting which includes refreshments.

Open evening October 5th

The speaker is Stuart Akkermans, ‘Cae Hir’: A Welsh Garden with a Dutch History. Light refreshments to follow. This event is free to Cothi Gardeners Club members.

Wednesday, 2nd November 2022 ‘The Gardens at Winchester Cathedral’, Emma Sharpe

Wednesday, 30th November 2022 ‘Biodynamic Gardening’, Louise Cartwright

Llechryd and District Gardening Club

Meetings are held in Boncath Hall, SA37 0JL

Wednesday 12 October at 7.30pm
‘The Treasures of Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan’ with Bob & Rannveig Wallis
Bob and Rannveig Wallis were plant hunting in Central Asia before the pandemic and this illustrated talk starts on the border with Afghanistan and goes via Samarkand and Tashkent to the Chatkai Range. This is the centre of Tulip and bulbous Iris development and also features Fritillaria and Corydalis. Superb photographs and an excellent speaker. Last club plant table of 2022.

Wednesday 9 November at 7.30pm
‘Costa Rica’ with Julian Cremona
Julian Cremona’s brilliant photography brings this small country’s amazing wildlife and flora to life. Dense broadleaf evergreen forest, palm trees, mangroves, mosses, orchids and tropical plants as well as monkeys, sloths, anteaters, snakes and iguanas. Annual Club Seed Swap. 

Plant Swap and Sale for the NGS 9 October 2022

John and Helen of Cothi Gardeners are holding their annual plant swap and sale to raise funds for the NGS on 9 October at 1pm at Ty’r Maes, Ffarmers SA19 8JP.

There will be loads of plants for sale, a lot more than last year, when just about everything went!
There will also be a table of plants that are available for a small donation. These are generally perfectly garden worthy plants that for presentational reasons are not quite up to selling standard.

People are encouraged to bring in plants to swap. Last year some wonderful plants arrived and were seized on immediately.

Tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes will be provided. If you bring extra cakes, that would be great too.
There is no charge for refreshments, but as funds are being raised for NGS charities – donations are always welcome.

A word about parking. We will be using our bottom field, opposite the turn to Ffarmers, for parking and there will be NGS signs up.
The area in front of the house will be available for loading and unloading plants.

Happy New Year!

/ cothigardeners / 1 Comment

Happy New Year to everyone.

This is a brief post to let you know that our 2022 programme starts next week. We are having the first two meetings by Zoom and then will hopefully be able to have ‘in person’ meetings from March onwards – fingers crossed!

Next weeks’ meeting is on Wednesday 19th January, 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start when Carole Whittaker will be talking to us on “The History, Medicinal Qualities and care of Monarda“

These beautiful perennials from North America have been utilised since 2,500 BC by the Native American peoples for their medicinal qualities.  But the history does not stop there!  The talk covers all aspects of caring for these unusual, late summer perennials.

Carole and her husband, Pete, have established a beautiful garden, Glyn Bach, in Pembrokeshire which is home to their National Collection of Monarda. The garden is open through the NGS and Plant Heritage. Click here for their website.

If you would like to join the Zoom meeting and have not received the email with the invitation please contact Fiona at cothigardeners@gmail.com so she can send it through to you.

Monarda Collection at Glyn Bach Garden ©Carole & Pete Whittaker

For the rest of the years’ programme click here. NB we plan on holding our much delayed AGM at the March meeting.

Last Zoom Talk and Programme Update

/ cothigardeners / 1 Comment

Our last Zoom meeting (at least for now) is next Wednesday, 19th May 7.15 for a 7.30pm start.

Stephen Anderton, Gardening Correspondent for The Times will be talking to us on ‘Courageous Gardening’

“A fresh approach to gardening. Stephen investigates gardeners’ techniques, ideas and inspiration, in everything, from breeding and pruning to planting and design.  He shows remarkable gardens from all over the world and explains how their makers have single-mindedly planned and created exciting effects.  The many unconventional ideas on offer here make this one of his most popular lectures.”

It would be great if we could have as many as possible joining us as Stephen is one of our ‘Big Name’ speakers for this our 10th Anniversary year. So if you are interested in joining us and haven’t already done so, please send an email to cothigardeners@gmail.com so we can send you the Zoom invitation.

Programme Update

We are planning on having outdoor meetings for the next 4 months, so fingers crossed that the weather improves. The following visits have now been confirmed and we will be asking for names nearer the time for anyone who wishes to join us.

Wednesday, 16th June, 2pm

Outdoor talk and demonstration of propagation techniques by Helen Warrington at Ty Cwm Nursery, (Penffordd, Llanybydder SA40 9XE).

Wednesday, 21st July

Social get together (if permitted) details to follow

Wednesday, 18th August 2pm

Outdoor visit to Wild Ginger Flower Farm ( Cwm Gwenllan, Gwynfe, nr Llangadog, SA19 9PU).

An environmentally conscious flower farm and floral design studio. Talk and tour followed by refreshments. Please let Fiona know if you wish to come no later than Tuesday 3rd August.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, 8th September, 2.30pm

Outdoor visit to Vicki Weston Weston’s Salvias. Vicki gave us a talk a few years ago when she was based near Tregaron. She has now move from the to just north of Newcastle Emlyn where she is concentrating on her first love, Salvias. The visit will include a tour of her newly established display garden where she has some 70 – 80 different Salvias. She is also creating a large garden from scratch on a new and untouched site – definitely a work in progress but still plenty to see.

The cost will be £5 per person to include tea/coffee and cake.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2021 Programme Update

/ cothigardeners / Leave a comment

This is a brief post to bring everyone up to date with our programme until August this year. Sadly in person indoor meetings are unlikely for the foreseeable future so we are aiming for a mix of Zoom talks and outdoor visits when the weather (hopefully) is better. The latter will be subject to change depending on when restrictions are eased to allow larger groups to meet outdoors. The Zoom talks we have had so far have proved very successful so, if anyone who hasn’t put their name down to participate would like to, please send an email to cothigardeners@gmail.com to let us know so that we can send you the invitation to join the meeting. The next one is in 2 weeks time.

WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF SOMEONE TO RUN THE WEBSITE. It isn’t difficult or onerous so please do consider whether you can help out and get in touch with Elena.

Wednesday, 17th March, 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. ZOOM Meeting

‘The Answer Lies in the Soil’ – Philip Aubury

Good gardening starts here. Soil improvement, fertilisers and compost making. Philip trained at Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Pershore Horticultural College. He started his career as a nurseryman, then lecturer, followed by Parks Manager until  finally, in 1987, returning full circle as Director of Birmingham Botanical Gardens. He retired in 2007.

Wednesday, 21st April 7.15 for7.30pm start ZOOM meeting
Julian Wormald (from Cothigardeners!) – “Wildflowers, Meadows and Gardens – challenging ideas for more naturalistic gardens.”

This will look at various aspects of wildflower hay meadows – their biodiversity, aesthetics, creation, ecology and management; and contrast this very briefly (since this is a time reduced zoom talk) with currently trendy “pictorial” meadows. Finally, it’ll consider how we can learn from wildflower hay meadows to develop more naturalistic and diverse plant based communities in our gardens. This section mainly focuses on our grass free multicultural meadow terrace garden: how it’s developed over 20 years, is maintained and changes through the seasons.

 

Lots of ideas for people to think about as our gardens are springing into life.

Wednesday, 19th May 7.15 for a 7.30pm start ZOOM meeting
Stephen Anderton – “Courageous Gardening”
A fresh approach to gardening. Stephen investigates gardeners’ techniques, ideas and inspiration, in everything, from breeding and pruning to planting and design. He shows remarkable gardens from all over the world and explains how their makers have single-mindedly planned and created exciting effects. The many unconventional ideas on offer here make this one of his most popular lectures.
Stephen is the long-standing garden writer for the Times, as well as a lecturer and author. Trained originally in Drama and then Landscape Design, he worked in historic gardens where, latterly as National Gardens Manager for English Heritage, he was responsible for several major restoration projects. Discovering Welsh Gardens was published in 2009; his official biography Christopher Lloyd, His Life at Great Dixter appeared in March 2010 and Lives of the Great Gardeners in 2018.

Wednesday, 16th June, 2pm

Outdoor talk and demonstration of propagation techniques by Helen Warrington at Ty Cwm Nursery, (Penffordd, Llanybydder SA40 9XE).

Wednesday, 21st July

Social get together (if permitted) details to follow

Wednesday, 18th August 2pm

Outdoor visit to Wild Ginger Flower Farm ( Cwm Gwenllan, Gwynfe, nr Llangadog, SA19 9PU).

An environmentally conscious flower farm and floral design studio. Talk and tour followed by refreshments. Please let Fiona know if you wish to come no later than Tuesday 3rd August.

April Sunshine and Lockdown in Cothi Gardens; Sally the Slug and Harry the Hare

/ cothigardeners / Leave a comment

As the Covid -19 lock down is maintained and we move into April with no clear exit strategy, I’m guessing we’re all feeling incredibly fortunate to be living in this wonderful part of the world, with our gardens to appreciate in what must be one of the best runs of dry weather we’ve had in ages. (Whisper – we could really do with some rain soon…).

In the absence of any meetings in the near future I’m very grateful for those members who’ve sent photos and information on their gardens to me or Elena recently.  Having just acquired a replacement granny phone (thanks of course to Fiona for sorting this) which I need for receiving SMS messages to log in to this website (the first got trashed last Saturday when I came off my bike at speed in the forestry), I can now upload these insights below:

Alison Williams sent these lovely photos of spring flowers from her garden : 

Anne Thomas sent me this background on what she’s been up to recently :

Well we have been creating a new raised bed in what was an untidy corner (one of many) and laying some slabs and creating a new bed in a corner that housed the oil tank until last month. Have a lot of Hellebores so have put some in the new area and a couple of Acers bought at one of the garden talks. And the good news is that online ordering still seems to be happening with plants!

New raised bed. I think I will plant some tumbling plants above stone wall (built by me when we put in the greenhouse).


Interesting daffodils ( ? Oxford gold)


I think we should feel very lucky living where we do in these difficult times. Must be awful stuck in a flat with children. We don’t need to see or speak to anyone other than the sheep!

Keep safe. I look forward to seeing other gardens.
Anne Thomas

Derek Marshall sent me this:

Raised bed evolution season by season!
The ground is so wet here that we needed to give some depth to the beds, hence raised beds. Originally with mole earth and compost, now supplemented with sand, grit, farmyard manure, more compost and ash from the Rayburn in combination or composition depending upon the intended planting for each bed.


The near bed has been prepared but needs to have holes burned when Tina wants to plant brassicas; the bed on the right still has Leeks; the bed on the far left is now planted with onions, and the central bed is still a bit of a hodge podge mess needing to be tidied up prior to reuse this season.
The fabric is heavy duty, keeps the soil warm and moist, and in combination with the holes reduces weeds, and weeding, tremendously, and the incidence of slugs is also much reduced. I use a small kitchen blowlamp to create the holes. It has many advantages: it is more accurate, easy to use, seals the holes as they are burned so no fraying, and therefore minimises errors on an otherwise potentially expensive resource, the fabric. By this method, and secure fixing by stapling, the fabric normally lasts 3 years, so also defraying the initial cost.
It is clear that Tina is the gardener in our family, but I can complement her efforts by creating structure, and I am weeder in chief, so it all helps.
Aren’t we fortunate at this time to have outside space to relax in, to work in, and to grow in? Additionally I anticipate that in the near future all our efforts to grow our own food will not only be beneficial, but necessary.

I think one of the (few?) benefits of the current crisis might be getting everyone to have to slow down and think about what’s really important.

So here’s a new fable in pictures for these troubled times from our garden – the Tale of Sally the Slug and Harry the Hare….

Harry the hare spent all day racing at speed, from dawn till dusk, getting hotter and hotter, and more and more anxious. But didn’t get anywhere. And ended up exhausted and turned to rusting iron.

(Many thanks to Martin and Angela for this wonderful prop! Click here for their website for any distant readers!)

Meanwhile in the greenhouse, Sally, the slimy slug, who spent all night very slowly slithering to the very apex to graze on algae and leaves, decided as light began to tinge the Eastern sky, to take the scenic route down. So abseiled down her own strong and sticky, slimey thread. And enjoyed a wonderful view as the sun rose and warmed her slowly spiralling body as she inched towards the floor. With plenty of time to think about what she was going to do for the rest of the day, and hardly a care in the world.

( Apologies for gender inaccuracies – slugs are hermaphrodites, but it doesn’t work as well with “it”).

Some of our favourite spring bulbs right now which always make me forget about the hard work last autumn crow-barring them into the ground.  In particular the largely white Nacissus “Thalia” and “Actaea”, and Tulip “Flaming Purissima” :

It would be lovely to hear from more members about their favourite plants, or things in their gardens as we go through the next few months. Why not write a few words and send an image or two, preferably resized down to less than 1 MB? I can’t promise to put everything up online immediately, but usually within a fortnight, and it’ll be a great way of keeping in touch, and passing on information.

Or use the Cothigardeners Facebook Page.

You can send things to me at:

Cothigardeners@gmail.com

Covid-19 Update from Our Chair

/ cothigardeners / Leave a comment

Members will already have received this email from Elena, our chair, updating the club’s status in these challenging times…

Cothi Gardeners is following the government’s strategy of social distancing and avoiding unnecessary travel, as I am sure you are too!

With that in mind we are cancelling both our April and May meetings and will let you know about future meetings as things become clearer.

Nature can support us during these difficult times and we are fortunate to have easy access to the beautiful wildness of underpopulated Welsh hills, woods and seaside near our homes in which to de stress and breathe.

In our splendid physical isolation remember that you are not alone. Reach out, call friends and family for a chat … talking is good for mental health which underpins our physical wellbeing!

Happy gardening and keep well till we meet again

Elena

Saving Pollinators

/ cothigardeners / 1 Comment

Any other members measure their rainfall totals?

To quote Melvin Udall addressing a group of depressed psychiatric patients in the film of the same title : “What if this is as good as it gets?” By which I mean the seemingly unending rain – it looks like we’ll have clocked up 6 consecutive months with 200 mm plus by the end of February, which we’ve never managed before, whilst I’ve been measuring rainfall here.

So thank goodness we’re all gardeners and can see the positive side of things – brilliant weather for lifting and splitting snowdrops, or even early daffodils. And thank goodness that many spring bulbs seem to shrug off all this inclement weather and look almost as good after storms Ciara and Dennis have whizzed through.

Plus our frogs  clearly aren’t bothered…

But early pollinators really do struggle with this sort of weather, so a reminder that tomorrow’s talk, Wednesday February 19th,  will be an up to date insight into how our own National Botanic Garden of Wales is at the cutting edge of research into what we can do to help pollinators of all kinds. Both Lucy Witter and Abigail Lowe will be talking about their own studies, so do come along and enjoy the first talk of the year.

7 pm for a 7.30 pm start at the hall in Pumsaint.

Has anyone checked their seeds and cuttings from the trip to Hergest Croft gardens last year?

I’m hoping to do a montage of what we’ve managed to propagate, and also forward it onto Steve and Mel for their interest, so if everyone who went on the trip could have a look at any pots they have over the next few weeks, and ideally send me a photo or two, that would be great.

A couple of pictures of some of my cuttings  – Buddleja, Salvia, Hydrangea, Acer all looking good so far…

And one of them even has a label on it!

AGM, Programme for 2020, Events, and February Meeting

/ cothigardeners / Leave a comment

 

Cothigardeners’ year began in customary style recently with the AGM which was very well attended. Yvonne gave a resume of the busy year the group had enjoyed in 2019, Steven reported on the healthy state of the group financially and in terms of member and visitor numbers over the past year.  Membership for 2020 is £15 per person, which is a slight increase, but still represents excellent value for money given the speakers planned for the years ahead. The club is very fortunate to have had such a hard working chair and treasurer who have both stepped down this year, and everyone will want to thank Yvonne and Steven for their work, and we’re equally pleased that Elena and Andy have come forward to take on these vital roles.

With the AGM finished, a short auction of donated snowdrops, art and craft items was held which raised valuable additional funds to go towards the running of the club, as well as a table of book sales. Many thanks to everyone who donated or indeed bought any of these items.

We then enjoyed a shared plate supper of savoury and dessert food, before the evening finished with another one of Derek’s challenging quizzes. Many thanks to Derek for all his effort in putting this together and indeed to Tina for Marshalling us into entirely non competetive teams (?) It always amazes me the combined knowledge of Cothigardeners reflected in the final team scores, although I’m not sure anyone knew what plant capers come from?

The answer is The Flinders Rose. I’m not sure we’d have escaped with caper bush, its other name…

For all members hanging on excitedly, waiting to find out what the programme for 2020 is, it can now be revealed – both below and on the separate web page for speakers. Many thanks to Fiona and Jenny, the programme organisers,  for working to arrange this for us all. Click below to open the file.

Cothi Gardeners Programme 2020 for website

There’s also a separate page with some local garden related events for the year 2020, which will be added to throughout the year, so do check back in due course. Click here for this page.

Anyone interested in visiting Fiona and Julian’s garden for snowdrops and other spring bulbs can check when they’re opening for the NGS this year, by looking at their website, click here. They’re only opening by short notice “Pop Ups” if/when the weather looks benign (ish)

Later in the year, John and Helen’s wonderful 4 acre garden at Ty’r Maes is opening from April to October by arrangement on pre arranged dates. Click here for more details.

This year’s monthly speaker meetings begin with a joint presentation by Lucy Witter and Abigail Lowe from The National Botanic Garden of Wales who are going to be talking about their ongoing research to help save our pollinators.

This will be really interesting and show how Wales is at the forefront of understanding to risks to our pollinating insects and what we can do to help mitigate this. Something of vital interest to us all. I’m sure everyone will want to come along on Wednesday February 19th at 7 for a 7.30 pm start to find out more.