The Dreaded Gardener; Members Social; Garden Safari; Drought Busters; Gardener’s World; Other Events

August 8, 2018September 6, 2018 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

Malcolm Berry – The Dreaded Gardener: ‘Weaving the Web:Towards a Natural Garden’

Malcolm’s talk about how he tries to garden in a way to create ‘dynamic stability’ where flora and fauna exist in harmony struck a chord with many of us. The State of Nature reports indicate that in Wales 1 in 14 species are heading for extinction, in a large part due to loss of habitat. To try and offset this even those with small gardens can help. Biodiversity was at the root of his message: diversity creates diversity, the greater the diversity in flora the greater the diversity in fauna.

Ideas he has implemented in his own garden:

Varied habitats such as a pond, mini meadow, deciduous and evergreen hedges, mature trees and shrubs, dry stone walls, log piles, stone piles.

Mini Meadow © Malcolm Berry

Flower counts throughout the year to assess where/when there is a lack. Self seeding annuals to increase flower numbers
Polyculture rather than monoculture: mixing veg in with shrubs and perennials. More naturalistic and gives better protection against pests and disease.
Clear areas for veg planting in Spring, weed through growing season, stopping in August. By winter the mix of weeds and crops cover and protect the soil which is better for both soil and habitats. Weeds are also a good winter flower source.
No power machinery, he uses only hand tools

Compost: use comfrey in layers when turning compost as it is a good activator
Seed saving: from most veg. Some such as parsnips, runner beans and leeks require a minimum of 16 plants to save seed from in order to retain diversity. Only save seed from the best plants/fruit. Store seeds in an air-tight tub in fridge with silicon gel packets as this significantly reduces conditions required for germination.

Parsnip seed saving © Malcolm Berry

The Moon: He uses the Maria Thun Biodynamic Calendar which shows the optimum days for sowing, pruning and harvesting various plants and crops.
Non-interventionist approach, no pesticides or herbicides, nature will balance things out. He grows sacrificial plants to avoid significant predation on veg.
Minimum tillage, he does not turn the soil, practices good crop rotation and uses green manures to maintain condition and fertility.

It was a very interesting talk and generated many questions from the audience.

Members Social and Growing Challenge 7.30pm Coronation Hall, Pumsaint

Our August meeting is our members’ social evening when we meet for a relaxed get together bringing a plate of food to share. This year due to our increasing numbers, it is being held in the hall rather than a member’s home.

Pots planted for pollinators – with varying degrees of success!

The evening is also when we share the results of this year’s growing challenge. We were asked to plant up a pot with plants for pollinators. Do bring along your pots even if they haven’t turned out quite as expected – it has been a very challenging year weather-wise, but we can all learn from our successes and failures! If you can’t manage to bring the pot itself do try and get some photos of it and bring them along instead.

The evening will also be when we will be handing over our donation from the proceeds from the plant fair, a cheque for £500, to Wales Air Ambulance.

Garden Safari

The garden safari is a club event in which we get to visit the gardens of those club members who wish to participate. The number of gardens taking part varies year to year, this year there will be just 2, Yvonne’s and Tina’s. The date on which it will take place is Friday September 7^th. More details will be given at the summer social.

Drought Busters

A tip from Elena for watering…

Place a large tub in a wheelbarrow.
Fill with old washing up water – You can also add feed to the tub
Dunk hanging baskets in the tub holding underwater till all the bubbles stop
Lift out and rest on the rim of the tub to drain, some will also drop into barrow and can be re-used!
Rehang you well-watered basket. Works well with small pots too

And from Julian: we’re now having to use my huge number of water filled polycarbonate drinks bottles as a valuable water resource with our spring running low, but I also found that if you drill a tiny hole in the top of the bottle cap, upend it, and ram it into the soil beside squash, courgettes or tomatoes, it’ll deliver variable, but fairly slow water release over a few days – good if you have to go away for a weekend in hot weather.

From the white board: water Camellias and other Spring flowering shrubs now to encourage flowers next Spring.

Some plants which seem to be coping well with the lack of rain, and don’t need watering:

Jenny says….

Rudbeckia, Antirrhinum, Sweet William and Californian poppy.
Yellow Loosestrife, hostas and several unknown varieties of alliums have all flowered really well with minimal watering.

Sandy says…..

her 3 foot high unknown Phlox are doing well, and her Gunnera! She does live by a river which might help explain it.

Plants John and Helen have found are drought resistant are:

Erodium manescavii, Platycodon grandiflora and Scutellaria albida

Erodium manescavii with Geranium sanguinium

Julian and Fiona have found

Sea campion, Knapweed and Bird’sfoot Trefoil are all tough native plants to try, plus roses and clematis all seem to be thriving.

Ty’r Maes NGS Open Day

John and Helen had their NGS open day on Sunday. All John’s hard work watering to try and keep the garden looking good along with a little bit of help from the storms of the previous week certainly paid off. The garden was looking beautiful. The sun shone and the visitors flocked in – John said it was their best day for several years. As always, thanks from them to all their helpers and cake bakers and to John and Helen for their donation to Cothi Gardeners funds.

Upcoming Events

Gardener’s World: Keith Brown whom many of us know for his lovely garden and talks he has given to Cothi Gardeners in the past, has been filmed for Gardener’s World. The piece is due to be aired THIS FRIDAY 10^th August at 9pm

Llandeilo Permaculture Group: Llandeilo Permaculture Group have scored a coup, booking Permaculture designer Geoff Lawton for a talk in the Civic Hall on August 24th, 7pm. He’s done TED talks and lots more. This is his only date in Wales. Tickets are £10, includes a light buffet.

September Meeting

Paul Green from Green’s Leaves Nursery will be paying us another visit after his very enjoyable talk last year….. and he will be bringing plants again! Put the date in your diaries: Wednesday September 19^th at 7.30pm

Richard’s Primulas; Afternoon Tea at Aberglasney; Kex, lace and poison from Kari-Astri; Orchid count help needed

June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

Primula Sieboldii – Richard Bramley from Farmyard Nurseries

May saw a welcome return to Cothi Gardeners by Richard Bramley from Farmyard Nurseries to give us a talk on Primulas and Primula sieboldii in particular for which he holds one of the National Collections.

These lovely, dainty primulas are surprisingly hardy. They like wetter climates and can cope with cold, although they are more vulnerable if kept in containers as they can freeze solid. They occur in N E China, Korea and Japan where they are water meadow plants but will grow almost anywhere given the right conditions: moist, free draining soil in semi shade.

There are many different flower forms and the flowers are either pin eyed or thrum eyed so as to avoid self fertilisation. They flower in Spring from April to early June.

Growing from seed is easy. Pick the seed capsules when they turn yellow and sow straight away. They need a cold spell (gibberellic acid can be used) and light to germinate. Sow in seed trays and cover with vermiculite. This allows light and also retains moisture. Some named varieties can’t be grown from seed and have to be multiplied by division. This should be done in March and is also very easy.

Primulas are a huge family ranging from the very easy such as primroses and polyanthus to the very difficult eg some of the alpine primulas.

Other primulas:

Primula japonica (Candelabra): These are moist soil plants preferring shady sites and flower May to June. They hybridise and seed around freely often resulting in a mass of multi-coloured blooms.

Primula florindae: a yellow, later flowering variety

Primulas auricula: not too easy as they don’t like wet or being outside! Best grown in pots.

As always Richard brought some of his lovely plants for sale………

Aberglasney Tea Party

The weather pulled out all the stops for our tea party at Aberglasney. The gardens were looking beautiful in the sunshine………….

The afternoon tea was amazing, unlimited tea, delicious sandwiches and a wonderful selection of cakes catering to all tastes, and so many not one table was able to eat them all!

Everyone entered into the spirit of the occasion and came suitably attired in some amazing ‘mad’ hats.

A very successful and thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Plant Fair

A reminder to grow plants not only for the Cothi Gardeners plant stall but also for the Tombola as it will be operated on an ‘every ticket wins’ basis so we need lots of small plants.

Cakes will also be needed for the refreshments so please do sign up to make some if you can.

Volunteers still needed to help make the day run smoothly.

John will give us an update on planning progress at our next meeting in June.

Growing Challenge

Don’t forget to get your pot of flowers for pollinators going for our August social.

Kex, Lace, Poison, Not quite an A – Z of Umbellifers for the Garden

For our June meeting we welcome back Kari-Astri Davies who will be talking to us on this intriguing subject. By this time of year the cow parsley which grows along our roadsides is almost over but you can make a similar, frothy effect in your garden by choosing others from the umbellifer family, angelica or fennel for example. The butterflies and bees love these plants too.

Wild Flower Walk and Orchid Count

Message from Helen Bradley from Plantlife:

This is a bit of a plea for help… we have our annual wildflower survey and orchid count coming up at our reserve near Lampeter, Cae Blaen Dyffryn, on Saturday 16^th June. Unfortunately despite having 12 volunteers last year, we only 2 have booked on this time. We could probably manage the survey part ok with small numbers but the orchid count will be tricky. So if anyone can spare some time to help it would be appreciated – particularly in the afternoon. If you are able to come along just complete this short form (here) and if you intend to come only for the morning or afternoon, just mention this in the ‘Anything we should be aware of’ box.

Monthly Tips

Seed Collection

Now is the perfect time to think of collecting seeds from lots of early flowering spring bulbs and plants – I’m thinking of things like Crocus, Snowdrops, Leucojums, Anemone blanda or Anemone nemorosa (Wood anemone). It’s easy to forget about doing this at a busy time of the year, but it’s the cheapest and simplest way of spreading them around. And if you don’t check now, you’ll miss the seedpods or seed heads. Once you’ve got the seed just scatter it straight away in appropriate places, and then forget about it. It might take a few years, and the survival rate might be modest, but they’ll pop up all over the place and delight you with new plants in new areas with little effort.

Watering

This is would have been quite unusual advice in the last 18 months, but it’s worth remembering to water recently sown seeds regularly to ensure good germination, if they’re outside or inside, and also try to water in greenhouses or polytunnels regularly to ensure good growth and avoid fruit splitting. I was really interested to read today that Keith Brown at Llangadog mentioned that he measured 2 inches of rain in his garden in April. Here we had over 6 inches. So it’s surprising just how variable rainfall can be just a few miles apart, in this part of the world.

Splitting Daffodils

(From Fiona) It’s a good time to split daffodil clumps and move them around, just as the foliage is dying down. Again it’s easy to miss doing this in the rush of jobs to do in May. We usually do! But if you can manage it, at least you can find the bulbs more easily, and work out where to put them. Again worth watering them in well, if the ground’s dry.

Pies, Bumblebees, Topical Tips and Events

March 6, 2018 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

After another excellent pie night at the Dolaucothi – sadly our last with Dave and Esther as they move on to pastures new, we enjoyed our first talk of the year given by Clare Flynn from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust on the Plight of the Bumblebee. It proved to be one of the best talks we have had with much post talk discussion.

The Plight of the Bumblebee

Clare took us through how bees evolved from wasps, the different types of bee species (approx. 275 native species in total of which there are 245 solitary bees, 24 bumbles and 1 honey bee species). We learnt about the differences between the different types, their lifecycles (bumble bee colonies die at the end of the year with the exception of the queens who hibernate and emerge in spring to start a new colony), Cuckoo bumble bees, the commonest types and how to try and identify them – not always easy! Click here for more information. She then went on to talk about the decline of bumblebees both in numbers (2 species are extinct in the UK and 2 are on the brink) and range, the causes of this decline–

Habitat loss
Intensification of farming with increased use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, loss of hedgerows, heavy grazing, loss of 98% of the flower-rich grasslands since 1940
Agrochemicals – harm non target species, chronic exposure, cumulative effects
Pathogens – global movement with commercial colonies imported which escape/are released and spread disease through shared flowers.

Important as pollinators (honey bees can’t do it all!) for

commercial crops,
domestic food,
wildflowers
every 3^rd mouthful comes from insect pollinated food
bumble bees are one of the most efficient pollinators
bumble bees are the only insect able to ‘buzz pollinate’ essential for crops such as tomatoes.
They are also important for their intrinsic value.

Clare then ended with ways we can help:

Habitat – gardens are very important
Plant bee friendly flowers
Plant flowers to give continuity of forage from March through to October
Create nesting sites
Create hibernation sites
Plant in swathes rather than singly
Plant different plants for different bumble bees

and why this should worry us.

Examples of good plants for bumblebees:

Spring: crocus, willow, dandelions, flowering currant, comfrey, pulmonaria, spurge, fruit trees

Early summer: Cranesbill, herbs, clover, bugle, currants, soft fruits, borage, dead nettle, cornflower

Summer: lavatera, weigela, eryngium, sunflowers, stachys, tansy, echinacaea, verbena bonariensis, open, single roses, lavender

Late summer: Knapweed, wild carrot, borage, asters, late raspberries, bramble

More can be found on the Bumblebee Conservation Trusts website (click here). Julian has also observed over several years the plants in Gelli Uchaf’s garden that pollinators, including bumblebees, favour. (Click here)

The following is taken from the bumble bee conservation website and is something that gardeners should be aware of : Recent research into garden centre plants has found that some ornamental plants on sale can contain pesticides, including neonicotinoids and fungicides at levels known to cause sub-lethal harm to bees. Although we do not yet know whether the net effect of exposing pollinators to contaminated food plants is positive or negative, gardeners wishing to lower the risk of exposing bees to these chemicals can buy from organic nurseries, plant swap with others, and or grow their own plants from seed.

Much more information is available on the bumblebee conservation’s excellent website: https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/

Plant Fair

Arrangements for our plant fair are coming along well, many thanks to John for all his hard work. We are now at the stage when we need members to come forward and offer help. A sheet for you to do this will be on the meet and greet table at all our meetings. We now have a separate page on the website giving more details about the fair so do keep checking for any updates (click here).

Growing Challenge

A reminder that the member’s medley/plant challenge for the August meeting will be to grow something in a pot which you can bring along on the night, and which is attractive to pollinating insects, and then maybe tell us a little about it, and what you’ve seen visiting the flowers. We’ll hopefully confirm a member’s home as a venue to host this event shortly, but as with last year, we’ll have a fall back of the hall, if the forecast looks poor, and/or numbers attending are too great.

Topical tips

Tip 1 (from Julian): A top tip for the whole of February, and indeed any rare dry sunny weather in January as well, involves using my most valuable garden tool. – A fine artist’s paintbrush.

Anyone who came to either our garden NGS open weekend on Saturday/Sunday or indeed the committee meeting knows why. As Mark jokily summarised it, it’s for my Sex with Cyclamen encounters. I’ve spent years looking at the early flowering spring bulbs in our garden, and what insects actually visit them to pollinate them. And for us, before about the third week in February – there are no bumblebees about. And with perfect timing I yesterday heard and then saw our first emerged bumblebee queen of the year visiting Crocus tommasinianus flowers, complete with hordes of mites, looking almost as desperate for some spring warmth and sunshine as we are! Also if you don’t have a honeybee hive actually in your garden or very close by then you’re unlikely to have any of them around either. Many of these spring flowers have a Mediterranean origin, but as you know we don’t have a similar climate, or insect population in this part of the world. But a lot of these bulbs or corms – if they’re not sterile hybrids – are quite capable of setting seed if they flower this early, just so long as they do get pollinated.

But if there aren’t any insects around then this clearly won’t happen, unless you help them out. So an hour or 2 spent now stooped over the flowers with a paintbrush tickling the flowers might worry your neighbours, but really can result in thousands of viable seeds later in the year. In addition you’re eventually likely to end up with a population of plants – (whether they’re Crocus, Cyclamen coum or even Snowdrops – you can use it on all 3 plants) – which will flower earlier and are likely to thrive in your garden’s conditions – compared with bought in plants.

And finally you’ll then value the work that pollinating insects do for us much more highly!!If you just rely on later insect population you will probably end up with a population of these flowers with a much narrower period of flowering, based on the nursery bred plants you started off with. Pretty much as soon as I spot a few bumblebees, I put the brush away, so you’re not depriving them of any valuable pollen.

Tip 2: It’s still a good time of the year to lift and divide any clumps of snowdrops. This is really the best, and only, reliable way to gradually end up with a better display each year. But I would pause if we’re heading into a prolonged dry spell with freezing Easterlies. So maybe for now hold fire and wait until wet weather returns….. I’m sure you won’t have to wait too long…. Plant them singly if you’ve got a big area to cover and are patient, or in 2’s or 3’s about 4 inches apart and 2 inches deep if you’re in more of a hurry to get a small area nicely covered.

Tip 3: Donna recommended Charles Dowding on No Dig veggie gardening videos on YouTube – click here for his website http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk

Finally a reminder that Lechryd Gardening Club are holding their own version of ‘Gardener’s Question Time’ on 14^th March starting at 7.30pm at Boncath Community Hall. Everyone is welcome, £2 for visitors.

Vicki Weston of Big Sky Plants; Summer Social and Growing Challenge; Bob Brown; Updates and Forthcoming Events

August 22, 2017 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

Vicki Weston of Big Sky Plants talking about ‘Penstemons and Salvias’ – 20th September at 7.30pm

Flower Border – Photo courtesy of Big Sky Plants

Vicki runs a nursery and smallholding located on the top of a mountain in Ceredigion. (click here for her website) She specialises in perennials, especially Penstemons and shrubby Salvias. She grows most of her plants from seed, division or cuttings so they should all be well adapted to the west Wales climate. Plants will be available for sale.

Summer Social and Growing Challenge

This year our summer social was held at Gelli Uchaf, the home of Julian and Fiona Wormald. Although the weather did not smile – in fact it tipped down – the atmosphere inside was warm, comfortable and friendly and the evening went with a swing.

The growing challenge this year was for members to bring to the social some food they had cooked/ made from something they had grown in their garden. Many rose to the occasion and we were spoilt with a wonderful array of savouries and desserts – home-grown and made sausages, pizzas and salads, peach muffins, cheesecake and rhubarb crumble to name but a few.

Bob Brown Meeting

As most of you will be aware, our October meeting is the ‘big one’ of the year with speaker Bob Brown coming to talk on ‘Too many plants, too little space’. Posters will be available at the September meeting for anyone to take who can find somewhere to put one.

Offers of help for the night will also be gratefully received – tea/coffee serving, putting out chairs, clearing up, etc. More details at the next meeting.

Ty’r Maes NGS Open Day, 6 August 2017

Despite experiencing our first wet Open Day in 9 years, visitor numbers held up very well, and a good time was had by all. Very many thanks to everyone who made it such a great event and helped us to raise over £700 for the NGS – too many to name individually, but we certainly couldn’t have done it without your help and fantastic cakes. As usual, a donation goes to Cothi Gardeners with heartfelt thanks to all. John and Helen.

Forthcoming Events

GREAT CHARITY PLANT SALE

For National Garden Scheme and Cothi Gardeners

Sunday 22 October, form 1.00pm

Ty’r Maes, Ffarmers SA19 8JP (on A482 opposite turn to Ffarmers)

Tea and coffee provided

Drefach Felindre Gardening Club (DFGC) Open Meeting 2017

DFGC would like to invite members of Cothi Gardeners to their Open Meeting on Wednesday 4^th October at 7.30pm in the Red Dragon Hall.

John Shipton of Shipton Bulbs will give a talk on “Plants of Western China”. Refreshments will be provided at the end of the meeting.

Plants for Problem Places; Garden opening; August Member’s Social; Monthly Tips

August 2, 2017August 2, 2017 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

Jenny Matthews – Plants for Problem Places

Jenny Matthews from Moorland Cottage Plants gave us a very useful and interesting talk on plants for problem places at our July meeting, illustrating it with actual plants rather than photos.

Her garden has opened for the NGS from 2000 when it was just ½ acre. It has now expanded to encompass 4 acres and in 2016 was selected for the RHS Partner Garden Scheme. Situated just on the treeline at 700’ on the NE slope of the Preseli Hills with very high rainfall, weather conditions subject to extremes, and a heavy clay soil, she described it as ‘gardening on the edge’!

Jenny explained how when she and her husband first moved there, she learnt from bitter experience that the plants she was accustomed to growing in her previous home in a more climatically benevolent part of the UK didn’t survive more than one winter. She quickly adapted and worked out which plants would ‘do’ and which wouldn’t.

All her plants are propagated by herself and as she has only one small greenhouse, they have to stay outside all year, so are genuinely hardy. She doesn’t use pesticides or fungicides (other than Roseclear if there is a bad infestation), no mollusc control and uses nematodes for controlling vine weevils.

Problem places can mean the general area in which a garden is located as well as a variety of conditions within a garden itself.

Problem locations:

Coastal and exposed estuaries – salt is the main killer as it dehydrated plants. Plants that are adapted to this are often small leaved and tussocky. Hydrangeas also survive but are smaller than those in other locations. Quickthorn and Blackthorn are suitable trees for coastal locations with Sorbus and Birch doing better slightly inland. Other examples of plants are black elder and potentillas.

Cold, exposed, windy, inland – the weather can be unpredictable so protective hedges are advisable. Use native, dense and twiggy hedging plants such as Hawthorn and Blackthorn, although the latters suckering habit can be a problem. Fatsias can survive down to -15’ if suitably sheltered. Beech, Hornbeam, Dogwood, Gorse, Physocarpus, hardy Fuchsias and Hydrangeas are all good but make sure to choose the right variety for that location. If it is windy go for shorter plants.

Problem conditions within a garden. Some of the plants listed are the genus names rather than the specific variety, so check which varieties are suited to the relevant conditions:

Dry Shade – plants are generally less luxuriant than those that grow in other areas.

Saxifrage stolonifera – copes with dense shade
Cardamine
Epimediums
Ferns eg Polystichum polyblepharum, and Blechnum penna-marina
Mitella breweri
Variegated Ground Elder
Carex

Damp Shade

Hydrangeas
Astilbes eg Willie Buchanan and Bronze Elegance
Persicaria virginiana (variegated)
Persicaria amplexicaulis
Rogersia podophylla
Carex

Dappled Shade

Hydrangeas – ‘Early Summer Bloom Star’ has red stems if in part shade
‘Oregon Pride’ – black stems
‘Sabrina’ – leaves start v dark green/black before opening
Chelanopsis – long flowering
Mukdenia rosii – spring flowering, autumn colour
Ferns – Japanese Painted
Fuchsias – ‘Genii – small
Magellanica ‘Versicolor’ – tall
Ajuga
Vancouveria – similar to Epimediums

Sunny, no extremes of sun/mosture, ordinary soil

Common Berberis
Physocarpus – ‘Diabolo D’Or’
‘Firebrand’
‘Diabolo’
Crocosmis – ‘Krakatoa’ – dark leaved with apricot flowers
‘Moorland Sunset’
Sidalcea – ‘Elsie Hugh’
Variegated Golden Rod – shorter form
Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Rose Glow’
Polemonium
Loosestrife
Mollinias – ‘moorhexe’
‘Transparent’

Dry Conditions – plants need to reduce moisture loss either from sun or wind so are often low growing, silvery leaved and hairy, and have smaller leaves.

Persicaria vaccinifolia
Sedums – low growing varieties eg ‘Thundercloud’
Potentillas
Sanguisorbas
White Rosebay Willowherb

Boggy Conditions

Lysmachia – ‘Clethroides’
‘Candela’
‘Golden Alexander’
Astilbes – ‘Visions in Red’
‘Visions in White’
‘Maggie Daley’
arendsii ‘Feuer’
‘Beauty of Ernst’
Chelone glabra
Rodgersia – ‘Buckland Beauty’
Pinnata ‘Superba’
Acorus (rush)
Filipendula (Meadow sweet)
Bog Iris – ‘Gerald Derby’
Lobelia syphalitica x cardinalis
Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Orangefield’

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Ty’r Maes, Ffarmers, Carmarthenshire, SA19 8JP

Club members John and Helen have their garden opening for the NGS this Sunday, August 6 th – do come and support them if you can ………….

A 4 acre garden with splendid views. Herbaceous and shrub beds – formal design, exuberantly informal planting, full of cottage garden favourites and many unusual plants. Burgeoning arboretum (200+ types of tree); wildlife and lily ponds, pergola, gazebos, post and rope arcade covered in climbers. Gloriously colourful; spring (rhododendrons, azaleas, azaleas, primulas, 1000’s bulbs); late summer (tapestry of annuals/perennials).
Craft, produce, books and jewellery stalls!

Opening information:
Sunday 6 August (1 – 6pm). Admission £3.50, children free. Home-made teas.
Visitors also welcome by arrangement April to September please request teas when booking.
John & Helen Brooks
01558 650541 johnhelen140@gmail.com

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August Meeting – Member’s Social

Plans are advancing well for our social evening on August 16th. This is a members only event when we can relax in each other’s company and share dishes made from something we have grown in our gardens this year (our club ‘growing challenge’ for this year). If anyone hasn’t had an email regarding the finer details for the evening then please give Julian a ring on 01558 685119.

It is hoped that we will hold it at Gelli Uchaf unless the weather is unkind and it rains all day, in which case we will contact everyone by lunch time by email, and relocate to the Coronation Hall in Pumsaint. Car shares are being organised and, so far, no-one will need to walk up from the village!

Again please get in touch if you haven’t been contacted about this.

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Monthly Tips

Caterpillars and Brassicas

Anyone growing brassicas will have their own way of dealing with caterpillars. My preferred way is to try to squish the eggs. It’s worth knowing that the eggs will hatch within 3 to 7 days of being laid, and will only get laid on dry days, when the butterflies can fly. So you need to check leaves quite regularly. The Large White’s eggs are laid in big rafts, underneath leaves, the Small and Green-veined White eggs are laid singly, usually on the underside of leaves. If you miss the eggs, look out for tiny holes appearing on the leaves from the caterpillars, and squish the tiny caterpillars. The Large White’s caterpillars are easy to find, but the Small/Green veined whites are harder to spot, because they usually are green and rest along the veins of the leaf, but often bore into the heart of the plant to feed. There are usually 2 or 3 generations of adults per year, so you can’t really relax your guard until late September.

Small White Caterpillars at various stages of maturity

Germinating Late Sown Seeds

Another tip from the excellent Hitchmough book, ‘Sowing Beauty’, is the percentage germination rates of different seeds, with once or twice weekly watering. For many plants this is less than 10%. This is really enlightening if anyone’s trying to get late sown seed to germinate well in dry conditions….like fennel for example….you may need to water it very frequently especially in the evening, so that the seed stays damp for a long period…water in the morning on a hot day, and the surface compost and seed may well dry out in just a few hours, and once the germination process has been initiated by moisture, there’s then a chance that the seed will fail, before it ever gets a decent root formed.

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PLANTS FOR W WALES; TIPS; CHALLENGES; VISITS; PIE NIGHT and GROWING VEGETABLES

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

We had a hugely successful first meeting of the year on Wednesday 15^th, with an excellent turnout including many new faces and some we hadn’t seen for a while plus a brilliant speaker in Joseph Atkin from Aberglasney.

Joseph’s talk on plants for a West Wales garden was interesting, amusing and informative. He confirmed many of our views that we are fortunate to live in an environment that enables us to grow a great range of plants, particularly those native to China and the Himalayas – as long as we can control the slugs. He showed us some old favourite plants together with some lovely new ones, particularly some of the species lily family and gave us some very useful tips on propagating from seed and how he deals with slugs at Aberglasney.

The club plant stall was well supplied with some excellent plants so very many thanks to those who brought plants and to those who bought them. The proceeds are an essential part of raising funds so that we can continue to enjoy a wider range of speakers each year.

Julian, our new Chair, fortunately sailed through his first meeting without running aground. He introduced a new 5 minute slot for members to share any topical tips, plant favourites, etc with the rest of the club, kicking off with a couple of his own, and brought the club’s whiteboard into use to highlight some of the plants mentioned. Our club has an enormous font of knowledge and this is an opportunity for everyone to share in it, so if you have something you think would be of interest to other members, then do please get in touch with Julian well in advance of the next meeting so that it can be included in one of these slots.

Julian’s tips for February were:

Jakoti hand shears. One of the most useful tools we’ve come across. They have a longer blade than secateurs, can be used with one hand easily and cut more in one go than conventional shears. They are also self sharpening. Available online for £30-£35.
Three plants for February:

a) Cyclamen coum. Copes with anything the weather throws at it. Flowers from November through to March/April. Grows in free draining soil in semi shade. Maybe best on a slope – if you haven’t got a slope try making a sloping raised bed area, beneath a tree or large shrub.

b) Galanthus x valentinei. A lovely vigorous snowdrop out in time for Valentine’s Day, which has appeared in our garden – we really don’t know if it’s a seedling cross, since we have no record of ever buying it. Best planted like most snowdrops beneath a deciduous shrub or tree.

c) Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill. Heavenly scented flowers from December through March. Well drained soil, semi shade. If you can get hold of one on its own roots, it will sucker like a wild cherry and you’ll end up with plants eventually up to 7 feet tall, covered in these scented flowers for up to 2 months.

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MEMBER’S MEDLEY AND GROWING CHALLENGE

The club growing challenge this year is for members to grow something that they then incorporate into a dish that they bring to the meeting in August to share – along with an example of what they have grown or photos if that is not practicable. Members can then share their ideas, successes or failures and sample the results. It is hoped to hold the event at Gelli Uchaf or, if the weather is bad, in the Coronation Hall as normal. Thank you to Brenda for the idea for this year’s challenge.

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GARDEN VISIT

We are planning an all day trip over the border at the end of May/early June to see two gardens that come highly recommended. The first is Westonbury Mill Water Garden (click here), entry £6 and the 2nd is Hergest Croft (click here) entry £6.50. The plan is to go by car and meet up at the gardens, having lunch at one or the other – both have cafes. The timing should be excellent for Rhododendrons.

There will be a form for anyone interested to sign at the March meeting. If you would like to add your name but can’t make the meeting then let either Julian or Fiona know.

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CLUB GARDEN SAFARI (CRAWL)

In past years we have had some fun days visiting fellow members gardens and it has been suggested that we do it again this year. If anyone is interested in adding their garden to the list of those to be visited please get in touch with Julian or sign the form at the March meeting

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PIE NIGHT

We are planning on having another Pie Night get together at the Dolaucothi Arms before the next meeting. We will meet at 6pm to eat at 6.15pm. Dave and Esther kindly allow us to come early so that we can get to the meeting on time. In order to do this we need to let them know our pie choices in advance, so anyone who would like to join us needs to let Julian know by Friday March 3rd so that we can get menus out and choices in in time.

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So with Spring just around the corner and if you’ve already enjoyed the cheerful sight of Snowdrops and Crocus recently, why not give some attention to the vegetable garden in coming weeks?
To get you started, we have invited Ivor Mace to give a talk on March 15th. Ivor has over 40 years of growing experience and has won prizes for his show onions and leeks. He’ll tell us about soil condition, pH levels and no doubt recommend varieties which should do well in your garden. There will be time for questions and answers at the end of Ivor’s talk so if you fancy having a go at growing a prize winner for your local horticultural show or would like to add some home-grown veggies to your dinner plate, then come along. Even if you don’t have space for a vegetable plot, a few container-grown plants will add vitamins and minerals to your diet and the whole family can enjoy eating what they’ve grown.
Join us on March 15th at 7.30pm, please note the later start time.

Summer Social and Pot Parade; Upcoming Meeting and Pie Night; NGS Helpers Invitation

September 2, 2016 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

SUMMER MEETING AND GROWING CHALLENGE FINALE

The August meeting of Cothi gardeners took the form of a summer social event held at the lovely home and gardens of members Philip and Anne Large. Over 30 members arrived bringing plates of food to enjoy and share, but before that came the interesting and fun sharing of ideas from this year’s growing challenge – to grow anything in a moveable pot.

Examples ranged from unidentified exotic plants grown from seed, through tomatoes, quinoa, pelargoniums, roses and broom grown from seed collected from a local hillside.

A lot of interesting and useful discussion followed including a quick lesson on how to take pelargonium cutting by Yvonne, before breaking for supper and drinks. Many thanks to Philip and Anne for the hard work in getting ready for the event, which was greatly enjoyed by all present.

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SEPTEMBER MEETING

Join us for coffee or tea and listen to how another great garden has taken shape over the last century at our next meeting on September 21st at 7.30pm when Mike Thurlow will be talking to us about ‘Reginald Cory and Dyffryn Gardens’. This National Trust property has had a chequered past but is now much restored. The original garden design was largely developed by Reginald Cory, the son of wealthy coal merchant John Cory, who had inherited the estate in 1891. Reginald worked alongside Thomas Mawson who was well-known in the Edwardian era as a designer of civic parks and gardens. In 2000 the gardens were given Grade 1 listed status by Cadw and described as “the grandest and most outstanding Edwardian gardens in Wales. They are comparable to some of the most extravagant gardens of the period in Britain.”

We are also having our 2nd pre-meeting get together for Pie Night at the Dolaucothi Arms – the first one was a big success. It is a great opportunity to have a more relaxed natter with fellow members. Cost will be £10 per person for a pie (there is always a vegetarian option) and drink; optional dessert if you eat fast, and are hungry … Because of time constraints on the evening, we’ll need to meet by about 6.00pm, and eat around 6.15pm, to enable us to finish in time for setting up for the meeting. Names of anyone wishing to come need to be with Julian by Friday 9th September so that menu choices can be sorted out in advance.

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NGS HELPERS REMINDER

Jane and Ivor Stokes, have invited any members who have helped out at any NGS garden openings this year to join them, the team and NGS garden owners at their annual ‘Thank You’ tea party and plant sale. It is at Llyshendy, Llandeilo, SA19 6YA at 3.30pm on Sunday 11th September. Contact Jane on 01558 823233 or jane.h.stokes@btinternet.com

From Plant Origins to Club Growing Challenges

August 8, 2016 / cothigardeners / 2 Comments

Helen Warrington with her plants

We had a very successful July meeting when Helen Warrington gave us a fascinating talk on the origins of plants, taking us from post ice age Britain when there were very few, (but amazingly did include Rhododendron ponticum which subsequently died out but was then reintroduced in the 17th Century!) through to modern times with a virtually unlimited number. On our journey through the ages we heard how important invaders and travellers were in introducing or bringing back new species which are now considered ‘native’. For example, the Romans brought their own stinging nettle as the indigenous one was not ‘stingy’ enough – used for flagellation!, plus many other plants for culinary and medicinal purposes such as fennel, garlic, apples (we only had crab apples) and walnut. Plant seeds were known to have been brought back throughout history from the Crusades onwards, and seeds found in ballast from ships also found their way in eg Anemone coronaria. Another little known gem was that the Welsh discovered North America in 1170, well before Columbus.

Sarracenia-purpurea – Photo by Ty Cwm Nursery

All in all a thoroughly informative and enjoyable evening and rounded off with the opportunity to buy some of Helen’s lovely plants. Do visit Helen’s nursery, Ty Cwm, near Lampeter or take a look at her website (click here).

Ty Cwm Nursery

The August meeting is our summer social evening for members only on Wednesday 17th at 7.30pm. This year Anne and Philip Large have kindly invited us to Glan-yr-afon for the evening. Please bring a plate of ‘nibbles’, plants for the plant stall and, most importantly, your ‘Growing Challenge’ pot. Remember the challenge is not a competition so even if your pot was less successful than you had hoped bring it anyway as much can often be learnt from things that don’t work as from things that do! If your pot is too big or heavy to bring then do please try and print some photos of it and bring them along instead.

MEETING UPDATES; DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES and HELP NEEDED

May 20, 2016 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

There was an excellent turnout at our meeting on Wednesday 19th May to hear Carrie Thomas give an illustrated and highly informative talk on the intricacies of latin plant nomenclature, explaining why latin names are needed, how they are arrived at and how they explain individual plant characteristics, habitat, etc.

She started the evening with a warning about Aquilegia downy mildew disease which has decimated her national collections of Aquilegias and is gradually spreading through the UK. See her website for more information at http://www.touchwoodplants.co.uk/aquilegia-downy-mildew.htm

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Requests for help at various events in the coming months were made. If anyone is able to offer their assistance at any of the following please contact the relevant parties.

1) Keith Brown will be having a plant stall at the NGS garden open at
Gelli Mydog, Myddfai, SA20 0JQ on Sunday, June 5th and Sunday, July 24th between 12 and 5pm. Due to his illness he has asked for help to man the stall, so if anyone can spare an hour or more to help out on either or both these days please contact Anne at glan-yr-afon@hotmail.co.uk .

2) John and Helen have a large group visiting their garden on Saturday, June 18th and have asked for help with both the serving and supply of cakes for the teas. Contact them at johnhelen@greystones140.freeserve.co.uk

3) Angela and Martin (Sculptors Garden, The Old Post Office) have their joint garden open day with Benda (Bwlchau Duon) and would also like help with the serving and supply of cakes for the teas. Contact through www.farquharsonduffysculpture.com

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PICTON GARDENS VISIT

Remember our visit to Picton Gardens is this Wednesday. Those who would like to can meet up at 5pm in the visitors carpark for a picnic tea within the grounds before we all meet Roddy at 6pm by the Restaurant (closed at that time). He will then take us on a guided tour of the garden. Plants will be on sale but please remember to take cash as there will be no credit card facility. Cost is £4.50 per person (no concessions or free entry as this is a special tour out of normal opening hours). Anyone who would like/can offer to car share please contact Margaret on 01558 650887

OUR NEXT MEETING………..

Speaking to the Cothi Gardeners’ Club on Wednesday, 15th June will be Sarah Jones from Dinefwr in Llandeilo.
Sarah is a National Trust ranger and will tell us about her work, which includes taking care of the famous herd of White Park cattle, fallow deer and of course the extensive grounds.
Some of us may have already walked around Dinefwr but Sarah will let us know all about the history of the park, including a visit in the 17th century by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown who advised the then owners of Newton House on the possibilities of landscaping the grounds. Today a popular walk on the estate has been named the Capability Brown Trail.
A large part of Sarah’s work involves conservation, so we will learn about the unusual and endangered species which we may be lucky enough to encounter and how the grounds are maintained for visitors to enjoy at all times of the year.

Cothi Gardeners Growing Challenge and Meetings Updates

March 23, 2016March 24, 2016 / cothigardeners / Leave a comment

2016 Growing Challenge

Do you like a challenge? The 2016 gardening challenge was launched last month by our chairperson Daisy. After a successful Tomato Growing Challenge last year, this time it’s a quite different theme: “What can you grow in one pot?” Daisy suggested a medium-sized (about 20 cm diameter) plant pot, either plastic or terracotta, whichever you prefer. You can grow whatever you like, however, you need to be able to bring your pot along to the August meeting, so try and make sure it won’t be too heavy or awkward to lift. As with all our challenges, it is not a competition, just good fun and a chance to be creative.

Meetings Update

We had an excellent meeting on March 16th when Keith Treadaway gave a very informative talk on Clematis and how we could have Clematis in flower all the year round, by choosing the right varieties. He showed us examples of the different Clematis categories, explaining which were relatively easy to grow, along with those that were rather tender or prone to disease, and concluded with a summary of how to plant, care for and most importantly prune them. For those who were not able to make the meeting, or weren’t able to get a handout on the night, Keith’s list of all the Clematis he mentioned or illustrated in his talk is shown below – remember that not all those in the list are necessarily suitable for our gardens so it is best to look them up before buying. Keith also gave out another handout with a few useful addresses and some basic tips which is shown below the list. His garden, ‘Rosewood’ is open for the NGS on 17th July – for more info click here.

Our next meeting is on April 20^th at 7.30pm when we welcome back Richard Cain from Penlan Perennials. The theme of Richard’s talk this time is ‘Colourful Shade’ and he will also be bringing some of his excellent plants for us to buy. Penlan Perennials in N. Pembrokeshire specialise in hardy plants used to coping with low temperatures and high rainfall. The nursery is completely organic and has recently won an Environmental Excellence Award from Horticulture Wales. Click on the link to go to their website, penlanperennials.co.uk , to learn more. We do hope you will be able to come and join us for what will prove to be a highly informative and enjoyable evening.

The Plant Shop – this has started well so please do come and support it at each meeting. Remember: good quality, potted up, labelled, and priced plants to be donated. A table will be set up for the ‘Plant Shop’ at the back of the hall, with a tin for the money to be left in. Please price your donation/s according to size of pot, type of plant and so that it reflects the true value while being less than a garden centre would charge. This way those purchasing will have a good quality product at an advantageous price.

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