28th July 2018

Sue Bulbrook had been persuaded to host the Summer Social after having held her daughter’s wedding reception in their beautiful garden, last Summer.

Since this year started with a long period of snow, excessively low temperatures, then a great deal of rain, Sue was already struggling before the 50+ days of drought immediately preceding the event.

The first rain, several hours of it, occurred on the day before, and it was slightly showery while we were setting up on the morning. However, the sun shone, the caterer  arrived and members were welcomed with a glass of wine or home-made elderflower ( from Sue’s own shrubs), or other cordial before roaming round the garden and meeting other members.

We had provided members with name-badges, requested by a fairly new member, and useful to many of us who remember faces, but not names, unless, of course, they are plant names.

Sue had been complaining bitterly that her garden was not as colourful as she would have liked, - and it certainly wasn’t as orange as it was two years ago when we were last there,-  due to the vagaries of the weather. Without that background knowledge, the garden was still interesting in its layout and design, the plant associations and colour-schemes, as well as the textural relationships between foliage, stonework, and  containers.

The stepped terrace, directly outside the back of the house, with groups of tables and chairs, provided vantage points for members to admire the immediate groups of colourful and varied plants in pots, and the collection of Japanese Acers and others on a tiered stand in a shady corner. From there, we could glimpse inviting pathways between the shrubs and flower beds to hidden glades beyond.

There were a number of large trees in the garden, providing shade, and green lawns - an unusual sight for many of us just now. A degree of excitement was caused by a sudden cracking sound when a large branch of an old Acacia tree broke and swung, hinged by an edge, fortunately not close to anyone, but giving Judy Wilson a near heart-attack.

The lunch, of delicate canapés was enjoyed by all, but perhaps mostly by those who got there first!

We had a plant stall, for which some members brought fresh plants. Other than that, they were the ones being nurtured ( or otherwise) by Linda and me, and we were very grateful to members who bought them, helping us to fund-raise for the Group.

A newish member brought some pots of seedling Lapeirousia, also known as Anomotheca, and apparently correctly known as Freesia laxa, ( but don’t quote me there!). Several members examined them in perplexed interest. I was rash enough to buy some. ( See separate note).

After lunch, Linda called the raffle, for which we had plenty of donated prizes, all of which, I trust, went to good homes.

There was then time for a final scan of Sue’s interesting plants, a brief wander, and, for several members, an excursion into Sue’s husband, Lee’s,  mystical Workshop, where he, with the mind of engineering scientist, worthy of the title of  ‘inventor,’ showed some of his projects and equipment.

Starving members, and their passengers, came round to my garden for a cuppa and a cheese roll before facing the drive home.

The general feeling was that Sue’s garden was better than anybody had a right to hope for and a good day was had by all.

Since numbers of members attending were half what they have been in recent years, the committee would be interested in changing the format to suit more members.

Did you consider it too expensive?

Was it too soon to visit the same garden again?

There was a suggestion that an evening meeting, perhaps later in the Summer, would attract more members. An earlier one would suit, if John and Brenda were organising the holiday in another month, than June, 

if a lot more members were prepared to contribute food, it would be feasible to return to our old ways, but for just the committee to do it is too much work, we don’t get to take part in the event, and we can’t produce enough food, given reasonable expenditure of our voluntary time. 

Tell us what you think.

Chris Davies.

13th January 2018

Joe said the organisation of variegated tissues in plant cells can be seen through a microscope. This is where variegation starts from.

It can be caused through environmental conditions, viruses, pattern gene variegation, chimera, of which there are several kinds, and transposons, ( or switching genes).

Joe showed a range of slides of plants illustrating variations on variegation sources and patterns.

Variegation starts in individual cells, at an early stage of cell division, and the same variegation multiplies as that cell divides.

White variegation contains no chlorophyll and these cells are smaller than cream or yellow ones, containing a little chlorophyll, and these are a little smaller than green ones, so that when a white  layer of tissue, overlays a green layer, or a green layer is bordered by a white layer, as in variegated leaves, the leaves may be puckered or twisted.

Each layer of tissue in a leaf may be differently pigmented from the others, and this will show as different shades at the surface. The absence of chlorophyll may also affect the proper shape of the leaf because of the cell size differential.

Frost, sunburn, chemical effects and access to specific mineral nutrients can also cause superficial variegation. This will alter in new leaves when those conditions change and wouldn’t be passed on to seeds, or remain in cuttings.

Viruses in cells can cause a range of variegation, some of which is considered decorative. This is subjective. The existence of a virus can be proved if it transmits to another plant.

Pattern gene variegation is controlled by chromosomes in the cell nucleus. This is a source of silver variegation, when the layers of the leaves become separated, and is most often seen in shade-loving plants.

Red and purple colours come from anthrocyanins, when present in the cells. These colours are not linked to the chlorophyll variegation, so are selected separately by nurserymen.

A chimera is composed of more than one form of DNA, Joe compared this to cancer in humans, but in plants it is not necessarily life-threatening. This does not necessarily cause variegation in plants. 

Variegation from complete layers of cells is more stable than when the variegation has started from wedges of colours, as in stems.

Examples of sectorial chimeras were Euonymous and Acer negundo ‘ Flamingo’. This creates an unstable chimera, in which reversion to green is likely, and will grow at the expense of the variegated tissues.

Monocotyledons plants produce their variegation from a linear row of cells, which, as they divide to lengthen the leaf will maintain the variegation that each started with.

Transposons are genes which can be ‘ switched’ on or off, and will cause one of two colours at any one time. They are capable of switching during the cell’s lifetime. He showed a plant with finely speckled all over variegation as an example.

Another example was a dahlia with some petals entirely white whilst the others were entirely red, due to a gene switch in relevant petals when they were composed of only one cell. 

 Joe explained what seeds of different variegations were capable of.

Transposons always produce seedlings with transposons.

A seed from a variegated plant will be capable of producing a  seedling of the colour carried by it. Seeds carrying no chlorophyll- producing capacity may grow an embryonic root, but not a viable plant.

Joe said that in Britain and in Japan, variegated forms of wild plants could always be found.

 This was our longest talk ever 2hr 10min.

Chris Davies

9th December 2017

Jim noted that this was a small specialist nursery of 20 years standing and their catalogue was only available on their internet web “shop”, or as plants in the RHS Plantfinder.

They grew 1200 to 1500 plant varieties, including roses, and were specialists in flowering crab-apples and dogwoods.

Unusually but very usefully, Tim showed a diagram of the Earth’s movement around the Sun, showing it’s inclination, and clearly demonstrating the way sunlight falls on Earth through the seasons, because Earth’s axis is tilted towards the North Star, so tilts away and towards the Sun according to the section of it’s orbit. The angle alters the concentration of light falling on any part of the planet, giving long shadows in Winter.

Photosynthesis slows when there is less light, so leaf contents are partially reabsorbed by the plant, allowing other pigments to show through, creating the autumn tints.

Gardeners may take advantage of the leaf fall to assess the shape of trees and shrubs, with regard to pruning and training.

Jim considered four aspects of plants for the garden:- Fruit and wildlife, Bark, Flowers, and Evergreens.

He listed the qualities of a number of Crab apples, noting their attraction for Fieldfare and other birds, moving on to describe the relationship of a number of seeds to the bird species gardeners might expect to see.

Several varieties of trees, including Betula, Prunus and Acer species were recommended for their Winter bark, then Winter- flowering shrubs, finishing with the evergreen ones, a number of which were highly scented, such as Sarcococca and Chimonanthus praecox.

Jim then continued to describe the flowers of late Winter, moving into Spring, depending on the weather, including Helleborus, the small Irises, such as reticulata and its varieties, and Hepaticas.

He recommended a visit to Cambridge Botanic Gardens in Winter.

Finally, a list of Winter gardening jobs was described, with some information and reminders about our changing climate.

( See the full write-up in the next Newsletter.)

Chris Davies. 

11th November 2017

14th October 2017

This talk, held on a most summery day, concerned as you might guess all things autumn. It was billed as being a talk by John but after his introduction Gail took over the reins to guide us through their ideas on how to get the best in terms of structure and colour in the autumn garden.

John’s introduction gave a few words on their horticultural history. The arrival of a B and Q store close to their bedding plant nursery put an end to that business and in 1984 they turned their talents to establishing Westshores Nursery in N. Lincolnshire specialising in  ornamental grasses and scented pelargoniums. He went on to explain that he was the builder cum maintenance person while Gail was the plant expert and botany teacher.

Gail started by talking about first flowering dates and the effects of climate change on these. She went on to give us illustrated examples of what she considered to be the “Skeleton” of an autumn garden, i.e. trees and shrubs. Amongst others she recommended  species we all know such as the Japanese acers and prunus for leaf colour; spindleberry, pyracanthus, sorbus, berberis and cotoneaster for their berries. Less common (to me anyway) were eleutherococcus sieboldianus with its large black fruits resembling giant blackberries and decaisnea fargesii bearing fat blue finger-like fruits also known as Dead Man’s fingers. Her top recommendation was Abelia x grandiflora with its small glossy oval leaves and clusters of pale pink, slightly fragrant flowers lasting well into autumn.

The next selection of plants Gail called “Long term stayers” and these included grasses, verbena and asters. John interrupted the talk here to tell us about a remedy for mildew on asters meant to be a trade secret. It involved mixing up a spray solution of 1 part milk to 10 parts water. Casein, found in milk is the active ingredient for inhibiting the formation of mildew apparently. Gail added that some of the newer varieties of aster were more resistant to mildew. Other plants recommended were rudbeckias, heleniums, kniphofias, euphorbias and some of the ferns.

The third selection consisted of the plants Gail called “visitors”.  These included half- hardy perennials such as fuschias and dahlias and especially salvia “Amistad” with its display of unusually deep purple flowers with almost-black calyces and stems lasting from summer through to autumn. This salvia is also extremely popular with bees and makes an excellent cut flower.  Late flowering hanging baskets were easy way to add some interest and colour in the autumn.

Finally we were given advice on extending the season : making sure plants were healthy, dead heading except where seed and flower heads were to be kept for interest, and mulching were all top tips. The “Chelsea chop” was mentioned as a way of extending the season, late flowering plants also being beneficial to insects. Use of evergreens/conifers and autumn bulbs were seen as useful additions to the autumn garden.

By Janet Stevens.