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Jethro in the Garden My 3 ½ year old Grandson loves to be out in the garden, whether running around kicking his football (Aussie Rules), riding his bike or investigating the plants and flowers. A few weeks ago he and his sister, Tahlia, found some slaters under a sprinkler (this is woodlice in the UK). I picked one up and put it onto the palm of my hand, where it curled into a ball. Jethro and Tahlia watched it and, when it uncurled and started moving, they thought that was

very funny. Jethro wanted to have one on his hand straightaway. Tahlia was a bit hesitant. But they both eventually held one each and laughed when the slater crawled around their hands.

The Echiums have been invaded by woolly brown caterpillars or “clatterpillers” as Jethro calls them so the children like to pick them off and drop them to the ground from where they no doubt crawl back up the plant.

Last week, after very heavy rain, Jethro spent a lot of time walking through a large muddy puddle, he turned it into mush! Because we have had a windy, cold winter there have been a lot of days we have not been outside so any hint of sun with no wind is grabbed.

They both like to learn the names of flowers but I laughed during the recent school holidays when Tahlia pointed to a flower and told Jethro “that is a Sweetpea” – it was an Arum Lily! I will show them the Sweet Peas when they flower, they are still growing.

Being in the garden with children is special.

Deidre Butterfield who gardens in Adelaide, Australia

CORRESPONDENCE GROUP

DECEMBER 2014 NEWSLETTER

Editor: Lorraine Rudd

e-mail: lorrainejrudd@sky.com

Ass

Lorraine’s Crab Apple Jelly Recipe (this one really works)!

4 1b (2 kilo) crab apples, 2 pints (1 litre) water, juice of 1 lemon, granulated sugar – (you can use a combo of apples,

crab apples and elderberries with this recipe)

Put apples in a large saucepan or jam pan without peeling. Add water and lemon juice. Boil then simmer gently covered

until apples are soft and pulpy – about 30 mins. Uncover and cook more briskly until liquid is reduced by a third. Strain

mixture through a jelly bag into a bowl until dripping has stopped. I keep crushing the mix until most of the juice runs

out. Measure juice and allow 1 1b (half a kilo) granulated sugar to every pint (approx. half litre). Put back into saucepan

and stir over a low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached. With crab apples

you find that you can actually feel the jelly setting as you stir. Pour into jars and seal. One opened you need to keep in

fridge. It won’t last long as it is lovely with all meats and veg.

Malus ‘Royalty’ produces lots of huge red fruits and has lovely deep pink flowers in the Spring.

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THE SHED

When we moved to our house thirteen years ago there was a dilapidated shed in one corner of the garden. It became a useful dumping ground for all sorts of unwanted bits and pieces as well as a home for the mower and the BBQ. Over the years it has deteriorated and fallen into disrepair, so much so that this year we decided we must dispose of it and replace with a better one to store the garden bits and pieces in.

We found a suitable shed and then came problem of how to dispose of the old one. We got a quote from a local man which was very high, so I started to ask around my

neighbours for a handyman who could do the job for us. Eventually we found a retired man who quoted £25 to take it down and break it up into manageable pieces so we could get it to the recycling centre ourselves by car.

So then it was my job to empty the shed in preparation for its demolition. A lot of the stuff went straight into the rubbish bin. As we hadn’t needed it in the last thirteen years I made the decision to just throw it away. But things are never straightforward are they! In order to empty the shed of the things we did want, they had to be housed somewhere else. Either the lean-to or the garage.

So I set to, to make space in the lean-to being as ruthless as I could. First I put three, part bags of bulb fibre round on the flower beds. I threw away all the large plastic compost bags saved for an unknown purpose. I threw out all last year’s tulip bulbs reckoning that I would in any case buy new for this winter. Then I moved some canes and tools around and that opened up space enough to store five bags of compost I plan to put round the garden in the autumn.

The garage had to be reorganised in a much more effective manner. I should have done this months ago, but always put it off hoping that somehow it would all happen without my input. Unlikely, as my husband seems to be happy to work in chaos. So I found a larger box to store all my jam jars and new places for the recycling boxes. I threw away an old plastic Christmas tree which is surplus to requirements, it should have gone months ago. Then, satisfied I had made enough space for the rehousing, I went back to the shed.

Every bag of compost had its complement of slugs and snails stuck to the outside. I don’t know how anyone else disposes of the nasty things, (any ideas welcome) but I’m afraid my method is quick and messy, I squash them under my shoe. So there was a positive killing ground outside the shed door. Each bag got heavier as I dragged them up towards my lean-to where they fitted neatly into the space I had made.

There are lots of old tools, now never used, which I hope some charity will eventually take away. But meanwhile they too went into the lean-to. The strimmer has a new home in the garage, along with a lawn scarifier (never used), and two mowers, and the BBQ.

I swept out the now empty shed and saw that there were a small pile of plum stones neatly drilled by mice. The plum tree is in the garden that backs onto us. The plums are tiny golden ones eaten by birds, squirrels and mice. There were also two small papery round nests of some wasp or bee. Both now empty, but on closer inspection contained inside a tiny section of honeycomb structure.

I was saying to my husband on his return from work that there was much to get rid of and his response was that we would put everything back regardless into the new shed. We will not do that as I have horrid memories of clearing the cellar in my parent’s house when they died. That was their dumping ground for their unwanted stuff in their lives. They had lived through the war and never threw anything away in case it came in useful. That included a few floor tiles, left over wall tiles, and a small bottle of straw hat dye among many other things! We will only keep what we need, no make do and mend and no spares in case they come in useful as I know from experience they won’t. Jan Etchells

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MY MONSTER - A friendly monster lurks in the corner of my bedroom on the sunny windowsill. It is my Lobivia cactus (now renamed Echinopsis but I prefer the old name). It has grown so big and unwieldy I cannot move it or even handle it but it seems quite happy to be left to it's own devices. Of course I water it regularly, about once a week in summer, less in winter. It must be about the easiest to care for plant there is. The name Lobivia is simply an anagram of Bolivia where this cactus genus grows. It must look fabulous in the wild - they love the sun and need a sunny place to grow in but they can take a lot of cold. I believe it gets very cold in the desert at night, mine happily lives through the coldest winter nights in my unheated (through choice) room. I think it is only frost that would kill them. I never knew my cactus would attain this size. I got it at a Church Fete, it was a round bobble the size of my thumbnail in a plastic cup. I paid 20p for it, one of my best ever bargains. I recall when I got it home I repotted it, or rather as it had no roots then, I put the bobble on top of a small pot of soil mixture then left it on a windowsill and forgot about it. I think it was a month or so later I noticed it had grown bigger and then took care of it which only amounted to watering it now and then. It was a huge success, a miracle when, after about three years of sitting on a windowsill in our house, it flowered. By then the cactus had reached the size of a fist and one summer it began to put out a long growth that on Midsummer at midnight it opened into the most unbelievably gorgeous and glamorous blossom ever seen with the most fantastic Arabian nights perfume that fills the whole room. Jane Baker - Bristol

Wow this is a big cactus –

perhaps Jane will send us a

pic when it flowers next

year.

I bought a tree fern from a

show years ago when it

was just a little piece of

bark, no leaves – it became

a very large tree fern after

5 years!

Lorraine

Bouncing blackbirds

I have written before about the delights of bird watching and the blackbirds who come to feed and bathe. Outside

my French windows is a fuchsia bush. Truth to tell it probably needs a hard prune and a feed as the flowers aren’t

very prolific. But it has flowered and produced fat juicy seeds which hang temptingly from the stems.

There is a male blackbird that has spied these tempting seeds. He sits under the lower branches on the ground and

selects in his mind which one he’s going to go for. Then he makes an upward leap as if on a trampoline and snatches

the chosen seed. The juicy bit of the seed goes down his gullet at first swipe and he lands back down to earth with

the stem of the seed head dangling out to the side of his beak. Another swallow and that too is ingested. He’ll do

this several times until sated with seeds before flying off. Jan Etchells

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A Talk to a Garden Club from Down Under

I've been asked to talk about some companion plants which grow with begonias, so I am taking you on a tour of three of my garden beds. Begonias are social plants, enjoying the company of each other, and many other varieties of plants. In particular, I have found that members of the Acanthaceae family - Justicia, Ruellia and Strobilanthes - grow happily with canes, shrub-likes and rhizomes. I like to plant in layers and in one bed, plants of Justicia carnea (Brazilian plume flower) with large plumes of light and dark pink, and white, are planted, with canes, including 'Irene Nuss', 'Kermo' Queen', 'Juanita's Jewel', 'Sophie Cecile', 'White Chandelier' and Undulata, as a background. to the second layer of plants, which contains shrubs, such as Bs. scharffiana, sharffii, 'Ginny', 'Lady Clare', and listada, the area being shared with the arching stems of Justicia brasliliana, with masses of pink, fan-shaped flowers, covering its stems and complementing the white/pink flowers of the shrubs begonias. Nestled around these plants are a number of rhizomes, including 'Blackie', 'Red Dragon', Page 13', 'cathedral windows' and 'Cleopatra', together with Eucharis lilies, varieties of Ctenanthe, Spathyphyllums, brightly coloured coleus and a large pot of cream coloured clivea. At the garden edge, begonias 'coral west' and 'red cascade' are planted. A little along from this section, is a tall plant of dark leafed Iresene, and in front is a Strobilanthes dyeriana (Persian shield) whose striking silver/purple foliage is a focal point for some silver-leaf begonias, including 'Little Brother M' , 'Connee Boswell', 'Silver Sal', 'Silver Jewel', 'Aquamarine' and the rex, 'Grey Ghost'. Another Justicia, a cute ground cover, with the unwieldy name of J. scheidweileri, with silver/grey marked leaves, and pretty, whiskery flower heads, weaves its way happily among the begonias, tying the colour scheme together. Further along this bed, between an old fashioned Fuchsia, 'Ambassador' , a white Hydrangea and a Dichroa, an hydrangea-like plant, more rhizomes are planted, including 'Immense', 'Kara', 'Sisquoc', 'Cowardly Lion' and one rhizome I call 'rhubarb', because of its large, green leaves and red stems, as well as other various unnamed rhizomes, along with a selection of ferns, such as maidenhair, pteris and boston and button, ligularia varieties, green/white leaf hippeastrums, and some members of the Gesneriad family - the large flowered blue streptocarpus, achimenes, impatiens-like flowers in mauve, blue and pink, and Kohleria eriantha, with velvety, green leaves, and bell shaped red flowers. These provide a welcome splash of colour. This area receives morning and afternoon sun.

Many gardeners are not fond of orange in the garden, but I like it, and in a sunnier area, have planted a range of orange/apricot /red and yellow flowered plants. Again, using members of the Acathacea family - J. rizzini, with scarlet, orange and yellow bells, Justicia brandgeana, the old fashioned shrimp plant, (often called Beloperone) in a couple of varieties, one, with limey/yellow bracts, and the other with rusty-red and J. aurea with bright yellow plumes. Accompanying these, are canes - coral rubra, orange sherbert, Fremantle and Fabulous Tom. An orange abutilon gives height to the bed, and nearby, an apricot flowered brugmansia, provides some shade. An An extension of this bed sees an informal planting of arborescence var. oxyphylla, the bronzey leaves of which tone with a stand of dark leaf canna and clumps of another member of the Acanthaceae family - Ruellia brevifolia - with red funnel-shaped flowers Also in the area is a fuchsia triphylla hybrid, with bronze leaves and red tubular flowers and clumps of the red-flowered 'dragon wing'. During summer, self-sown plants of Amaranthus 'fat spike' appear. These are tall plants, with dark reddish stems and large plumes of flowers of the same colour.

Finally, a recent planting of B. albo-picta rosea, is teamed with two large salvias, one called Deslee, with purple flowers, and S. splendens, the gold leaf form of the pineapple sage and covered with red flowers. Planted behind are three climbers, Beaumontia and stephanotis, both with white flowers, and an Aust. l bred clelmatis, Auman, with bold blue flowers, making a pleasing picture. Begonias are accommodating plants, and I have all kinds planted in each of my garden beds. These are a few of the plant combinations, incorporating begonias, which I think work well. Why not experiment with your own combinations? I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised. Margaret Chedra from Sydney, NSW

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A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME

I loved the article on the front cover by Deidre regarding children in the garden. This year was a ‘special’ birthday for me and I wanted to visit Hampton Court Flower Show which was an old stomping ground in my youth (Bushey Park anyway). I was born in a little cottage in Teddington

and I was there until I was 18. I had visited the house on the outside over the years but never managed to get inside as the owners were always out. I got organised this year and wrote to the owner. She very kindly agreed to my visiting. We had much in common – she is a teacher at my old Infants School. This school was my favourite and had a great influence on me. We were encouraged to be outside playing in the Wendy house, with a tankful of plastic fish, sandpit etc. Of course we grew mustard and cress on blotting paper on the windowsills. The junior school was connected to the infants and, for our art classes, we would take our easels and go out on Nature walks, painting the swans, coots and moorhens. I am sure this started my love of being outside in Nature and eventually gardening. At Hampton Wick Home Park was nearby so there were lots of green areas to visit.

Well the house in Teddington, although modernised now, still had a cosy feeling, however I don’t remember the ceilings being so low! It was nice to know that the owner’s daughter was in me and my sister’s old bedroom and her son was in my brothers’ old room. The only real disappointment was the garden. I remember it being long. Because of an extension it is now a lot smaller. The lady owner has not got around to making a garden yet but I tried to encourage her by taking a few of my cuttings to get her started. There are lovely old walls all around so she could make good use of them with lots of roses and clematis. My Dad always grew flowers and veg and I always enjoyed podding the peas for him.

Overnight, before the show, I stayed in the Lensbury Club hotel which is still a ‘posh’ hotel. I was a chambermaid there in my youth. The hotel had upgraded my room and it was really lovely staying there. One thing that has not changed is Teddington Lock. We had a lovely evening walking over the lock, lots of childhood memories there. Teddington, itself, is still a nice place to live, despite all the traffic, of course the houses still do not have garages so there are so many cars parked in the streets. Most of the proper shops have gone now, being replaced by trendy restaurants. We visited one, a lovely Thai meal. I kept trying to remember all the different shops in the High Street. As we lived there too the shop-keepers all used to know us by name.

I paid a visit to my old relatives long gone in the local cemetery. My cousin met me there. Because there was no money in those days a lot of the graves are unmarked. However my cousin had a plan of the cemetery which showed where the graves would have been. I had picked some flowers from my garden and made little ‘tussey-mussie’ posies with them to place in the various areas. The first was to a little brother, Gary, secondly to a grandmother I never knew, Thirza, and finally to an Aunt, my Dad’s favourite sister, Eileen. This latter one had a stone goblet and on it was the name “June”. My cousin could not understand this last reference but when my Aunt was alive, and I used to visit her, I used to write down some of the things she told me because I knew I would never remember everything. I had found an old note-book prior to my visit and it said “Eileen – who wished to be known as June” – mystery solved! The graveyard was not a depressing place as there are allotments running one side of it and people had made it look really cheery with their tables and chairs, flowers and veg.

The visit to the show next day was wonderful as useful – the setting of the show with the palace in the background is just beautiful. I managed to spend all my birthday money really quickly!

It was lovely having a trip up memory lane. Lorraine Rudd

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Fleurieu Peninsular, South Australia Last Tuesday I met my sister at a recently discovered (to us) nursery situated near the tiny town of Delamere, 70ks approximately south from me. The nursery has been there for over 30 years. It is surrounded by beautiful forest full of stringy-bark trees and grass trees – thought to be the oldest of this type of forest left in South Australia. I drove to Delamere through rolling green hills dotted with sheep, lLambs and cows and almond trees in full flower near ruins of old houses. On my right, out to the West, the sea was a lovely colour in the sunshine.

After leaving Delamere I found Three Bridges Road and then turned into Tappanappa Road, through the magical forest. The sun shone through the tall trees and spread itself through and over the undergrowth that included the grass trees. I have never seen such large grass trees, really beautiful. I expected to see characters from May Gibbs’ lovely stories about ‘Snugglepot and ‘Cuddlepie’ peeping out! She was the first Australian author to write stories about the Australian Bush and she created a fairytale landscape from the flowers, seedpods and animals. May Gibbs was born in 1881 and her first gumnut stores appeared in 1916. During World War I her postcards were sent in Red Cross parcels to soldiers. I didn’t see any gumnut babies, just a lovely forest. Di and I wandered around looking at plants and I chose some to buy and we went to pay. Suddenly a tiny bird darted into my plants, then there were a lot more - beautiful blue wrens. They were very tame and came to the table to have pieces of cheese, supplied by the staff! I had not been as close to these delightful tiny birds before, it was a lovely experience. A grey thrush soon joined them, he likes cheese as well. My sister and I will be going back in the Spring.

Deidre Butterfield who gardens in Adelaide, Australia

The beautiful blue wren

David Austin Roses - Last Saturday we went to David Austin Roses to buy a housewarming present for my daughter and

partner who have just bought a new house on the Isle of Wight. This one has three acres of garden and will require a

mighty effort to control. My daughter is already talking enthusiastically about making a long perennial border and having

climbing roses, so I thought we would make a start on the rose front.

I worried that the roses would be well past their best, but I need not have worried, they were all in tip top condition. We

chose two different roses, a white one, William and Kate, and a deep red velvety one, Munstead Wood. Both are scented.

We tucked them away in the boot of the car and went back in to enjoy the other delights David Austin has. There is a large

rose garden well maintained with box hedging and lots of lovely roses to smell. There are raised beds of potted roses for

sale as well as a large collection of plants suitable to use as companion plants to the roses.

There is also a very lovely timber framed café/ restaurant where smiling waitresses come to take your order. And the

obligatory shop full of overpriced goods. Oh and there are peacocks wandering the gardens. Mercifully they were silent on

our visit, as although they look delightful, the noise they make can only be described as raucous!

Next time we visit we will try and make it in the rose season, say June when the sunshine will fully bring out the perfect

rose scents of the old roses. They are practically on our doorstep, but somehow we have never made it there in high

summer, something we plan to remedy next year. Jan Etchells

NB: David Austin Roses is dog friendly as David Austin loves dogs too! You can have afternoon tea in the garden with your

dog as well as visit the garden.

David

Austin’s

Munstead

Wood Rose

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‘Cemetery Garden’

Apart from my garden I have a special little garden at the cemetery. My Partner is a Carpenter and has made me a

miniature wooden fence and so it really looks like a little garden.

I always keep it planted out – this year lavenders. I was told they were especially low growing – they looked so nice.

Then they started growing!

I have never seen such tall flowers – I have enclosed a print to show you what I picked from them. They were such lovely

flowers but in the wrong garden.

I have now planted them in my garden at home and have planted heathers in the cemetery garden this time with winter

pansies later.

Joan Wilson, Tolworth

EYE ON LOCAL NATURE

My penfriend Geraldine (actually that should be email friend) produces a charming local nature magazine that reflects on the wonder and beauty that is all around us - not half the world away. I relish having someone to report in brief texts on the manifestations of the natural world, God’s creation, I see around me. Back in May I reported on seeing a Yellow Wagtail down by the concrete straight at Eastville. I've also variously sent word of swifts, swallows, kestrels, foxes and a kingfisher. This last I saw in the unlikely but true location of the river Avon in central Bristol just near ASDA. Bristol is a very green city - a very garden city. In Bristol we unfortunately have a joke Mayor, a bit like Boris. So far old red-trousers has concentrated on making Bristol a car free party city but now he is turning his attention to the housing shortage. He wants to sell off Council land for which ‘read our parks and open spaces’, the very features that make the city liveable. Also he wants to encourage house owners to do what a lot have already done ie build a second house in their garden - after all who wants to garden these days - too much like hard work! He thinks that Bristol has too many "oversized" gardens. So much for his much vaunted "green" credentials!(Details of the magazine mentioned above, if interested: Eye On Local Nature £4 for 4 issues from G Taylor (cheques payable to) 28 Berkeley Road, Westbury Park Bristol BS6 7PJ

Jane Baker – Bristol

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Fertilising Runner Beans

The picture shows on the left a hole made in a runner bean flower by a bumblebee. Traditionally they didn't

visit legumes or other tubular shaped flowers as their mouth parts are not appropriate for the task. Their tongues are

too short to get into the flower via the open end. Probably the lack of sufficient other flowers due to changes in the

environment has led them to adapt and find an answer to their problem. They have learnt to make a hole in

the flower. Easy! As a result they don't carry pollen to the next one they visit by brushing against the grains along the

normal route into the bloom. Without the transference of pollen in this way fertilisation can't take place so the flower

drops off and no bean or seed is produced.

The honey bees have longer tongues. They have traditionally fertilised the legumes but sometimes even they have

taken to using the holes made by bumblebees. The same happens on flowers in the ornamental garden that bumbles

are not designed to visit. Despite these problems I'm glad to report that we have a glut of runner beans as I write

near the end of August but it is worth considering growing plenty of plants with open types of flowers that it is easy

for bumble bees to visit at the time of year when peas and beans are blooming. Single daisy types spring to mind and

they love raspberry flowers and members of the cucurbit family such as courgettes and squashes.

Monica Meeneghan, Caterham, Surrey

THREE FINE ROSES - There are thousands of varieties of roses of all sorts in cultivation. There are lots I know of and lots more, including many new ones that I've never heard of. However of all this range of choice I can heartily recommend three that I have grown myself. My first recommendation is a climbing rose for a house or other wall. If you like the idea of a wall of blossom, a curtain of pure white dripping down at Midsummer then 'Mountain Snow' (I got mine from David Austin),is a wonderful rose. This very - I emphasise very, very vigorous rose with pure white semi-double flowers with golden stamens is utterly charming. My one flowered prolifically and showed the vigour of its growth by its second year however we then moved house. At least I never had to tackle the job of wiring and tying it up properly which I could see it would definitely need. My second rose choice is another climber 'May Queen'. This is a cabbage rose like pink rose of great charm. I got mine from David Austin also. As the name suggests, it flowers early and prolifically in the season. It really wants to grow and needs no cossetting. A bonus is that it roots very easily from cuttings which grow well on their own roots. I moved of course but the one I grew from a cutting and planted out is still in our old front garden! My third rose of choice is 'Reine des Violettes'. This is an old rose also from David Austin in my case. Once again this is a hardy vigorous rose that really wants to grow and flower. It is very rewarding to grow. The heavily scented flowers are purple and prolific at midsummer. This rose will even grow and do well in a difficult situation. Jane Baker. Bristol

Autumn Colours

Here in the Beacons everything has turned a burnished gold with all the

grasses. It is October. Everywhere you look is a tantalising gold when the sun

is on it – not very often this Autumn! Despite the wet in the garden we have

quite a lot of Autumn colour. The Parrotia Persica has kept its leaves for a

long time, a lovely red colour, the Cornus Midwinter Fire is gold at the

moment but once the leaves have dropped it will change to all different

coloured stems in the winter, from orange, yellow and red, it is like a bonfire,

especially when we get a bit of frost. These plants are best grouped in

three’s or fives to show the colour off. They are better behaved than most

Cornus – keeping to about 4’. I love all the grasses this time of year, all the

Miscanthus are good and have now produced lovely fluffy heads. – it is

November – wet wet wet! Never mind I have Lillies flowering in my

greenhouse and the smell is gorgeous, good excuse to go inside! Lorraine

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Visiting Gardens – The Wirral and Beyond

It is always interesting to look back at the gardens one has seen during the year.

I was fortunate to join the local branch of the Rhododendron, Camellia and Azalea Society on a visit to Western Scotland

in April. Their interest lay in large gardens with plenty of shrubs. A joy to me was a garden on Seil Island – the house at

right angles to the shore had originally been a row of cottages but is now a long house. The garden was backed by a

hillside where grey cliffs were surrounded by a waterfall. The borders were full with masses of Candelabra Primulas

which I cannot grow in my dry garden. Here they blossomed well with hardy geraniums and camellias. The owner told us

that the nearest land looking west is Labrador.

Cheshire and its neighbours have plenty of open gardens. One of the most visited is Wollerton Old Hall. It has been laid

out by the owner, Lesley Jenkins, in a series of rooms. We visited there in September and saw a fine display of Dahlias,

Asters and Rudbeckia which competed with Clematis for the most colourful room.

I always enjoy visits to Erdigg and while friends went into the house I preferred to see the garden. A long herbaceous

border sits below walls which give opportunity for a wealth of plants, climbing roses and clematis. Off the main garden

is a delightful small, almost secret lawn, flanked with hardy geraniums and roses. Erdigg also grows Perovskia Blue Spire

which I love although alas, having bought four plants in 2013, and given them much attention, only two are surviving.

Here on the Wirral time to visit a local garden which was so immaculate and was followed by an excellent tea. The

garden was below a terrace which sloped gently towards the river. Even the Hostas here were fine and as we passed

perfectly colour co-ordinated beds, we tried so hard to find one weed, but no luck!

There are plenty of weeds in the glorious gardens of Mount Stewart. Given a microclimate in Northern Ireland between

the sea and Strangford Loch subtropical plants can survive here. Lady Londonderry had both vision and money to

develop her garden. Unusual shrubs form the background to colourful beds with a mass of different Cannas in all hues.

Here too is a gentle water garden with colourful topiary. The topiary is repeated above the hedges which separate the

rooms in this great garden. It is one of the jewels in Northern Ireland.

It is great to see the dedication of so many different gardeners and to look at how plants adapt to different soils. There

is often the joy of carrying a plant home after tea, hoping, this time, it is right one for my soil!

Dorothy Brining who gardens at West Kirby

The Isles of Scilly – I had a flying trip to St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly (not literally as I went on the boat this time!) in October. It was dry and warm there. What I love about the Scillies is what you can grow. As a lot of you know I have a passion for tropical plants but everything I grow in my greenhouse grows outside in the Scillies. I made a trip to Tresco Abbey Gardens which holds a magnificent display of sub-tropical plants from all over the world.

However all round the islands you will see succulents, palm trees, tall Echiums, Nerines, Amaryllis, all annuals, scented Geraniums planted outside and doing very well. The Agapanthus seems to grow in very poor soil and thrive (this is where I am going wrong with my wet clay soil – but I couldn’t resist buying another Agapanthus!).

The Scilly Isles is a very special place and well worth the trip. PS the blue plant below is one of my favourites, Tibouchina from Australia. Lorraine

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The Autumn Puppy In August a tragedy hit our household. Our lovely dog Ash, who was slim, fit and active, developed an overwhelming, rapidly spreading cancer. A week before her death she could go for a 5 mile run and jump a sheep hurdle, although her breathing was a bit fast. The day she died she could barely walk round our own fields. To put an end to suffering is the last kind thing which you do for your pet. I put her to sleep in the garden, on the lawn under the mulberry tree. We had to dig a big sad hole for her. This was August in Suffolk clay land and I needed to run a hose onto the ground for an hour before I could even get a fork in. We were bereft. The house felt dreadful. We needed a new puppy. For some people the new dog feels like disloyalty but for us it represented the happiness which we had had from Ash. The new pup was small and round and black. We called her Damson. She is what you expect of a puppy - naughty and sweet in turns. The house training is easier in Autumn – the last 2 dogs were Winter pups - all that standing around with a torch congratulating them if they had a wee in the cold and dark. She loves the garden. Gardening is fun! Digging things up and burying them is fascinating but she has not much concept that there is a sense of selectiveness about this. Did I really want a hole just there in the lawn? No small hand tool, plant pot or pair of gloves can be left on the ground and she is even worse for plant labels than Sammy Sebright. She is having to learn that chasing bantams is forbidden as is chewing shoes, table legs and electric cables, eating books, picking up Jerry and much else which is enjoyable. For a house like ours with books and papers all over the floor this can be a problem. The world resounds to cries of “No”. She is monumentally greedy and eats sheep muck, sticks, dandelion clocks, damsons prised off the path with her teeth, stones (why do our neighbours have stones the right size to stick in her guts on their drives?) snails -(3 years ago I would have been pleased but lungworm has arrived locally so that is a worry), plants (why do I grow so many poisonous ones?), plaster and cement from the current house renovations and practically anything else which she can engulf. Quercus the cat has not quite left home. He lurks upstairs and eats on the landing. He too misses Ash.* I long to get cute puppy pictures of Damson by the Autumn cyclamen or in front of the dahlias but she only sits still by non-photogenic patches of nettles or ground elder. I need to master the bit on my camera for shooting moving objects. And Ash, beautiful Ash, with her long spotty legs and unsuitable ears who left us before we were ready to let her go: She will not grow old and stiff and blind and deaf. She is buried close to Barley, the mad spaniel who could still tackle a 14 mile mountain walk on her 14th birthday and Snark, the big grey cat who liked Barley so much that he brought her rabbits to eat when she was too old to hunt. She still runs in my head. She frolics in the flower-filled meadows of Teesdale, gambols on white Hebridean beaches, bounds up Lakeland mountains and in the woods of Suffolk she runs and runs, taking with her 10 years of my life. I would like to plant a tree for her but ash die back is rife locally and I don't yet know whether the flowering ash, Fraxinus ornus is resistant so she will have bluebells in memory of all the Spring walks in the past. And Damson, sweet naughty Damson with her boot button eyes, whose inquisitive nose leaves no compost bucket unturned, who has something of Ash and something of Barley and a lot of her own self. She is too small to go for proper walks yet but her little puppy legs can already manage the half mile to the road. By the time the field maples are buttercup yellow in the hedges she will be ready for a woodland walk. She needs to chase away my ghosts. Ash is the past but Damson is the future – as long as she keeps off the poisonous plants! * Quercus has decided that Damson is OK really now that it is colder outside Julie Plumb - September 2014

The lovely

Damson

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IDEAS FOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2015

Jane Harries wrote to me as follows:

“Now the Newsletter is by email we can include photos and links to the web! How about:

Plant combination ideas. I loved the photo of the cercis next to the hydrangea (Lorraine’s combo). Maybe others could photo combinations they like - from their own or other gardens.

Also - good gardening blogs/books. I have been reading 'Wellywoman's' Blog. She is bringing her first book out, on cutting gardens, called 'The Cut Flower Patch' and it's a good useful read with nice photos” . (I have looked at this website and it looks really interesting. I am very tempted to buy the book myself as I am

really getting into cut flowers this year. L)

Of course we do still have postal members but this should not stop you from contributing to our Newsletters. Articles

could be on any of the following:

Gardens to visit in your area.

Any holiday you would like to share with us.

Anything new you have tried in the garden this year (veg, flowers, design etc).

If you need any help with ideas for the garden, any questions you might want to ask – someone is bound to be

able to help!

Wildlife/Nature.

Cookery recipes ie Jam, recipes using herbs, cakes etc.

Poems.

Anything you might specialise in. For example we do have two National Collection Holders: Aquilegias and Hardy

Geranium Phaem. Also one of our members is also a member of the Snowdrop Group. There may be others we

do not know about?? It is always interesting to learn more about something we particularly like to grow and are

good at.

For instance I am enjoying growing Dahlias more now (especially the dark leaf ones) – I will write another article re

Dahlias soon. L

Basically anything that will inspire you to write! Although I do add a deadline to the Newsletter for articles for the up

and coming one I always think it is best to write as you think about things, writing tends to flow better then. If you are

busy, you can start something and finish it later. Articles are very acceptable at all times.

Finally, I like to read other peoples’ ideas – it makes life more interesting. Have a good winter and I look forward to

receiving your articles for our Spring Newsletter at any time. Very last Deadline 12 February 2015. Remember, if you

don’t make it for the next one, there is always the one in June to aim for!

With very Best Wishes for 2015 to you all. Lorraine, Editor - lorrainejrudd@sky.com