Our first Winter Outing in February 2019...

 

"Kiss the Ground" - 2020 Film Trailer

🌱 This is an inspiring film about what is possible to achieve to save our plant from excessive carbon emissions 🌱

https://youtube.be/K3-V1j-zMZw

A friend of mine from Aberdeen University says is one of the World Bank's soul experts who worked on the regeneration project in China. Please do watch this film 🎥 and share it.

A Tinge of Sadness...

Sadly one of our last club founder members, John Simpson of Great Corby died peacefully at home on 10th January. John and his beloved wife, Iris were enthusiastic supporters of the club. When Iris died, John continued to attend meetings, outings and enjoyed club holidays.

John was a quiet man with an air of strength, but there lurked a sense of fun. He was a retired Latin teacher. I'm sure he commanded much respect and awe from his pupils. John & Tony Hesketh were often seen, deep in conversation.

John was a knowledgeable gardener and an excellent sweet pea grower. His top tip was to always ensure that seeds were propagated in good, clean compost. And of course he could help with all our botanical Latin enquiries.

John has two daughters, one of whom lives locally, we send them and their families our best wishes at this sad time.

                                                                                     Written by PMR

Season's Greeting from the Secretary

I hope you are all keeping well in these strange times. Given that we are still in tiers (in more ways than one)  the Garden Club Committee has taken the decision to postpone our New Year Party and also to push back the AGM until April 2021. We
didn’t feel that we had any option really. If anything changes then please be assured that I will let you know.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to you and your families.

Cate Bowman

Secretary

A Summer Solstice Quiz for you...

Can you name this David Austin rose?

Rain is forecast this week so how about a break from gardening duties.

Make a cuppa & see how you do with this quiz - no googling now!

The Quiz

1. What is the popular name for the flowering houseplant Impatiens Walleriana?

2. What would a gardener do with a dibber or dibble?

3. Charles Darwin described this carnivorous plant as the most wonderful plant in the world. What is the name of this plant?

4. The love apple is the original name for what?

5. The Death Cap is the most poisonous variety of what?

6. What is the name given to the female reproductive organ of a flower?

7. A Kumquat is a small Japanese variety of what sort of fruit?

8. Why is Reindeer Moss (Cladonia rangiferina) so called?

9. Harry Wheatcroft was a renowned breeder of what?

10. What is the name of the 3 leafed clover associated with St Patrick’s day?

11. Which part of a tree can be used to make cork?

12. What is the largest and tallest tree in the world?

13. What general term is given to those trees whose leaves fall in autumn ?

14. Which tissue beneath the bark of trees forms wood?

15. Where in the flowering plant does the male gamete form?

16. Which cereal must be grown in water?

17. Which grain is used to make semolina?

18. Which part of a flower becomes the fruit?

19. Which part of a flowering plant is often used to make oil?

20. What is the name given to the technique of clipping trees and hedges into ornamental shapes?

21. What is another name for the Rowan Tree?

22. What flower is named after the Botanist Dr Leonard Fuchs?

23. What do Yew; Laburnum Seeds & Mistletoe berries have in common?

24. What is the popular name for the Antirrhinum?

25. What is the sacred flower of the Buddhist religion?

26. Which plant takes it's name from the Italian phrase for Beautiful women?

27. Which liquid does a flower produce to attract insects?

28. How can you tell the age of a tree?

29. Plants that regrow each year are called?

30. When or who invented the lawn mower?

(Answers - will be posted next Sunday, 28th June )

Do sent us some pictures & thoughts about 

what you are up to in your garden right now. 

STAY ALERT - KEEP SAFE

A Cumbrian favourite...

Meconopis is a genus of nearly 80 species of often short-lived or monocarpic perennials: i.e. they flower just once and then die. They are best known as ‘blue poppies’ with large saucer-shaped flowers but many have attractive leaf rosettes.

Here are some from Jude’s garden this May (Station Master’s House, Wetheral).

Cultivation - Thrives in areas with cool, damp summers. The soil needs to be neutral to slightly acidic, moist but well-drained and enriched with leaf mould or humus. The site should be partially shaded with shelter from cold, dry winds

Propagation - Propagate by seed or by division after flowering but can be short-lived

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=946

Also see Blog Entry – 2018 – November

Lingholm Meconopsis – Fertile Group

Tulips from Great Corby via Amsterdam...

" The white one is "White Valley", the pink one is "Angelique" and the dark red one with frilly edges is "Labrador". Every year the WI nationally has a Bulb Scheme and members have the opportunity to buy bulbs from Taylors. In 2019 I bought the Tulip Collection."

Helen Hinvest

Tulips (Tulipa) form a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm colours). They often have a different coloured blotch at the base of the tepals (petals and sepals, collectively), internally. Because of a degree of variability within the populations, and a long history of cultivation, classification has been complex and controversial.

The tulip is a member of the lily family, Liliaceae, along with 14 other genera, where it is most closely related to Amana, Erythronium and Gagea, in the tribe Lilieae. There are about 75 species, and these are divided among four subgenera. The name "tulip" is thought to be derived from a Persian word for turban, which it may have been thought to resemble.

Tulips spread rapidly across Europe and more opulent varieties such as double tulips were already known in Europe by the early 17th century. These curiosities fitted well in an age when natural oddities were cherished and especially in the Netherlands, France, Germany and England, where the spice trade with the East Indies had made many people wealthy. Nouveaux riches seeking wealthy displays embraced the exotic plant market, especially in the Low Countries where gardens had become fashionable.

The Black Tulip by Alexander Dumas – It’s 1672, the city of Haarlem, Netherlands, has set a prize of ƒ100,000 to the person who can grow a black tulip, sparking competition between the country's best gardeners to win the money, honour and fame. Only the city's oldest citizens remember the tulip mania 30 years earlier, and the citizens throw themselves into the competition.