Aim to create a garden with colourful Perennial Plants to enjoy every month of every year. Visit Garden Centres and other gardens every month to see what is growing well now, and to find plants that you would like to add into your garden. Take notes and take photos of ideas you would like to […]
Mark Porter has a 7 acres meadow garden near the A33, and their garden was on the front cover of “English Garden” magazine in 1991 with a caption “Fire & Ice”. “What can we use to create a garden that looks good in Winter ?” : Shrubs with evergreen foliage (Eleagnus x ebbingel “Limelight”, Prunus […]
The talk detailed the creation and organisation of the Winchester Flower Festival for which Pip was named Creative Director in February 2019. The talk was accompanied by a series of slides. The festival proceeds were to be in aid of the Winchester Cathedral Organ and the title of this particular festival was called ‘Resonance’. Initially there was […]
Stef has been the Head Kitchen Gardener at Lainston House for 3 years and 3 months, having joined in July 2021. The Kitchen Garden had been established for 17 years but had been left unattended for 3 months when Stef joined. It took her 3 weeks to weed it all! At that time there was […]
With a premise that plants need the same help as animals but can’t move, Leif wanted to be connecting people with plants so that they could capture the joy and excitement of plants and to dispel the attitude that plants are boring. Having found that botany books weren’t very helpful Leif embarked on a year […]
Gilbert White was a clergyman, naturalist, ornithologist and ecologist born in July 1720 at the vicarage in Selborne. In 1728 his family moved to “The Wakes” in Selborne and apart from his time in various parishes he lived there for the rest of his life. Over the years the house was greatly extended and is […]
The speaker brought an electron microscope to the meeting and used that to show various pests and diseases projected onto a big screen. Clerodendron and buddleia with misshapen leaves caused by the Peach Potato Aphid, a climbing rose with mildew and aphids and a Peony with Peony Blotch – Controlled by Invigorator. Leaf of a […]
The talk started with showing a few of the colourful plants currently flowering in the garden with the blue of the Dutch Iris which flowers for 4 to 6 weeks and lasts well in water and the Siberian Iris. We had the pink of Gladiolus Byzanteum and the Phlomis Tuberosa and the white of Allium […]
Early conservatories were constructed with three different growing areas for varying plant types and the relevant growing conditions. This may not be practical on the same scale with modern smaller structures but separate areas can be set up. These could consist of spaces for bulb growing, small pot plants such as Hostas and larger pot […]
If the seed is small and black, try using cornflower to sprinkle on the surface before sowing. This will make distribution of the seed much easier, as the seed will be visible. Why not try and grow potatoes using barley straw. This method is relatively simple if you feed the straw weekly with a Potassium […]
