October 2011 meeting
14/11/11 00:14
October meeting - Clare Mucklestone, Bourne Nurseries – ‘Seasonal Plants’
A near full house of 64 members welcomed Clare and the colourful collection of seasonal plants she brought with her. The theme of her talk was maintaining colour throughout the winter months and what better plant to start with than the colourful cyclamen. Her favourite ‘Flame’ was a stunner and we had one or two tips on getting the best from these plants. Never water from the top, take off seeds heads as flowers finish and keep cool, best on a window sill. A Japanese mini, autumn flowering , camellia, aptly called ‘Yuletide’ looked a good buy as did a mini buddleia called ‘Buzz’, salvias and violas. Clare is a fun and very knowledgeable speaker and the evening flew by before time for tea and the inevitable rush to buy plants. Hopefully we will get Clare back to speak at the club sometime in the future but we are due to visit her nursery at next year’s May evening visit. In the meatime she will be glad to welcome you at the Bourne Nursery , The Strand, Wherstead. November meeting – on Thurs. 10 Nov. we welcome back the very popular Richard Ayres MBE, and he will be talking on the history of his work and influence on Anglesey Abbey. Make sure you come early for this one, Richard has proved to be very popular with the club over the years and in addition tickets for our Christmas meeting will be on sale and we will be taking bookings for the Rouen trip 2012. So be there early!
Christmas meeting – Thurs. 8 December – 7.30 pm Church Hall
Adrian Bloom, Bloom’s of Bressingham – ‘Creating Drama in the Garden’
Our Christmas meeting this year will follow the usual pattern with a high profile, speaker, refreshments and grand draw for club funds. Sheila will be taking names for eats and we will welcome draw prizes. Tickets for members will be on sale at the November meeting, £5.
International Dept. – Rouen 25/28 May 2012.
Note - we will keep to the last weekend in May which will not be a bank holiday in 2012! .
Bookings will be taken at the 10th. November meeting on a first come, first served basis. An information sheet was distributed at the October meeting and will be available on 10th. November.
We hope to keep the price at this year’s level - £265 per person, single rooms will be available with a supplement of £70. A booking deposit of £65 per person will be due by 30th. November 2011.
R.H.S. - The club is affiliated to the RHS giving us a wide range of benefits including free horticultural advice from RHS advisors. From October this free advice will be channelled through the club and we have nominated Jenny Bearcroft as our Science & Advice Liaison Contact (SALC). Questions should relate to club activities & with immediate effect RHS will no longer accept individual enquiries. Jenny can be contacted on 01394 448571 . The arrangements for individual RHS members remain unaltered. Club members are also entitled to concessionary tickets to RHS shows including Chelsea.
The R.H.S. has also issued some advice in connection with this year’s summer devastation wrought by impatiens (Busy Lizzy) downy mildew. The spores can survive at least one year in the soil so it is best to avoid these plants for a year or two. The Club News – In addition to our monthly notes in the Review, club news and reports are also published on the Kirton village website – kirton-suffolk.info (garden club pages). We also plan a new membership card for 2012, again giving details of club events and contacts.
Dobies’ seeds. The new season’s catalogues are now available to members and you can obtain your copy from Ray at the November meeting. Ray has a lot of work to do in coordinating all the orders and he needs orders returned to him by 30th. November. Full details will be included with your seed catalogue.
Club Membership – the club membership fee will remain fixed at £5 for 2012 and membership renewal will be available at the January 2012 meeting. Our club membership for this year is, again, well into three figures and I cannot quite believe how far we have come. It’s eleven years since Dick flagged down my wheelbarrow and suggested we should start a gardening club and now our membership is in three figures , our two villages have played host to BBC GQT, we have enjoyed 9 continental trips and our high profile speakers have included Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden, Richard Ayres MBE and perhaps top of the tree Matthew Wilson. And now the club sports a Science & Advice Liaison Contact ( will she want a pay rise Dick?)! So onward we go and our 2012 programme is a very full and varied one.
Whist Drives - whist drives in aid of village hall funds continue on a Monday evening throughout the winter, 7.30 pm ,£1 including tea/coffee. Just turn up, no skills necessary but a sense of humour helps!
Tales from the Allotments – no space again, hopefully some news next month.
Roy Mallett 448616
A near full house of 64 members welcomed Clare and the colourful collection of seasonal plants she brought with her. The theme of her talk was maintaining colour throughout the winter months and what better plant to start with than the colourful cyclamen. Her favourite ‘Flame’ was a stunner and we had one or two tips on getting the best from these plants. Never water from the top, take off seeds heads as flowers finish and keep cool, best on a window sill. A Japanese mini, autumn flowering , camellia, aptly called ‘Yuletide’ looked a good buy as did a mini buddleia called ‘Buzz’, salvias and violas. Clare is a fun and very knowledgeable speaker and the evening flew by before time for tea and the inevitable rush to buy plants. Hopefully we will get Clare back to speak at the club sometime in the future but we are due to visit her nursery at next year’s May evening visit. In the meatime she will be glad to welcome you at the Bourne Nursery , The Strand, Wherstead. November meeting – on Thurs. 10 Nov. we welcome back the very popular Richard Ayres MBE, and he will be talking on the history of his work and influence on Anglesey Abbey. Make sure you come early for this one, Richard has proved to be very popular with the club over the years and in addition tickets for our Christmas meeting will be on sale and we will be taking bookings for the Rouen trip 2012. So be there early!
Christmas meeting – Thurs. 8 December – 7.30 pm Church Hall
Adrian Bloom, Bloom’s of Bressingham – ‘Creating Drama in the Garden’
Our Christmas meeting this year will follow the usual pattern with a high profile, speaker, refreshments and grand draw for club funds. Sheila will be taking names for eats and we will welcome draw prizes. Tickets for members will be on sale at the November meeting, £5.
International Dept. – Rouen 25/28 May 2012.
Note - we will keep to the last weekend in May which will not be a bank holiday in 2012! .
Bookings will be taken at the 10th. November meeting on a first come, first served basis. An information sheet was distributed at the October meeting and will be available on 10th. November.
We hope to keep the price at this year’s level - £265 per person, single rooms will be available with a supplement of £70. A booking deposit of £65 per person will be due by 30th. November 2011.
R.H.S. - The club is affiliated to the RHS giving us a wide range of benefits including free horticultural advice from RHS advisors. From October this free advice will be channelled through the club and we have nominated Jenny Bearcroft as our Science & Advice Liaison Contact (SALC). Questions should relate to club activities & with immediate effect RHS will no longer accept individual enquiries. Jenny can be contacted on 01394 448571 . The arrangements for individual RHS members remain unaltered. Club members are also entitled to concessionary tickets to RHS shows including Chelsea.
The R.H.S. has also issued some advice in connection with this year’s summer devastation wrought by impatiens (Busy Lizzy) downy mildew. The spores can survive at least one year in the soil so it is best to avoid these plants for a year or two. The Club News – In addition to our monthly notes in the Review, club news and reports are also published on the Kirton village website – kirton-suffolk.info (garden club pages). We also plan a new membership card for 2012, again giving details of club events and contacts.
Dobies’ seeds. The new season’s catalogues are now available to members and you can obtain your copy from Ray at the November meeting. Ray has a lot of work to do in coordinating all the orders and he needs orders returned to him by 30th. November. Full details will be included with your seed catalogue.
Club Membership – the club membership fee will remain fixed at £5 for 2012 and membership renewal will be available at the January 2012 meeting. Our club membership for this year is, again, well into three figures and I cannot quite believe how far we have come. It’s eleven years since Dick flagged down my wheelbarrow and suggested we should start a gardening club and now our membership is in three figures , our two villages have played host to BBC GQT, we have enjoyed 9 continental trips and our high profile speakers have included Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden, Richard Ayres MBE and perhaps top of the tree Matthew Wilson. And now the club sports a Science & Advice Liaison Contact ( will she want a pay rise Dick?)! So onward we go and our 2012 programme is a very full and varied one.
Whist Drives - whist drives in aid of village hall funds continue on a Monday evening throughout the winter, 7.30 pm ,£1 including tea/coffee. Just turn up, no skills necessary but a sense of humour helps!
Tales from the Allotments – no space again, hopefully some news next month.
Roy Mallett 448616
