DAFFODIL COMPETITON 2015

At the AGM last December, members were invited to take away to grow some examples of the "Golden Harvest" variety of daffodil. The object being to bring them back, in flower, to the meeting on Wednesday 1 April. We were delighted to have seven splendid entries. The judges were those attending the meeting who could vote by placing a coin in pot of the one they thought to be the best. The entry with the most coins being the winner.
It was nearly a family affair with Alan Essex the winner, Sandra Essex third, but sitting between them is Roger Hewitt who came in second.
Our thanks to Rick and Jenny for organising the competition.
On the right is the champ with his winning entry.

Wednesday 1 April - Monthly Meeting

A TALK BY

JUDE

LAWTON

The world’s leading garden plant conservation charity, bringing together the talents of botanists, horticulturalists and conservationists and the dedication of keen amateur and professional gardeners.

Through the National Plant Collections and the Threatened Plants Project, we encourage the conservation of cultivated plants in the British Isles.

Our main conservation vehicle is the Plant Heritage National Plant Collection scheme where individuals or organisations undertake to document, develop and preserve a comprehensive collection of one group of plants in trust for the future. Most of the collections are based around a related group, for example a collection of oaks or daffodils. This allows the scheme to develop systematic coverage of cultivated plants in the United Kingdom.

Our speaker on Wednesday 1 April is Jude Lawton from West Malling in Kent,

a retired landscape gardener, now an avid grower of both ornamentals and vegetables.

She is Chair of the Kent group of Plant Heritage and a member of the British Pteridological Society where she serves on the Education Sub committee and is working towards a National Collection of xeric ferns.

A TRIBUTE TO ROSEMARY LEWIS

A TRIBUTE TO ROSEMARY LEWIS

By Roy Eaton

Delivered at her Funeral on 19 June 2014 at 

St Peters Church Limpsfield

One of the last things I heard Rosemary say in Tandridge Heights was she hoped her funeral would not be too mournful, so I don’t intend to be gloomy and I am going to talk about Rosemary’s love of gardening.

Rosemary and Philip moved onto No: 1 Woodland Rise in 1964. The garden was interesting; it surrounded the house on a good sized plot with a fairly steep slope from front to back with a stream at the bottom. Not a lot of work had been done to the garden so it was ripe for design and development, which suited Rosemary completely.

They soon discovered they were surrounded by friendly neighbours most of whom were fond of gardening and were members of the Limpsfield, Oxted & District Horticultural Society. Indeed just up the road lived the Chairman of the Society. Before too long they joined the club and were soon members of the committee. Over the next 30 to 40 years they held many important posts and did much good work.

In those days one of the big events of the year in Oxted was the Societies Summer Show. A marquee, twice the length of St Peter’s nave, for the exhibits and a smaller version alongside were both erected. The latter was for teas and refreshments and was Rosemary’s special domain. She must have been responsible for teas, both summer and autumn shows for the best part of 30 years.

Rosemary provided much of the food, cakes and sponges, scones and delicacies – and quite often a batch of eccles cakes and yummy doughnuts straight form the oven. These sold quickly and those of us with duties to perform in the main marquee were often not in time to catch one.

Now you could describe gardening in three ways:

First, the keen gardener. This is one who has a large garden at home full of trees and shrubs, herbaceous borders, rockeries, climbing plants pots of lilies, and a greenhouse full of tomatoes and cucumbers, seedlings and propagated plants. A lovely garden like Rosemary’s – and then the keen gardener takes on an allotment.

Rosemary and Philip had a large allotment at the old Plumbers Arms for many years. They would spend hours in all weathers, digging and sowing, weeding and planting – lots of fruit – harvesting, pruning and fighting the bugs. Rosemary was a keen gardener.

Then there is the knowledgeable gardener who knows the answers to most of the questions in our many quizzes. I always tried to get on Rosemary’s team with a fair chance of winning.

Thirdly there is the good gardener. Someone who provides much of the food for the table for most of the year, from the garden or the allotment – as Rosemary did.  Delicious fruit pies and puddings throughout the year – with the help of the freezer – as well as lovely salads and vegetables.

Philip was married to Rosemary for just short of fifty years, and Andrew their son, lived at home until going to Bristol University. These were two lucky guys – not only all this food from the garden – but Rosemary was we know,  a Masterchef of the highest quality. Frequently for breakfast, a freshly baked loaf would appear straight out of the oven. You could say these fellows lived like Lords.

So Rosemary it is time to say farewell.  You will never be forgotten by your family or friends – and, I hope up there is a heavenly garden for you to enjoy and I hope that in the garden the birds are singing for I know that was your particular delight.

Thank you for listening.

 

Rosemary and Philips'  front garden

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH

David Jones in action

The Man is back! Anyone who was at our meeting in April 2012 cannot fail to have been amazed at the almost magic like floral arrangements created by our speaker DAVID JONES, who pays us a return visit on Wednesday 4 March at 8pm in the Red Cross Hall, Oxted.
This time his presentation has the intriguing title of "THREE WEDDINGS AND A 4Oth". Make of that what you will, but all will no doubt be revealed on the 4 March.
One of David's creations will be the top prize for a raffle that night.
Here is some information about David and his background:

The beginning

Unlike most florists or floral decorators who profess to have had a passion for flowers and plants from an early age, I did not. I grew up in the centre of Liverpool, with the only green space being the local park!

It wasn’t until I had moved to London and worked in the hotel industry for a year, that I embarked on a course for flower arranging. For how and why is a mystery, but as it turned out, it was the career and future that was meant to be. That was back in the long hot summer of 1976.

After the course (of which I failed all of the exams), I met Kenneth Turner, the greatest innovator of the flower industry. It was he who drew out of me what was to become my life long passion. He saw in me a natural talent for colour sense and mixing, the ability to appreciate scale and the dramatic visions within. Also at this point I met Noel Minett, who eventually became my business partner and life long friend and adviser.

I worked for Kenneth for 5 years, then moved off into the freelance circuit working for the floral worlds elite, to gain more experience.

Development

In 1986, Noel and I began our business journey. We became immediately successful and in great demand. We were innovative leaders of the event / party decorating world for the next 15 years. Creating magical settings for a whole array of weddings including Sting and Trudie Styler, Greg and Lucy Rudedski, Duke and Duchess of York, barmitzvas, birthdays and all forms of celebrations and events, such as the Jaguar style.

We were introduced to Jaguar by Belle Shenkman, who was our driving force to developing the Jaguar style. Again this was achieved with JCB with the enthusiasm of Sir Anthony and Lady Bamford in the development of the "look" for their excavating machinery company. Other projects with The Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre, The National Portrait Gallery, British Alcan, all followed suit. It was a very exciting time.

Noel had retired after the first five years, when I continued with two new partners, firstly with Jenny Lamberton, then later with Simon Waddilove.

After the first 15 years, I needed “Time Out”. To give my creativity a well earned break.

The Future

In 2009, I returned to the wonderful world of flowers, with renewed enthusiasm and vigour. I am now back at what I do best, and producing some of my best work. And so I continue...

Pruning Old Fruit Trees - Reinvigorating Old Trees

FULL HOUSE...!

We enjoyed a wonderful evening on Wednesday the 4th in the company of Tom Coward, the Head Gardener of Gravetye Manor. What is more, we had a "full house", and it was almost standing room only.
We announced a visit to the garden on 1 May, and the limited number of tickets were snaffled up very quickly. We are sorry for those who missed out.


Our 2015 Schedule is now in circulation, and a copy can be picked up at a monthly meeting or by request from our Membership Secretary (01883 715496).
On the left Tom can be seen answering questions after his talk.

The 2015 Schedule

Tom Coward answers questions

TOM COWARD

 TOM COWARD THE HEAD GARDENER AT GRAVETYE

our speaker on Wednesday 4 February

Now that we are in deep winter it is the best opportunity to really get ahead in the garden. Pruning, clearing and preparing borders are all jobs on the list that simply have to be done before the start of spring. But one of the biggest jobs we have is composting the vegetable garden, to keep a fertile and healthy soil for next year’s crops. It may not be so glamorous, but the compost heap is probably one of the most important parts of the garden. It is a cheap and effective way of disposing of waste from both the garden and kitchen and with a bit of careful management this rubbish can be turned in to “brown gold”.

In a garden the size of Gravetye, we produce vast amounts of compost material throughout the year, which we pile up in a large bay made from railway sleepers. To make good compost it is really important to get the right balance of all the ingredients- carbon, nitrogen, air and water. Much of the old border plants we cut back in the autumn are very dry and have a lot of carbon so we balance this out by adding horse manure into the mix. Quality horse manure is always difficult to find but fortunately, the love of my life is obsessed with her horse and keeps a manure pile for me with the perfect straw to dung ratio…. Romance can blossom in the most unusual places! Water is quite plentiful at this time of year but in the summer through very dry patches, it can be good to water the heap. Air is added to the heap by turning it from one bay to another with a tractor; this is the point where the quality of the compost can be inspected. If all the ingredients are in the right balance, then the microorganisms are doing their good work. This gives off a lot of heat generation and creates clouds of steam as the tractor lifts each load.

It can take several months for the compost to fully break down into beautiful fine crumbly humus and when ready, it is time for it to be spread on the vegetable garden. We only do this when the soil is dry enough as pushing wheelbarrows on wet ground can ruin the soil. For extra protection, we work off a path of scaffold planks to help prevent too much compaction. We don’t compost the whole garden every year but instead do different beds each year as part of our rotation. By composting the brassicas, peas and pumpkins each year, most beds get a dose of muck every two years. The hard part is wheel barrowing it into place and digging it in but this is a perfect workout after the excesses of Christmas.
See below as Tom talks about the Gravetye garden in winter...

STOP PRESS: A tour of the Gravetye garden is in the process of being
                                  finalised. Find out more at the meeting on 4 February. 

GRAVETYE IN WINTER