2024 April Newsletter
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WESTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
April 2024
Dear Members
Hooray! British Summer Time has arrived. It is nice to be able to walk in the garden in the evening.
As I have said many times this year, the ground is still very wet, and should not be stood on. Luckily, I have been able to do quite a lot of weeding from the footpaths. The wet Winter and spring favours the Autumn application of compost to the flower and vegetable beds.
Our March meeting had Gil Hazell talking about Sweet Peas. Although I was away on holiday, I have had very positive feedback from some of our members regarding the quality of the speaker and the content of the talk.
Our speaker for the next meeting on Thursday April 11th is David Usher, and his talk is entitled ‘Regenerating Hestercombe Gardens’. This will be of interest to established growers and beginners.
Memberships can be renewed before and after the speaker has finished his talk.
As per the AGM voting, Single Membership is £10, Family Membership is £15.
Entrance for the meeting is £2 per member and £3 per non-member.
St Peter’s Church Hall, Baytree Road. Meeting starts at 7.30pm.
As mentioned above I was away on holiday for the March meeting. My wife and I were in Fuerteventura, where the temperature hardly ever falls below 20c. The vegetation is very exotic and where it receives adequate water it is quite lush. A couple of plants that took my eye were Plumbago ( Leadwort ) and Japanese Knotweed.
I have a Plumbago auriculata in a pot, I have to over-winter this in the green house and it will eventually flower in late September until a cold spell in October. The intensity of the blue flower is quite electrifying.
Japanese Knotweeed is grown as an ornamental shrub in many areas on the island. The Canary Islands are basically made up of volcanic rock. Shrubs are planted into holes cut out of the rock. There is nowhere for the roots to spread out into, and the shrub does not cause the problems that we have in this country. Attached are a couple of photos I took. Please excuse the quality of the photos.
I have received a RHS Garden 50% Discount Card, which can be used by two members of the WHS at any time except for RHS Flower Shows or Glow Events. Please contact me if you would like to use it.
I have also received from the National Vegetable Society a packet of 20 trail seeds for the Cauliflower Romanesco Navona F1. The seeds have been donated by Medwyn’s of Anglesy. There is an article in the NVS magazine regarding the trial. We can separate the seeds into smaller numbers for members at the next meeting.
A reminder that WHS members have been invited by Banwell Garden Centre to visit them on Thursday 18th April at 6pm to 8pm. Could you let me know who would like to attend?
I was away on holiday when our previous Chairman Bert Filer passed away on 7th March. There were many current and former members of the WHS at his funeral. Many kind words were said regarding his involvement with both the WHS and Weston in Bloom.
I would like to mention just a few thoughts that will remain with me about Bert
The first time I really came into close contact with Bert was when I entered the Garden Competition, many years ago. Bert suggested I enter my yellow dahlia into the next month’s Flower Show, as he liked it very much and he thought it would do well. I had never been to the Flower Show, but I followed his advice and I entered the show. I did not win any prize for the dahlia, and have not won any prize for the dahlia in the 10 years I have been entering it. But he converted me into a Flower Show enthusiast.
The following year when Bert came with the judges for the Garden Competition, he said thank you to me, after his inspection and informed me I had fewer weeds in my garden than the previous year!
At one of the monthly meetings Bert made a request for younger members of the WHS to help set up the tables at the following year’s Flower Show, as the existing committee members were struggling with the heavy tables. I rang his house a couple of days later and spoke to Cynthia, offering my services with the tables. Bert rang me back a couple of hours later and thanked me for the offer. Little did I know that within three weeks Bert had convinced me that I would be the ideal man to take over the role of Flower Show Secretary, and join the WHS Committee.
On several occasions when a speaker is unable to attend our monthly meetings, we have had to improvise and give a short talk and demonstration about growing and caring for our favourite plants. Bert’s speciality was the begonia. On several occasions I have heard members ask ‘’what sort of compost do you use and what do you feed your begonias with?’’. His reply was a Multi-purpose Compost from B&Q or any Supermarket or Garden Centre. He then carried on with his talk. Never did he reveal secrets of feeding his beloved begonias.
Bert and Cynthia have been very supportive of me since I became Chairman of WHS, for which I am very grateful. Thank you.
I can be contacted on my mobile 07983691157 or by email if any more information is required.
Kind regards,
John Chapman,
Chairman