Wellow Horticultural
Society Newsletter
January
2010
Contents
Editorial Page
1
The Victorious Weeder Page
2
Post-Christmas Quiz Page
3
Membership Renewal Page 9
Membership Application Form Page
10
Dates for your Diary Page
11
Answers to Quiz Page
12
Editorial
Youll
see from the title of this newsletter that the committee has changed the name
of the Society. There was a great deal
of discussion about this at the AGM but the general feeling was that the
original name was a bit of a mouthful and tended to sound somewhat formal. I have only mentioned it here to reinforce
the fact that anyone can belong to the Society whether or not they live in
Wellow!
The
picture shows a blackbird enjoying a feast of berries the day before the snow
arrived. (Pity about the dustbin in the background but I didnt want to
frighten him off by clattering around.
In any case, I didnt notice the dustbin until I looked at the picture.)
There arent any left now hes eaten them all.
Anyway,
this is a plea for all gardeners to put out suitable food for the birds at this
time of year and in these sorts of weather conditions. The Daily Telegraph printed a plea just after
the arrival of the snow explaining that many garden birds find it extremely
difficult to find food when there is so much snow around. It seems they will eat more or less anything
except for smoked, salty bacon.
Geoff
White
The Victorious Weeder
A really long day
of weeding is a restful experience, and quite changes the current
thought. For some people it is more efficient than a rest cure. It
is pleasantest to take a nine-hour day of such work when the earth is wet, or
even in rain, because weeds come up more easily, root and branch, from wet
earth. I never want an hour at noon for dinner, like the hired man, but
would prefer to lunch like horses from a nosebag. It would save time, and
especially the necessary cleaning oneself. After such a day my
fingers are bleeding, knees tottering, back bent, dress muddy and soaking and
shoes an offence to my tidy maid; but I have attained the most profound
inward peace, and the blessed belief of having uprooted all my
enemies!
From: Anna Lea
Merrits book on gardening. Published in
1908.
Libby Kerr
Duncan Hammertons
Post Christmas Quiz answers at the back
1. The cranberry, so
popular in a sauce to go with the Christmas turkey, is known botanically as
what?
a) Needlium
b) Injectium
c) Vaccinium
2. What would a
gardener do with a dibber or dibble?
a) Scrape mud off spades and trowels
b) Make holes in compost from transplanting seedlings
c) Grade soil particles according to size
3. What is meant by a
resistant vegetable variety?
a) A variety that is resistant to being attacked by pests or
diseases
b) A variety that is not resistant to being attacked by
pests and diseases
c) A variety that doesn't like being moved
4. The Royal
Horticultural Society runs a large garden at Rosemoor. Which county is it in?
a)
b)
c) Warwickshire
5. What general term
is given to the trees and shrubs whose leaves fall in autumn?
a) Deciduous
b) Evergreen
c) Ambidextrous
6. What is the popular
name for the flowering house plant Impatiens walleriana?
a) Marguerite
b) Black-eyed Susan
c) Busy Lizzie
7. What is the name
given to the technique of clipping trees and hedges into ornamental shapes?
a) Topiary
b) Bonsai
c) Renewal pruning
8. Why do gardeners
practice crop rotation?
a) To grow bigger vegetables
b) To make the garden appear organised and efficient
c) To help prevent a build up of pests and diseases in the
soil
9. Which part of a
tree can be used to make cork?
a) The bark
b) Root tissue
c) Pulped seeds
10. The love apple is
the original name for what?
a) Potato
b) Tomato
c) Quince
11. How can you keep
an area of soil weed-free, without digging?
a) Cut the tops of the weeds off with scissors, to prevent
them from seeding
b) Cover the soil with a light-excluding mulch or
mulch-fabric
c) Ignore the weeds and they will eventually go away
12. When a gardener
makes a 'drill' what is he/she making?
a) A machine to make holes in the ground
b) A shallow trench in which to sow seeds
c) A loud noise to scare away birds
13. A 'kumquat' is a
small Japanese variety of what sort of fruit?
a) Citrus
b)
c) Pineapple
14. Harry Wheatcroft
was a renowned breeder of which type of plant?
a) Fuchsias
b) Begonias
c) Roses
15. Name the evergreen
hedging conifer that has created many a neighbourly dispute?
a) The British Leyland cedar
b) The
c) The
16. What is the Latin
name for the Rowan Tree?
a) Sorbus
b) Malus
c) Prunus
17. On what would you
use the spray containing the chemical 'Glyphosate'?
a) Persistent weeds
b) Greenfly, blackfly and whitefly
c) Black spot of roses
18. What is the
popular name for the Antirrhinum?
a) Snake-bark maple
b) Snapdragon
c) Dog's tooth violet
19. Who, or what, is
Mόller-Thurgau?
a) A botanist from Victorian Bavaria
b) A variety of grape
c) A summer pudding using raspberries and yoghurt
20. In garden design
terms, what is a Ha-Ha?
a) A ditch forming a boundary but not obscuring a view
b) An area of the garden using mirrors or other illusions
c) An arbour or other secluded seating area
21. Araucaria araucana
is better known as what?
a) Tree of Heaven
b) Dragon tree
c) Monkey puzzle tree
22. 'Iceberg' is NOT a
type of what?
a) White arum
b) Lettuce
c) Rose
23. Camellias belong
to which plant family?
a) Heather
b) Iris
c) Apple
24. Monty Don stood
down as the main presenter of TV's Gardeners' World. Who replaced him?
a) Barney Tuckland
b) Toby Buckland
c) Bob Tarland
25. What is a cloche?
a) A cover to protect plants
b) A type of fruit
c) A way of digging
26. Jasper Carrott
could be linked to which of these vegetable varieties?
a) 'Chantenay Red Cored'
b) 'Webbs Wonder'
c) 'Gardener's Delight'
27. What is the Latin
name of the yellow winter jasmine?
a) Jasminum nakediflorum
b) Jasminum nudiflorum
c) Jasminum bareiiflorum
28. The traditional
Christmas tree Picea abies is what type of conifer?
a) Fir
b) Pine
c) Spruce
29. Why would you
cover carrots with horticultural fleece?
a) To keep them warm in winter
b) To stop them being attacked by carrot root fly
c) To hide them from view
WELLOW HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Membership and
renewal of membership for the year 2010 is now due on 1st February
2010.
We would love
more members, which in turn will bring fresh ideas and thoughts to the
Society. The Programme Secretaries have
some interesting talks for the coming year with outings scheduled in the Summer/Autumn. There will be our annual plant sale in mid May
on a Saturday where bargains can be had!
We do ask members to think ahead for this and divide and plant things
for it. So if you have never been to one
of the meetings, do come along and discover more about the Society. With your Membership Card a discount can be
had from Prior Park Nurseries and Norton Green Nursery. Other nurseries and garden centres may well
offer a discount when you show the card.
Membership
includes free entry to all talks and demonstrations throughout the year and to the
annual Flower Show and Country Fair. . There
is a Garden Party in the summer plus a delicious AGM. All this plus the Societys Newsletter four
times a year with gardening tips.
Pretty good value
we think!
Libby Kerr
WELLOW HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Membership/Renewal
Form.
I/We
. would like to join/renew my/our membership for the year 2008.
£6 Individual Membership THE SUBSCRIPTION REMAINS THE
SAME
AS LAST YEAR!!
£10 Family Membership.
Name:
..
.
Address:
.
.
e mail:
..
Telephone Number:
Please make
cheques payable to the Wellow Horticultural Society and send to:
Janet Plater
& Sue Wilford
The Old Station,
Dates for Your Diary
Thursday 25th February Quiz
7.30pm for eyes
down 8pm.
A lighthearted quiz
linked to gardening at the Village Hall. Teams of 4 - £2 a head.
Do make up a team
or just come, BYOB, nibbles will be provided.
Contact Shirley
Betts : 833683.
Tuesday 23rd March - Talk and Demonstration by Luke
Pearce, Tetbury Stone, 7.30pm
in the Village Hall
He will be
telling us about his business, bringing some offcuts of stone and giving tips
on Stone Carving - we are hoping to have a new class at the Flower Show this
year. Should be fun.
Thursday 22nd April Vegetable Growing
Charles Dowding,
"The No Dig Man", is coming again to talk about vegetable growing, by
popular request.
7.30pm in the
Village Hall
Saturday 8th May - The Plant
Village Hall 2-4pm.
Please start
dividing and sowing for this event. Plants can be delivered from 12
Noon on the day.
Saturday 5th June - Visit to
This will take
place in the afternoon. Travel in own
cars as parking is near impossible for coaches. It is a lovely
garden which the Bannermans have been creating over many years.
They are Garden
Designers and have worked at Highgrove. The garden opened for the
first time last year and is lovely. The entrance fee is £6.50 and
Teas and Coffees are available with luscious home-made cakes.
Friday 2nd July - The Garden Party
Time to be
advised
This will be held
at Billie and Justine Wright's lovely garden.
Further events will be detailed in the next issue.
Answers to