Bexrose Bulletin
April 2008
Published by the Bexleyheath & District Rose Society.
Patron:- Dr. David G. Hessayon MBE.
President:- Mr. B. Rainsbury
Vice President:- Mr. J. Elliott
Chairman:- Mr. A. Nunn
Vice Chairman:- Mr. M. Andrews
Hon. Secretary:- Mrs. J. Newton
Hon Treasurer:- Mrs. Z. Neale
Show Secretary:- Mr. A. Neale
Membership Secretary:- Mrs. M. Cornell
Other Committee members:- Mr. R. Jones, Mr. R. Pulling, Mrs. D. Carr, Mrs. D. Lemon, Mrs. J. Dyer.
Mrs. E. Cleall.
Web Site:- www.bexrose.org.uk
Webmaster Tony Dixon Email:- postmaster@bexrose.org.uk
Next Meeting Tuesday 22nd April 2008
We meet once again at St. John Fisher Hall, Thanet Rd, Bexley where the hall will be open from 7-15pm for setting up. The meeting will start at 8pm until 10pm with a break at 9pm for refreshments and the raffle and of course a chance to chat to other members. Our speaker this month is Mr. Fred Booth who will give a slide lecture on the seashore and coastline of Kent. Our Floral Art table will start this month and our theme will be our Kent Coastline.
The Rose Growers Calendar by kind permission of Don Charlton.
April
1. Keep beds tidy, thin out excess shoots from the base of stems of rose bushes.
2. Look for any signs of dieback and cut back stems to good wood.
3. Keep a lookout for the first sign of insect buildup and spray only if necessary.
Dates for your Diary
April 15th & 16th RHS London Show. RHS Halls Westminster.
April 18th -20th RHS Spring Flower Show Cardiff
April 27th Plant Fair Belmont Gardens, 4 Miles SW of Faversham 11am - 5pm
May 8th - 11th Malvern Spring Gardening Show Show Ground Malvern
May 17th Open Garden & Plant Sale Saltwood Castle Saltwood Nr. Hythe £4
May 20th - 24th RHS Chelsea Flower Show Royal Hospital Chelsea
June 7th Bexleyheath & District Rose Society Summer Show BB Hall Bexleyheath
June11th - 15th BBC Gardeners World Live NEC Birmingham
July 8th - 13th Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Hampton Court Palace
July 23rd - 27th RHS Flower Show Tatton Park Knutsford Cheshire
August 30th & 31st Horticultural Show & Flower Festival Hall Place
September 7th Plant Fair Hadlow College Nr. Tonbridge Kent 11am -4pm
September 11th - 13th RHS at the Inner Temple Inner Temple London
September 27th & 28th Malvern Autumn Show The Show Ground Malvern
October 7th & 8th RHS Great Autumn Show Horticultural Halls Westminster
November 14th & 15th RHS London Show " " "
Many thanks to everyone who sent donations in memory of Vanessa. The total was £540 which has been passed to the Undertakers.
Charlton & Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society Lecture 19th May at 7-30pm
Gardening the Eden Project Way.
Following his successful visit in 2004 the Society is pleased to welcome back gardening expert, writer, broadcaster and TV personality, Matthew Briggs, who will give an illustrated lecture on "Gardening, the Eden project way". Matthew who was commissioned by the Eden Project to write on the subject will be at the Library, Charlton House, SE7 8RE on Monday 19th May 2008 at 7-30pm. Admission will be by ticket only, at £5 including refreshments. For further information and tickets please contact Ron Roffey, Treasurer of the Society, at 17 Elmlee Close, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 5DU, Telephone 0208 467 0377
Tom Hart Dyke Lecture at Eltham Cactus Club. 10th March
15 of our members swelled the numbers of the cactus club to quite a crowd for Tom's lecture with slides on his exploits whilst collecting rare plants. He started off by telling us a little about his family and home and of course his beloved Granny who shares the gatehouse with him. Then he went on to cover his plant finding expeditions. The trip which ended with his capture by rebels in the Darian Gap in Central America in fact started many months before, travelling through the far east and over to Australia. It was only when he caught up with a friend he had met earlier on his travels who was fascinated by this no go area that he agreed to accompany him. Fortunately after many months of being moved around the area, living in makeshift camps and having very little to eat at times, the rebels finally let Tom and his friend go, pointing in the direction they were to walk. To their amazement all their possessions were returned to them intact including credit cards (not much use in the jungle) and all their cash as well! The rebels had probably had enough of Tom being terribly polite to them, always saying please and thankyou and never letting them see that inside he was really rattled and didn't hold out much hope of getting back to civilisation. Tom did not waste his time in captivity, using it to develop the idea of his World Garden at Lullingstone. He showed us slides of the area which had to be cleared and of the gradual development of the site with the aid of designers, gardening experts and of course Jim Buttress who helps with a lot of the basic hard work and keeps Tom's feet on the ground. He showed us slides of the various varieties from each section of the garden and said one of the hardest areas to plant was Great Britain. We have been such prolific plant hunters in the past that it is hard to know what our native plants are any more.
He finished the evening with a question and answer session which featured more on his exploits than his plants. It was a very enjoyable and fun evening and it was nice to see Tom without a hat on!
Greenwich & Bexley Cottage Hospice Garden Festival Sunday 18th May
This event takes place at Bostall Heath Playing Field, Bostall Hill, Abbey Wood, 1pm to 5pm.
Free admission and parking. High quality shrubs, annuals, bedding plants, sheds, fencing, everything for the garden! Plus plenty of fun, games, stalls, rides, BBQ, and music for the whole family.
Ellenor Hospice Open Gardens scheme
Sunday April 20th 2pm to 5pm. Lions Hospice Grounds, Coldharbour Road, Northfleet DA11 7HQ
Admission £2-50 Children 50p. Take the A2 to the Gravesend A227 turnoff. At the first roundabout take 2nd exit into Coldharbour Road. At the next roundabout (Morrisons Store) go straight ahead and the Hospice is on the right hand side. Parking in local roads.
Sunday May 4th 2pm to 5 pm. Heathside, 3 Hillcrest Road, Dartford, DA1 3QN. Admission £2-50
Children 50p This garden was created from scratch 3 years ago. From A2 junction Dartford Heath head
towards Crayford/Dartford A2018 (Old Bexley Lane). At first roundabout turn off left into Rochester Way keep straight on when road bears to the right and take next right into Denton Road. The Garden is at the far end of Denton Road near the crossroads with Swan Lane. Hillcrest Road is set behind Denton Road. (No parking in Hillcrest Road)
Tombola
Don't forget we still need items for our Tombola table at the Summer Show. Any unusable gifts, Toiletries, unopened Jigsaws, ornaments or jewellery in good condition. Bring them to the meeting Maureen Cornell or Joan Raggett will accept them. Also if you are growing plants from seed , or splitting house or garden plants, pot a few up for the plant stall, Les will be very glad of them.
Day Trips
We have 3 places vacant for the King Tutankhamun Lunchtime Cruise and Exhibition on Wednesday 14th May. The cost is £35-50p and we will be environmentally friendly as we will use our bus passes, meeting at Waterloo Pier at 11-15am. Let Janet know if you are interested.
Holidays
Cornwall 22nd June to 29th June ( 7 nights 8 days ) £568 single. Twin/Double sharing £456 each. Deposit £100 each. The coach is now 3/4 quarters full but I have quite a few singles still vacant. I know this holiday is quite expensive but it is for 8 days. We have 6 days at the resort and one of these will be free time as the driver has to have a day off. The hotel is situated within walking distance of Falmouth town centre which is now an important holiday area also used by the major cruise lines. The hotel is well equipped with swimming pools, jacuzzi, sauna, gym and therapy treatment rooms. (I will try and get a price list for treatments nearer the date.) Don't forget the 4 acre tropical gardens and the blue flag beach close by. Mick, Brenda & Janet are trying to find gardens that we have not visited before but we will include the Eden Project as many members have expressed a desire to see it again in its more mature state. We have once again taken out a contract with Plan It Travel so our journeys will be very comfortable
Oxfordshire 5th to 8th September ( 3 nights 4 days ) £252 single. Twin/Double sharing £177 each. Deposit £25 each. I have only 1 single room left on this trip but still have 10 twins, so if you haven't booked yet contact Janet as soon as possible. We can pack quite a lot into this holiday as our destination is not that far and we can make a visit on the way up and also coming back. Oxfordshire is just on the north of the Cotswolds and is a very pretty area with some nice gardens. The hotel is a well appointed conference centre which one of our members has stayed at this year. She gave it a very favourable report. Once again there is a swimming pool and Gym.
Would all those members that have booked a place on a holiday for this year and have not yet given Janet their contact name and address please do so at your earliest convenience.
The Spalding trip is full but I can take names to put on a reserve list.
Secretary's Report on the March meeting
We had an excellent evening with lots of very high quality entries in the various categories for our Spring Show. It was nice to see more Tulips this year and some very unusual pot plant entries. The Narcissi we bought to grow on in a pot turned out to be rather tall (I thought it was just me, not doing it right as usual, but everyone else's were the same.) The hyacinth's were lovely, giving off a very strong perfume, and quite a lot of entries in this class too. John had some difficulty picking the winner in many of the classes. However he triumphed and gave us a blow by blow account of why he chose the entries for their particular awards. Well done everyone who took part. The overall winner was Mick Andrews, with Margaret Stone second and Lucy Whelpdale third. Those members who won a prize, please don't forget to collect your winnings at next month's meeting.
Our speaker whilst the judging was going on was Karen Sutton who is the site manager of Crossness Nature Reserve. Karen started off her working life as a Graphic designer and then went into Banking in the City. After a few years she realised she wasn't happy in her job and needed to get away from the office environment. She took a degree in Nature Conservancy whilst still working and finally landed a job as a warden at Crossness. The Nature reserve is owned by Thames Water and is located immediately east of the Crossness Sewage Treatment works. There are several access points via public footpaths from Eastern Way, Norman Road, Belvedere Road and the Thames Pathway from Erith. If travelling by car there is an unofficial agreement with Thamesview Golf Course that visitors can use their car park. toilet facilities and restaurant. Karen told us that the reserve is part of the original Thames floodplain known as Erith Marshes and has been designated a Site of Metropolitan importance for Nature Conservation because of the regionally important communities of wetland birds, plants and invertebrates. Water Voles which through out the country are our fastest declining species are doing well at the reserve due to a large restoration project. Government funding has been won so that all the dikes on Erith, Crayford and Dartford Marshes can be restored. These are flooded at certain times and this has encouraged the Water Voles to breed . There are also grass snakes, common lizards, a Weasel and many rare moths. The wetland areas have encouraged waders, Redshank, Lapwing, Wigeon,Teal, and many varieties of Duck. The reserve also has the largest reed bed in Bexley Borough where the Reed Warbler and Marsh Warbler can be found. There are many new viewing hides and screens and pathways across the southern marshes with seating. If you wish to become a member of the Reserve for £5 per year this will give you access to protected areas which are enclosed and include the wader scrape.
Karen had some wonderful blow up pictures of Barn Owls which the reserve have had great success in raising. Last year one pair raised two broods, 4 babies, and in all 10 young birds were raised on the site being a London record. Grey Heron are plentiful but a Purple Heron has also visited but much excitement ensued even to the extent of the BBC becoming involved when a rare Squacco Heron spent two weeks on the reserve. Much of the reserve is what is known as grazing marsh. This is usually grazed by cattle but two local families are allowed to keep their horses on the land and this encourages rare plants such as Notted Hedge Parsley and Hedge Mustard. The reserve has won many awards including the Bexley Environmental Challenge Award and the Green Apple Award. The site is open all day every day from dawn to dusk and they often put on special events such as Bat Walks, Barn Owl Watching, Dragon Fly Walks and Moth Trapping Evenings. Information for these events can be found on the friends newsletter or try thameswater.co.uk. Our thanks to Karen for a very interesting talk on something none of us knew existed.
After the Spring Show there was a vase left over which obviously belongs to someone. However Dora is missing 2 small cut glass vases which other members have taken by mistake. Could you please check the vases that you used on that evening so that we can get the right vases reunited with their rightful owners.
Hedgehogs
This month is the time when hedgehogs come out of hibernation but with the warmer winters many have found it difficult to sleep and may not be all that well by now. If you see one during the day it could be that it is suffering so try giving it some meat based pet food and a dish of rainwater. Hopefully it will soon buck up and go foraging for your slugs and snails. They need to build themselves up and replenish their lost fat reserves for the breeding season. Do be careful when tidying your garden after the winter mayhem, many hedgehogs are injured each year by garden forks and strimmers. If you find one that is in distress contact Mavis Righini at Prickles Hedgehog Haven, Hayes, Bromley, Kent
Joke of the Month
I went to the surgery for my annual physical examination. The nurse started with the basics. "How much do you weigh ?" she asked. "Nine stone," I said. The nurse weighed me, and it said 12 stone. "How tall are you ?" she asked. "Five foot seven ", I said. The nurse measured me and it said five feet. "How's your blood pressure?" she asked. "Fine," I said. She took it and it was very high. "No wonder !" I screamed. "Five minutes ago I was tall and thin. Now I'm short and fat.
Magnolia Seeding
We have seen many small changes in our gardens over the past few years due to the climate becoming warmer but none can be stranger than a Magnolia seeding. Warmer springs and summers mean better pollination and ripening. The seed pods look like abnormal growths and will grow quite large until they burst open to reveal the seeds which will be either orange or red. They are easy to germinate, the fleshy seed coat should be removed and the seed soaked in water for a couple of days. Plant singly in deep pots of multipurpose compost and keep outdoors in a sheltered spot. The seeds should germinate the following spring but may not flower for several years and then the flower will be inferior to the parent plant.
Some members who attended Vanessa's funeral requested that the poem read by her niece be printed in the Bulletin.
God looked around his garden and found an empty place.
He then looked down upon his earth and saw your loving face.
He put his arm around you and lifted you to rest.
His garden must be beautiful, he always takes the best.
He knew you were suffering, he knew you were in pain,
And he knew that you would never get well on earth again.
He saw your path was difficult, he closed your tired eyes,
He whispered to you, "peace be thine" and gave you wings to fly.
When we saw you sleeping, so calm and free of pain,
We would not wish you back to earth to suffer once again.
You've left us precious memories, your love will be our guide.
You live on in our memory, you're always by our side.
It broke our hearts to lose you, but you did not go alone.
For part of us went with you on the day God called you home.