CLWB GARDDIO RHYDLEWIS & DISTRICT GARDENING CLUB: May 2020

WELCOME

Welcome to our Gardening Club Rhydlewis and District Gardening Club has been around since the time of Adam and Eve. In fact, it is believed that one of our members planted and tended the very apple tree that gave rise to the pair being expelled from the garden!!

Whether this urban myth is true or not, the club is here to encourage, improve and extend the members' knowledge of all branches of horticulture. It is open to everyone and new members are all always welcome to come along.

Our activities during the year include a varied programme of talks and social events, summer garden visits, a plant sale, social gatherings/bbq and an annual open show in August.

Sunday 17 May 2020

The Best of Chelsea Flower Show

The Queen at Chelsea

Hello Garden Club members.

Judith Russill contacted me to say;

I read in yesterdays' paper the plans the BBC have to replace the missing Chelsea Flower Show. They plan to visit, daily, the gardens of top British gardeners.

Club members may like to know that one featured gardener is to be Medwyn Williams from Anglesea. The winner of 12 consecutive gold medals for his vegetables, he visited the Rhydlewis Garden Club a number of years ago, giving us advice on preparing for shows.

The hall was packed (other clubs were invited to join us) and the meeting was excellent - memorable for all the right reasons!

Farmyard Nursery's 2007 Chelsea display,
for which they won Gold.

Thank you for those lovely memories that predate my membership of the club, Judith.

"The Best of Chelsea Flower Show" starts tonight on BBC 1 at 5.50. Hopefully that is the perfect time for us all to stop gardening and sit down to relax!

To learn more about the plans for this series, go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jk4d

where you can also click to watch pre-recorded programmes from past shows.

Monty Don and Nigel

Also now on iplayer now is the 2020 series of Gardener's World. Perhaps you all saw the final programme (episode 9) in which Monty Don talked about Nigel, his much-loved golden retriever, who died suddenly earlier the same week.

And if you are still wondering what you should be doing in the garden, click here for the Gardener's World list of things to do in May.

Suttons Seeds also have 'Chelsea fever'; they are holding a Competition – #ChelseaGladrags. They admit, 'there’s no set dress code at the Chelsea Flower Show, however, many enjoy getting dressed up for the special horticultural occasion. We feel it would be a shame to miss out on this opportunity, and fully encourage getting your Chelsea outfit on at home! So get your #ChelseaGladrags on and pose for a photo with your favourite plant to be in with a chance of winning 2 tickets to Chelsea Flower Show 2021! To enter, sim,ly tag us and use the #ChelseaGladrags.' Go to

https://hub.suttons.co.uk/blog/general/the-suttons-guide-to-rhs-chelsea

to find out more.

And don't forget to visit our Facebook Page regularly. Post your photos there, and watch out for offers of our 'plant swap'. With the Plant Sale cancelled for the end of May, members and local non-members can post up the plants they no longer need. If you have seedlings, bedding plants, cuttings or collected seeds you can offer, do add them to the list, not forgetting to state where you would leave them safely for others to collect. Find us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1205516119526419/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Until we all finally manage to meet again, happy gardening!

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PAST WINNERS AT THE RHYDLEWIS GARDENING CLUB PRODUCE SHOW

2024 SPRING SHOW Winner of the most points in classes 1-17, AND Best exhibit in Classes 1-14 Jane Soltys Artisan Award for most points in Classes 18-31 was a draw between Jane Soltys and Sophie Heath The Pam Hufferdine Trophy 1st. Jim Milton 2019 -- The prize winners were; Vegetable Challenge Cup – Janette Sharman; Floral Challenge Cup – Janette Sharman and Sara Redman; Homecraft Shield – Sara O’Conner; Best Onions Shield – Carrie Davies Best Exhibit in Vegetables and Fruit – Janette Sharman. 2018 --The prize winners were; Vegetable Challenge Cup -Jannette Sharman; Floral Challenge Cup – Kevin Myerscough; Homecraft Shield – Cindy Ackerman and Sara Redman; Roses Shield – Sara Redman; Best Onions Shield – Carrie Davies, Best Exhibit in Vegetables and Fruit – Jannette Sharman. 2016 --- vegetable Challenge Cup - JANETTE SHARMAN floral cup - DILYS DAVIES Rose Shield - SARA REDMAN D&G Williams Shield - Most points in the Homecraft classes - VICKY WADE JT Memorial Shield - Best exhibit in class 10 - 3 cooking onions - CARRIE DAVIES 2015 -- Challenge Cup (most points gained in vegetable and fruit classes) Janette Sharman, Rhydlewis. Floral Prize (most points gained in the floral classes) Jenny Archibald, Newcastle Emlyn. Roses Shield for class 33 Marg Fogg, Tregroes. D & G Williams Shield (most points gained in homecraft section) Vicky Wade, Brongest. 2014 -- Vegetable and floral Challenge Cups,Janette Sharman Roses Shield and the D&G Williams Shield, Pam Evens and

RECIPIES

Have you got a recipe you use to take care of the gluts of veg, fruit, even flowers, in the garden? We already have ideas which range from chocolate beetroot cake, courgette tea loaf and broad been humus. If you have a recipe you'd like to share with the club, please type it out and hand to Liz Blackler or send as an attachment to liz_blackler@hotmail.com.

Liz is going to collate our recipe collection so that at every meeting (but especially during harvest time!) we can take home a new idea for enjoying our fruit and veg abundance.

RHYDLEWIS GARDENING TIPS

ROSES

Richard came from Farmyard Nurseries to give some secrets on growing roses in West Wales.

His top tip was; avoid tea and floribunda, which will ball up every time it rains and go for classifications that will survive; Rosa Rugosa, Bourbon and ramblers, rather than climbers.

SEEDS

Speaker Malcolm Berry gave a great talk on saving seeds in January 2014. His top tips for seed propagation are;

1/ Never try to save F1 seeds; the strain is too weak

2/ Start with easy veg seeds, like beans and peas, which you can leave on the vine until they're dry

3/Dry seeds in air (use muslin bags)

4/ Store in an airtight container with a silicone bag (or dried rice) to take away moisture

5/ Store in a cool dry dark environment (he recommends your fridge!)

7/ Do a 'control' test of ten seeds on damp kitchen roll to find your percentage germination

PESTS

New member Vicky has a great tip to help control slugs; using old plastic pots or jam jars, add sugar and a pinch of dried yeast to a slurp of orange juice or beer and sink the pot into the earth near your precious plants. The slugs happily make their slimy way towards the pub, and 'drop' in for a drink! Change daily, and works most effectively on rainy days and if recharged at dusk.

TOOLS

Jilly Hollins, of Waun LLan, recommends you always carry a pair of secateurs about your person, so that you never 'tear or break' when you spot a plant that needs a trim or a dead-head

PESTS

Mothballs, crumbled and complete covered by soil/bulb fibre, will keep mice away from your tulip bulbs.

TOOLS

Jilly also has a money-saving tip for flower-arrangers; search the charity shops for pretty vessels, such as teapots and ramekins. Then, if you want to offer your arrangement as a gift, you won't need to have the pot back

PESTS

Slugs hate ash, so if you light a fire, use the clearings around your precious plants to keep them off. We know they also hate coffee grounds, etc, but ash is often available in larger quantities!

FRUIT

Ash is also a renown source of potash, so most people use it under their fruit trees and soft fruit buses.

PESTS

Monty Don recommends a humane treatment for moles and their hills...Moles cause a huge amount of damage...but I like moles. I think that they are beautiful. I always hate it when the cats catch them...because they seem such harmless, special animals - in the same catagory as otters, badgers or field mice. Monty says the molehills make good potting compost - we've already discovered that trick - and that although the desecration might feel vast it is usually only one mole in spring at mating time as they are otherwise solitary animals...I refuse to trap them...I think the only solution is to live and let tunnel...(he says inThe Complete Gardiner...Moles cause a huge amount of damage...but I like moles. I think that they are beautiful. I always hate it when the cats catch them...because they seem such harmless, special animals - in the same catagory as otters, badgers or field mice. Monty says the molehills make good potting compost - we've already discovered that trick - and that although the desecration might feel vast it is usually only one mole in spring at mating time as they are otherwise solitary animals...I refuse to trap them...I think the only solution is to live and let tunnel...he says inThe Complete Gardiner...Moles cause a huge amount of damage...but I like moles. I think that they are beautiful. I always hate it when the cats catch them...because they seem such harmless, special animals - in the same catagory as otters, badgers or field mice. Monty says the molehills make good potting compost - we've already discovered that trick - and that although the desecration might feel vast it is usually only one mole in spring at mating time as they are otherwise solitary animals...I refuse to trap them...I think the only solution is to live and let tunnel...(The Complete Gardener)

MEMBER'S POSTS

Grass-free lawn opens in London park

A floral, scented lawn, planted in a west London park provides a better habitat for pollinating insects than traditional grass, according to researchers.

The grass-free lawn, which is believed to be the first in a public park, was the brainchild of PhD researcher Lionel Smith from the University of Reading and was commissioned for the park by Kensington and Chelsea council.

Mr Smith told BBC News how he devised the lawn and explains that its plants, which include daisies red-flowering clover, thyme, chamomile, pennyroyal and Corsican mint, create a "pollinator-friendly patchwork" - with 25% more insect life than that found in "traditionally managed grass lawns".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22846419

Grass Free Lawns Revisited

Richard and Susan Edmunds are creating a small grass free lawn at their house Tir-y-c-coed in Pontgarreg. If you're intrigued, go the the grass free lawns website below.

Richard has been on the lookout for suitable plants to mow at approx 3" height and traveled down to...

Moorland Cottage Plants.

We are a small hardy plant nursery and garden located in the upland region of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, positioned at 700 feet above sea level on the wild, northern slopes of the Preseli mountains, an area famous for its Neolithic monuments and remains of iron/bronze age settlements. The nursery and garden both offer magnificent views over the vast open hillsides, moorland and the acid bog below.

The nursery and garden have featured in the national gardening press and have received coverage on both national and local television.

Address: Moorland Cottage Plants, Rhyd y Groes, Brynberian, Crymych, Pembrokeshire, SA41 3TT Telephone: 01239 891363

Contact: Jennifer Matthews

10.30-5.30 daily except WednesdaysPlant Nursery Opening Times

March 1^st to September 30^th

10.30-4.30 daily except WednesdaysGarden Opening Times

Mid May to September 30^th

http://www.grassfreelawns.co.uk/links.html

Garden to Visit

Local Garden Centres and Nurseries

Farmyard Nurseries, Llandysul - 01559 363 389 - email: richard@farmyard nurseries.co.uk
Farmyard Nurseries specialise in a wide range of unusual plants especially hellebores, herbaceous and perennial plants, shrubs, trees and alpines

Trefhedyn Garden Centre - Newcastle Emlyn -
Wide range of plants, shrubs and trees, pots and garden containers, gardening equipment. When you go there tell Roger to get his website up and running so we can link to it!!

Penrallt Garden Centre and Nurseries - Moylegrove Cardigan - 01239 881 295
Set in 70 acres of farmland, woodland and coastal walks, the 3-acre nursery site has a vast area of glasshouses and tunnels - providing the ideal conditions for the enormous range of home-grown plants.

Gwynfor Growers - Pontgarreg nr Llangrannog - 01239 654 151
The nursery has a good range of herbaceous perennials, scented shrubs, climbers, and herbs. Many are unusual or rare. Plants for exposed sites, damp and shady places, and dry and sunny coastal gardens.

Penlan Perennials Nursery - Llandysul - 01239 711 102
Penlan Perennials is a specialist peat free nursery, propagating and growing over 750 choice plants for the eco-conscious gardener.

Saflora Plants, Lampeter - 01570 422 924 - email: nursery@safloraplants.com
Mail order nursery specialising in plants and seeds from South Africa and Australia, in particular the protea and amaryllis plant families - Not open to the public - shop online.

Dyffryn Gwyddno Nursery, Narberth, Pembrokeshire - 01834 861684
Produces and sells its own Pembrokeshire bamboos and a range of other unusual plants - hardy and exotic.

Carmarthen Tree Nursery, Carmarthenshire - 01267 275 254
Quality cell-grown seedlings, grown in West Wales using British seed - specialises in local provenance seedlings.

Local Garden Clubs and Societies

Hardy Plant Society Email: hpswestwales@zoomshare.com
Programme and News. All talks at Trinity Church Community Hall, Church Street, Newcastle Emlyn.
Pentrecwrt & District Garden & Countryside Club, Llandysul - 01559 362 975 Email: mail@rogerwgadams.idps.co.uk
Pentrecwrt & District Garden and Countryside Club has 40 members and meets in the village hall each month on the third Tuesday at 7.30PM.

National institutions

Organic growing

Plants

Help & Advice

Garden wildlife

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Sunday 17 May 2020

The Best of Chelsea Flower Show

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