Tag: Minchin

Heyford Gardening Club – February 2020

Heyford-Gardening-Cluband-allotments

We held our AGM at our January meeting at which Mike Langrish stepped down for a well deserved rest after ten years as our Chairman. Avril Minchin now takes over the helm for a year which looks to be full of exciting talks and events. We also held a competition for the best winter arrangement which was won by Chris Watts. Looking at the offerings on display our gardens are full of colour and interest even in midwinter.

After everybody had filled up with wine and cheese, I was allowed to update them on the progress on our wildlife area.

Our next meeting will be on the 10th February when we will welcome Liz Taylor of the Woodland Trust who will talk to us about woodland flora. We will also hold our annual Art and Craft competition; the classes will be

A photograph (on a theme to be decided)
A piece of visual art in any medium
An item of craft work.

Programme for rest of the year
March 9th: Anita Thorp: Snowdrops Mini Show – Daffodils
April 6th *: Clare Price: Propagation; Mini Show Tulips
May 11th: John Lee; Penstemons; Seed Swap ; Mini Show of Spring Flowers
June 8th: Patsy Raynor: Plants in Literature and Anecdote; Mini Show Roses
June 20th: Village Hall Fete
July 13th: Summer Party
September 14th: Autumn Show
October 12th: Philip Aubury: Garden Ponds
November 9th: Plant Swap
December 14th: Christmas Tree Festival
*(NB a week early due to Easter)

Things to do in February
1. Plant bulbs in pots for the summer
2. Plant bare root trees and shrubs
3. Sow broad beans and sweet peas.

Mark Newstead

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www.heyfordgardenclub.com

For more information visit the Heyford Gardening Club & Allotments page

Heyford-Gardening-Cluband-allotments

Heyford Gardening Club – April 2019

Heyford-Gardening-Cluband-allotments

At our March meeting we were entertained by Liz Taylor who described the work being done by the Woodland Trust to try and repair the damage being done to our woodlands by development and pests and disease. Apparently they need to plant 2000 trees each just to keep numbers as they are. Working with trees needs a longer time scale; some of their projects have a timetable of 100 years!

The evening also featured our annual daffodil bench show which which this year coincided nicely with the flowers in our gardens, as was illustrated by the 54 entries. This made judging difficult as all the blooms were of such excellent quality.

The single colour section was won jointly by Anne Haynes and Margaret Ridgewell Brian Haynes came second and John Dunkley and Janet Forth came joint third.

The Small flowered section was won by Val Jackson, Tom Wallis came second and Avril Minchin got third place.

The bi-colour flower section was won by Jenny Wilshire, Jean Spokes was second and Lynn Ashbee and Rosemary Dunkley shared third place.

Our next meeting will be on 8th April when we definitely will welcome the return of Patsy Rayner who will tell us about plants and literature. (My apologies for mistakenly trailing this talk last month). Aprils meeting will also have our annual Tulip show, let’s hope for as much success as with the daffodils.

This winter has been generally mild and I have noticed signs of aphids on our roses in sheltered spots. This might seem a bit ominous, but on the positive side there are a lot of ladybirds hidden around the garden and all through the winter we have been finding lacewings in the house. With any luck these predators will help to control the greenfly numbers before they get out of hand.

Some Things to do in April
April is a busy month in the garden when we can start sowing and planting in earnest, but be vigilant for late frosts, particularly if you are planting out tender bedding plants. It’s also a good time to start feeding shrubs and roses.

Mark Newstead

www.heyfordgardenclub.com

For more information visit the Heyford Gardening Club & Allotments page

Heyford-Gardening-Cluband-allotments