COLINTON GARDEN CLUB
NEWSLETTER NO 78 April 2007

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Coming soon...

Thursday 15th. February 2007
Outing to Cambo Estate, Fife to see the magnificent display of snowdrops – more details below!

Monday 26th. February 2007
Meeting at Dreghorn Loan Hall at 8.00 p.m. The speaker will be Giles Laverock from Scotia Seeds

Photography

Attend a session to improve your photography. See details below.

Snowdrop Spectacular

Cast your minds back to late November and that splendid talk and slide show by Catherine Erskine of Cambo. Well here's your chance to see her snowdrop collection for yourselves. The club has arranged a visit to Cambo on Thursday 15th February, leaving Colinton at 10am. There will be a tour of the garden by either Catherine or Elliot, the Head Gardener and afterwards refreshments will be available. There is an entrance fee of £3.50 and a small charge will be made for the tour [£1]. Transport will be provided by members' own cars. For further details and arrangements please contact our Chairperson, Christopher Davies, on 441 2152 or Pat Taylor on 334 1410

Lost & Found

Does anyone know the owner of a small (25cm x 25cm) Italian silk handkerchief (red with blue and white dots) left in the Hall after the Christmas Party. The owner can reclaim it from Christopher, who has found that it fits quite well in his top jacket pocket!

Plant Table – watch this space!

The Committee have decided to introduce a new feature at our regular Monday evening meetings, from early Spring.

At the back of the Hall on Monday nights we’ll have a Plant Table where members can bring any excess seedlings, cuttings or plants for sale; proceeds will go to Club funds but we are anticipating the prices will be low! We will still be having the popular Plant Sales in June and October, but we hope that this will enable members to try out new plants at low cost. We would ask those bringing plants to take back any unsold stock at the end of the evening.

Alasdair Ferguson

Archie Hunter Garden Supplies

Once again Colinton Garden Club has come to an agreement with Archie Hunter to provide Spring supplies of fertilisers, mulches and everything you need for a lush, healthy garden. Garden Club members will benefit from the Archie Hunter free home delivery service and 15% discount on all orders.

Simply complete the attached Spring 2007 Order Form and enclose a cheque payable to Colinton Garden Club, remembering to reduce the total bill by 15%, and send to Dawn Ellis, 14 Bonaly Crescent (phone 622 0623) by Monday 26th. February 2007.

Our Website

Need to refer to an old copy of the newsletter? Lost your Fertiliser Order form? Want to know what equipment the Garden Club has for loan? If you have access to the internet, all this and much more is available at: www.colintongardens.org.uk

Email addresses for members of the committee you may need to contact are also given – follow the contacts link.

If you have a contribution or a suggestion to make, please contact webmaster@colintongardens.org.uk

Sonia Duffy

From the pen of our Chair…

Dear Friends,

Well, our best wishes to you all, Members, Family and Friends for the New Year 2007 and all the challenges, opportunities and surprises it may bring. The storm up here in Colinton at Hogmanay suggested turbulent times, but the rain has generously watered our gardens, so much so that the moss which died in the drought last summer has reappeared, and the unseasonably mild weather presages an early Spring, with all its delights of snowdrops and daffodils, followed by displays of rhododendron. The climate may be unusual, but once again Nature is showing herself in charge. Our response, quoting Voltaire, is to “cultivate our garden…”

It seems that Isobel Lodge’s fast forward to the future where the Club was engaged in growing grapes (The Christmas Play “Colinton in Love”) was not entirely fanciful. Indeed as we know, several members are already engaged in viticulture in their conservatories. “Colinton in Love” was performed by an enthusiastic cast of amateurs to a record house and involved the come-uppance of the spies Sherry Brandy and Black Pinot at the hands of members of the Garden Club in Tavern and Teashop, Open Garden and finally at a wine tasting in the Dell Tunnel. All this observed by a worldly-wise Black Crow who commented on the vain antics of “those fools the mortals”. A Choir provided musical background including a Madrigal. The good natured audience (you, my friends!) loved it and paid a rousing tribute to the writers, producers, cast and musicians who made our Christmas Party on 20th December such an exceptional experience. Our thanks are also due to all those who helped with setting up the room, the table decorations, catering, food and drinks, arranging the quizzes and all the other tasks. Make sure you apply for your tickets in good time for this year!

You will be pleased to hear that our Club is popular and that its reputation as a place to meet people, exchange information and have a good evening is growing. We passed another milestone at the end of last year. Our membership is now over 200. Thanks to all of you who support the Club, contributing with action and ideas, sharing our values and doing what we can in a practical sense to make Colinton a beautiful place to live in.

This newsletter will remind you of forthcoming events for the rest of this year, until July. You will see a separate notice about the photographic workshop on two Saturday mornings, 24th March and 21st April. We have been fortunate in securing through Napier University the services of a professional photographer, Allan Shedlock. Allan will be giving guidance to the interested amateur on how to take better photographs and how to present them in an interesting way. The focus will be on digital photography in the garden, but anyone with an interest in the pictorial arts will find these sessions of value. Why not make it a family event? We are offering a concession rate for students. See below for details.

As an additional service to our Members we are planning to provide a Plant Table at the back of the Hall at meetings. We hope this idea will be welcome and provide yet another useful point of contact. See further details.

Finally, you know that Colinton Garden Club won 2nd Prize at the Gardening Scotland Pallet Garden Competition last June. We have to defend our reputation, of course, and will be participating at the next Gardening Scotland Exhibition. See below.

Now, as Spring approaches, as the days get longer, Happy Gardening !

Christopher Davies
Chairperson

Colinton Garden Club Pallet Garden at Gardening Scotland

The annual Gardening Scotland event takes place this year on 1st, 2nd and 3rd June at the Royal Highland Centre Edinburgh. This is always an enjoyable day out.

Last year, you will remember, Colinton Garden Club had an entry in the Pallet Garden competition and we did very well, coming second overall with our garden promoting the theme of “Scottish Success at the Commonwealth Games”. Obviously we are keen to do even better this year, so if any members would like to be involved in the project in any way (e.g. on the creative side, planting or indeed constructing the Pallet Garden), please contact a committee member to discuss further. It’s great fun!
Alasdair Ferguson

Dates for your diary…

Change to our programme

You will have noticed that Tom Mabbott will be speaking to us at the meeting on 26th March. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Ann Lindsay, who was due to speak on "Secret Stories of Scottish Plant Hunters", cannot come in March. Instead she will join us as part of next year's programme. We welcome Tom Mabbott who is a prominent member of the RCHS and a stalwart of the Scottish Gardening scene.