COLINTON GARDEN CLUB
NEWSLETTER NO 86 April 2009
COLINTON GARDEN CLUB |
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Coming soon...Monday Monday Saturday Saturday See here for much more information about these events! |
From the pen of our Chair…
What a difference some warmth and light makes to plants and humans alike! These Spring mornings, the birds summon us out of our beds with their melodious song. Responding to their call, I ventured forth to fetch the newspaper, full of anticipation on what turned out to be a glorious day. To crown it all, a fruit tree on Bonaly Road had burst into blossom, a forerunner for what will shortly be Edinburgh’s glorious annual Spring display in streets and gardens. A phone call to Gill secured me the scarifier and so I spent the rest of the day being useful. Sounds of activity from neighbouring gardens indicated that we were not alone. Scarifying, like grass cutting, affords the satisfaction of visible achievement – something for which you can justifiably grant yourself a little reward when evening comes…. One of the highlights of the year was the Members’ Night on February 23rd. The idea was to have three short talks by members, illustrating their enthusiasms and entertaining the audience. It worked perfectly. Euan Scroggie, who spoke on “Ramblings of a Reluctant Gardener,” skillfully portrayed his prolific garden through accomplished photographs, panoramas and close-ups in glorious colour, not forgetting the frogs, frolicking in the pond. Bryan Dale’s talk on “The Joys and Frustrations of Community Gardening” focused on The Triangle and the Episcopal Church Garden, both of which are spaces the whole community can enjoy, and which are maintained by volunteers. Bryan’s humorous delivery of his talk with apt illustrations was much enjoyed by the audience, at least one of whom was moved to join the team at the Triangle the following Monday morning. Isobel and John Lodge transported us to Namibia in their talk “Desert Survivors & Skeletons”, when they shared with us their experiences of exploring this vast, open and arid landscape following in the tracks of John’s grandfather. We saw flora and fauna, smelt the heat and tasted the dust. Each of these three talks was different in scale, perspective and style. Each was well prepared and well presented, holding and entertaining the audience. Agric Hadron gave us a thought provoking talk at our meeting on March 23rd. Against the background of “The Utopia Experiment” where a community was established in Highlands to test the premises for self-sufficiency, Agric described his success in growing vegetables the year round, urging us for the sake of future survival to profit from the lessons he has learnt in adjusting to local conditions. See the website for Agric’s vegetable fact sheet.
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Agric Hadron gave us a thought provoking talk at our meeting on March 23rd. Against the background of “The Utopia Experiment” where a community was established in Highlands to test the premises for self-sufficiency, Agric described his success in growing vegetables the year round, urging us for the sake of future survival to profit from the lessons he has learnt in adjusting to local conditions. See the website for Agric’s vegetable fact sheet. As Spring comes, the Garden Club moves outside. In the coming three months there are four events to put in your diaries: 11th May – Evening Open Garden, end May – Gardening Scotland with our pallet garden, 6th June – Colinton Open Gardens and 11th July – Summer Outing. You will find more details in this newsletter. Both the Evening Open Garden (11th May) and the Open Gardens on Saturday 6th June feature attractive gardens at the Gillespie Road end of Pentland Avenue. We are most grateful to the owners, Morag & Lawrence Marshall (11th May), Caroline & Michael Pearson, Sally & John Miller and Maggie & David Robinson (6th June) for their generosity in opening their gardens to members of the Club and look forward to meeting them in their gardens. The Pallet Garden team has started work. Coordinated by Christine Ireland, Andy Ireland, Jeannie Laidlaw, Jim Murray, Gill Perry and Margaret Semple are pooling their talents to give us another chance to win an award at Scotland’s own exhibition “Gardening Scotland” from Friday 29th May to Sunday 31st May. Well done, and good luck! Our summer outing is always a popular event. This time we are going to “Gardens in North Fife” – Earlshall Garden in Leuchars and St Andrews Botanic Garden. Not too much travelling, a journey through pleasant countryside, plenty to see in good company and lunch facilities in St Andrews. Tickets are on sale (£18). Please reserve your place. Finally we remind you that our meeting on Monday 27th April is the AGM which gives us an opportunity to review the year together, to fulfill our statutory requirements and as usual to wrap up the evening with a refreshment, traditionally, a glass of wine. It has been another good year for Colinton Garden Club. Our membership
is increasing, our programme has been well received, our events are popular
and our costs have been kept under control. On, behalf of the Committee
I would like to thank all members for their willing participation, support
and encouragement. Thank you! Christopher Chairperson |
Outings and Events: Spring and Summer 2009These events are happening over the next few months. Sign up now! CGC Annual General MeetingMonday 27th April at 8.00 pm, Dreghorn Loan Hall Evening Spring Open GardenMonday 11th May. From 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm at the house of Morag & Lawrence Marshall,14 Spylaw Park, Edinburgh EH13 0LP. Refreshments will be served. Gardening Scotland (Colinton Garden Club Pallet Garden)Friday 29th May – Sunday 31st May. Advance tickets (£2 cheaper) are available until 22nd May from Gardening Scotland website. Please contact Christine Ireland (445 2266) if you would like to help with the pallet garden exhibit at Gardening Scotland. Colinton Open Gardens in Pentland Avenue, and Plant SaleSaturday 6th June, 10 am – 12 noon. We thank these members for opening their gardens: Caroline and Michael Pearson, 42 Pentland Avenue, EH13 0HY; Sally and John Miller, 19 Pentland Avenue. EH13 0HY; Maggie and David Robinson, 16 Gillespie Road, EH13 0LL. Further details will be posted on our website. CGC Annual Summer OutingSaturday 11th July. Bus leaves from Westgarth Avenue at 9 am and returns at 5.30 pm. We will drive to North Fife, and in the morning we will be visiting Earlshall Castle Gardens at Leuchars, and in the afternoon the Botanic Gardens at St Andrews. Cost – as last year – is £18. Please get your tickets from Christopher Davies on 441 2152 or chair@colintongardens.org.uk Please note that the first meeting of 2009/10 session is Monday 28th September 2009. Details will be in the August Newsletter. Other eventSaturday 4th April, 10.30 am – 4.00 pm |
Catch up
Garden Club Library
We have recently purchased books including Helen Dillon's Garden Book by Helen
Dillon and the invaluable Garden Plants for Scotland by Kenneth Cox. These
were highly recommended by some members. The loan of books is free and is
a useful feature of your club membership. Come and see the collection of
over 100 books and videos that we have available. If any member has any suggestions
for future purchases, please let me know.
Gill Perry
Diary date
The Caley plant sales at Saughton Winter Gardens, Balgreen Road, will take
place on the 9th., 16th. and 23rd. May from 9.30--12.30. A wide selection of
bedding plants on sale and Macplants will also have specialist plants for sale.
There will be demonstrations, tea and coffee and home baking.
Colinton School Gardening Club
The school gardening club continues to thrive and has a potential for growth
since there is now a waiting list! Every Thursday afternoon after school,
a lively group of twelve to fifteen children drawn from Primary 4—7
gathers in the science classroom and, when the sun shines, we sally forth
to the school garden or to the woods. Recent activities have included: taking
and planting both indoor and outdoor cuttings (thank you to those kind GCC
members who provided parent plants); planning and making miniature gardens
using twigs and lentils for bushes and paths; dividing and potting up indoor
plants; using recycled material in the garden, such as newspaper plant pots,
CD bird scarers etc. (some of the children’s suggestions were very
imaginative); an eco Quiz in the Gallolee Wood with rhyming clues to obtain
ideas about its future use; planting early potatoes in pots outside and,
finally, making and decorating Easter branches with coloured eggs and sweets.
The school club provides a challenge—we are always looking for new ideas—but is enjoyable and rewarding. Johanna Carrie and I have been involved since the inception of the club, four years ago. We have the support of the school and particular help from one of the teachers, Alison Carr. Johanna and I feel that we have reached a stage where the club would benefit from additional help and creativity. When only two Garden Club members are managing the school club, it becomes a considerable commitment, whereas sharing the task would allow flexibility and ensure the club can continue. Please contact us if you can offer help.
Isobel Lodge
Bulbs!
The Parker Dutch Bulbs Catalogue should arrive in June and members will be
able to have a look at it and place their orders. Once the news of the arrival
of the catalogue has been posted, please call me (0131 441 6079) and I will
put your name on a list and the catalogue will be passed around so that you
can place your order and choose what you think your garden would like for
next spring.
This is a wonderful opportunity, as the selection is enormous. You enter into a fantasy world of multi-headed tulips of every possible hue, triple-headed narcissi, trumpet daffodils, maxi or mini; black hyacinths, cyclamen, jonquil, anemones, iris, amazing lilies and much, much more. The prices are very reasonable - for example 100 snowdrops for £6.50, 50 Double Red Riding Hood tulips for £5.00, 50 double daffodils for £4.75. More information will be found on the website or in the Newsletter and the date of the arrival of the catalogue will be posted. Orders usually arrive in September, lilies later in November.
Take advantage of these wonderful bulb offers and give your garden a spring makeover for next year.
Elspeth Macgregor, Bulb Coordinator
Website: please don’t forget that the website is a source of up-to-date
information about what is happening, copies of newsletter, photographs of outings
and events. For example you will find Agric
Hadron’s notes on vegetables
from his talk on 23rd March. Thanks to Sonia Duffy for keeping the website
updated.
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