Meeting Report Archive for 2016 - 2017
30th Annual General Meeting held on 2nd November 2017
Jean Hunter-Grant welcomed everyone and, in particular, David Rose, president of the club.
Apologies from Christine Kerr and Laura Keenan were noted.
The minutes of the last AGM held on 3rd November 2016 were approved.
Chairman’s Report
The following is the text of the report presented by J H-G:
‘This has been another successful year for Barony Gardening Club.
We have had a great variety of speakers. Unfortunately Jim Jermyn was unable to come in January as planned due to adverse weather conditions. However Jim will be the speaker next month, December 2017.
Members enjoyed an excellent day out in July to Larch Cottage Nurseries and Dalefoot Composts, Cumbria. Many thanks to Sarah (Beattie) for organising the day. Thanks also to members Helen (Amos) and Jeanie (Jones) for allowing members to visit their gardens on a lovely evening in May: this was much appreciated and enjoyed by all.
Closer to home, I would like to thank John (Lethbridge) and his team for their hard work in keeping the Anniversary Garden looking good.
Also, thanks to all members of the committee for their enthusiasm and help in making the monthly meetings run smoothly.
Special thanks also are due to John for the excellent meeting reports for the local press.'
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Lesley Kirkwood presented the report. Please refer to the appendix below for the accounts for the
year ended 30th September 2017.
RECEIPTS
Subscription income has decreased, with member numbers dropping slightly to 68. However we have also 8 new members this year. Visitor income was down slightly on the previous year, with 19 visitors over the 9 meetings.
The raffle generated an income of £317. This is considerably more than the cost of prizes as we used some of our stock of Rootgrow as Raffle prizes this year.
The catering surplus was £42.
Heathhall Garden Centre and McDermids Supply Company kindly continue to sponsor the Club.
Dobie’s plant and seed sales have brought the Club £38. Many thanks to all the members who continue to purchase seeds and plants. Also Rootgrow sales were up this year with 8 sachets purchased by Members.
Plant sales were £105 this year which was up slightly compared with last year.
The bank account remains at the Clydesdale Bank where there are currently no charges for a Club account.
PAYMENTS
The speaker’s payments, and hospitality, was less this year as many of the speakers were local and did not ask for large fees. We also had one meeting cancelled due to the weather. The total also includes the donation to Perennial by 2 of the speakers, Robbie Black and Brian Connelly.
Stationery expenses have dropped considerably due to the change in company used to supply the Membership cards, Programmes and Posters. I also had some stamps left from the previous year which I used to send out subscription reminder letters where email was not available.
The donation made to SRUC for the use of the Barony facilities remained at £385.
Scottish Gardeners Forum liability insurance and membership remains unchanged from the previous year.
We have purchased some new software for the laptop this year to facilitate the computer communication with speakers' memory sticks or other equipment.
We have spent £105 on the Anniversary Garden providing a bench for the members who donate their time and effort to maintaining the garden, and heathers to provide some winter colour.
IN CONCLUSION
The Club remains reasonably well funded, despite the deficit of £175 this year, with £1451 in the Clydesdale Bank. Projections for 2017-2018 suggest that costs will be less. We are also hoping to continue encouraging Members to open their gardens to the Club possibly generating some funds. Therefore the Club Members subscription will remain at £10. However after discussion with the Committee we feel that the Visitor fee should increase to £3 as there has been no increase in this fee for a considerable number of years.
APPENDIX
Receipts and Payments Account Year Ended 30th September 2017
Receipts 2016-17 2015-16
Raffle 316 257
Subscriptions 610 710
Catering Supplies 42 2
Visitors 38 46
Sponsorship/Donations 50 160
Dobies plants/Rootgrow Sales 68 38
Plant Sales 105 96
Outing Income --- 4
Book Sales --- 100
1229 1439
Payments
Speakers / Hospitality 330 606
Raffle Prizes 95 309
Membership Cards, Stationery, etc. 101 218
Scottish Gardeners' Forum
Membership 25 25
Public Liability Insurance 65 65
Barony Hire 385 385
Equipment 100 ---
Anniversary Garden 105 17
Rootgrow Cost 49 4
Speaker Payments Outstanding 160 ---
1415 1629
Loss for year -186 -190
Balance Sheet as at 30 September 2017
Balance Brought Forward 1626 1816
Loss for Year -186 -190
Balance to Carry Forward 1440 1626
Club Assets
Bank Account 1572 1537
Cash in Hand 8 8
Stock Rootgrow 31 81
Less Creditors -160 ---
1440 1626
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Lesley Kirkwood, Treasurer
Certified to be in accordance with club records: __________________________________
Derek Ivy, FFA FCIM October 2017
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‘Shady Characters’ - an illustrated talk given to the Barony Gardening Club, on Thursday 5th October, by Colin Crosbie, former Curator at RHS Wisley, Surrey.
We had an excellent attendance of over 50 members and visitors to listen to what advice Mr Crosbie might offer us on the subject of shade-loving plants. The attraction could have been the topic or the reputation of our speaker. But it quickly became clear that it was both of these.
Mr Crosbie’s postings had taken him to many different horticultural establishments in Britain. Yet he has returned to his native region here in Dumfriesshire. He trained at Auchencruive, Ayrshire, had been head gardener at Royal Lodge (residence of HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother), and latterly at RHS Wisley. He now offers consultancy and tour/expedition services from his base here.
He began by suggesting that we might think that our climate, here, is already one of semi-shade, so we would not have to struggle to create shady areas in our gardens! He, more or less, agreed.
But he also offered us the ‘rule of two’. This means that, in choosing plants, we should look for those specimens that can offer at least two favourable characteristics. They might be flowers, form, autumn colour, texture, scent and foliage; and he illustrated them with a selection of well-chosen perennials and shrubs.
Arisaema are a favourite of his. They are a tuberous plant, producing a range of unusual spathe-spadix type flowers, depending on the species/variety. The foliage which follows is equally spectacular. Some are scented. Cypripedium (lady’s slipper orchid) is another, with a range of flower sizes and colours in early summer. Again he was able to show us images of these.
Dicksonia, Dryopteris, Epimedium, Erythronium, Hellebores, Polygonatum, Meconopsis and Anemones were a few others he mentioned for the value of their flowers and/or foliage. (The ‘Wild Swan’ Anemone flowers from April until autumn.) He seemed reluctant to include the ever-favourite Hostas; but his reservation stemmed from their unusual ability to attract slugs! It seems that whatever precautions one may take, the slugs will have their fill. He acknowledged that we may resort to proprietary slug killers in our efforts to beat them, but reminded us that this material loses its effectiveness quite quickly, even though much of it remains.
Among the shrubs he mentioned were Rhododendron, Hamamelis, Daphne, Sarcococca,
Acer and Magnolia (stellata). These can be expensive to buy, and may take some years to mature. But that was a reminder to us that plants should also be regarded as a legacy. Enthusiasm can often lead us to forget such a significant – and basic – aspect of gardening.
Mr Crosbie mentioned a few other ‘basic’ considerations, like choosing plants with light-coloured flowers for shady places, and resisting buying one of each of several varieties – a very tempting action when faced with a sea of delights in the nursery. Repeat planting of the same variety is much more effective in the garden. We have all discovered that it is quite easy to overlook these basic rules!
It had probably not escaped Mr Crosbie’s ken that, being such a local man, it would be easy for the BGC committee to seek his services again! Well, with the breadth of his experience, the depth of his knowledge and the way he presents all this, who could blame us?
The usual cups of tea and home-made cake and biscuits were a welcome aspect to the gathering. Our November meeting will have some extra special refreshments as we will not have a speaker but old our AGM, have a quiz and have some mystery tastings. Everyone is very welcome at 7:15 pm on Thursday 2nd Nov at SRUC Barony College, Parkgate. Telephone 01387 750 998 for details.
Anemone 'White Swan'
Cypripedium kentuckiense
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‘The Good Doers’: hardy plants for Scotland - an illustrated talk given to the Barony Gardening Club on Thursday, 7th September, by Graeme Butler of Rumbling Bridge Nursery, Kinross.
This was our first meeting following the club’s ‘summer recess’, though most agreed that it was more ‘recess’ than ‘summer’! We had a good attendance of 40 members and visitors, all keen to hear about some garden certainties from Mr Butler.We were not disappointed, for he is immensely knowledgeable and is able to convey this with great enthusiasm. Besides, our club’s outing last year took us to the nursery at Rumbling Bridge, so we were already aware of the exceptional quality of his plants. He made it clear, too, that whatever he sells he can guarantee will survive our climate. And he had brought with him a good selection of such plants. The nursery is run by himself and his wife, Hilary.
Their nursery specialises in rockery and woodland plants; and they are keen to ensure their choice of stock will display year-round interest, with attractive foliage, long flowering periods, and with attractive berries, habits and textures. The alpine Cyclamen purpurascens, for example, has four flowering periods, beginning in mid-summer, is evergreen and the flowers have a scent of lily-of-the-valley. It is completely hardy.
Dwarf shrubs included Leiophyllum hugeri, an evergreen ‘shrublet’ smothered in small white blooms for long periods; and Myrteola nummularia, a wonderful carpeter for moist shade and is covered in red berries from autumn and through the winter.
There were many alpines, with, perhaps, the Cyclamen being his favourite. But the rare Allium beesianum grows to only 8 inches and is topped with large sky-blue bells, and looked spectacular. So also was the range of Corydalis which can offer striking red or blue flowers when the only flower in the garden might be snowdrops. Primulas are another speciality of the nursery, and some, like the kusum Krishna and the aurantiaca pulverulenta have been developed by them.
Graeme and Hilary had brought with them a selection of their stock to illustrate these important gardening requirements, and many could not resist a purchase or two. It was also worth noting that it is possible to mail-order through the Rumbling Bridge website. If you did not catch the names of all the plants illustrated in Graeme's talk, the following list might be helpful - see
Graeme Butler's plants.docx
There has been an unavoidable change to our next meeting, due to our speaker’s illness. And so Colin Crosbie (formerly curator at RHS Wisley) will talk on ‘Shady Characters’, at the usual time of 7:15 pm, in the dining room of the Barony (SRUC) College, Parkgate, on Thursday 5th October. Everyone is welcome. Contact Deirdre on 01387 750 998 for details.
Rumbling Bridge Nursery
Cyclamen purpurescens
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Barony Gardening Club June meeting - a social gathering to mark our summer break, held at Barony Campus on Thursday 1st June.
Our habit has been to have a ‘gardening break’ through the summer months and to mark it with a plant sale and refreshments, but no arranged talk. There is always a cup of tea and cake; but on these occasions the refreshments are a bit special.
A good array of plants is the main attraction. These are donated by members from their surplus stock – such as spare seedlings and divided herbaceous perennials. There is little else that can so seduce a keen gardener! And many left pleasantly burdened.
We have often held a garden-themed quiz, too; but on this occasion we tried a photograph competition instead. And there was a good response, with pictures covering the categories of colour, wildlife, humour and structure. It is surprising what some folk will photograph in their gardens! Winners were awarded modest prizes.
We were a little disappointed with the small attendance – about 20, compared with the usual 40. But we were competing with a busy time in the D&G Arts Festival and Spring Fling, and many have commitments there too. But they had not escaped into their gardens, for it was a wet evening!
Our regular meetings will resume on Thursday, 7th September, with a talk by Graeme Butler on The Good Doers: Hardy Plants for Scotland. Everyone is welcome to join us in the dining room of Barony Campus, Parkgate, at 7:15 pm. For details please telephone Deirdre on 01387 750998.
We have, in the meantime, a garden visit to Larch Cottage Nursery and to Dalefoot Compost, both in Cumbria, on Thursday 13th July. We look forward to these as well as to the accompanying refreshments and companionship.
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‘What’s new at the Botanics? -an illustrated talk given to Barony Gardening Club, on Thursday 4th May, by Simon Crutchley, Senior Horticulturalist at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.
About 40 of our members attended to hear some of Simon’s stories of his encounters with plants and the public at the Garden over recent years. His enthusiasm and natural humour ensured our appreciation that the work of the Garden involves more than just collecting plants.
He reminded us that the venture began in 1670 as a physic garden in a small area of Holyrood Park. As the Enlightenment flourished its need for more space required its expansion into sites on Leith Walk and to where Waverley Station now stands. It finally moved, in 1820, to its present site at Inverleith. But what is known as the Botanic Cottage (built 1764) was salvaged from the former Leith Walk site and re-assembled, stone-by-stone, this century at the present site: and it is now made available for public use.
Simon assured us that the observed geographic distribution of plant species does not mean that they cannot be grown elsewhere. Indeed, there are now many South American plants thriving in this country (and at the Botanic Garden in particular). Many of the myrtle species, for example, are propagated and conserved here in Edinburgh. They are native to the temperate woodlands of southern Chile. This work is carried out on the Chilean Terrace (opened in 2005) and in the glasshouses.
The 28 glasshouses are an essential means of propagating and studying plants that are derived from tropical and warm-temperate climates around the world. Many of these glasshouses are open to the public. Amongst them are the Victorian Palm Houses – a tropical one and a temperate one. The other glasshouses cover five climatic zones. In the Plants & People House the temperature is maintained at 18 – 250C and 95% humidity; and it is in the pond here that those 6-foot diameter lily leaves of the Victoria cruziana ‘Longwood hybrid’ float. The RBGE grow these each year from seed because there is not sufficient light in our winter months to keep them alive, even if they are warm enough.
There are specimens, and breeding programmes for plants, from other regions around the world, especially from Asia and the Far East. In late spring it is possible to view 18 different species of Mecanopsis in the woodland areas, as well as a great range of Primula. There is a constant round of flowering as the seasons change: and in the winter the Alpine Glasshouses perpetuate it. The Tropical Palm House was built in 1834 and has a long-established bamboo clump and the extra-ordinary, climbing, rattan palm. Its most well-known inhabitant is the Sabal bermudana palm, already a mature plant when it was moved there in 1834.
But Simon had saved something special for ending his talk. He revealed that, last year, their Amorphophallus titanum had flowered. Now this had grown from a corm gifted (in 2003) into one that weighed 154 kg by 2010. Scales borrowed from Edinburgh Zoo confirmed this! The plant most resembles an Arum lily of gigantic proportions, with a stench to match. It has a central yellow spadix and surrounding dark red spathe. It grows 10 cm a day, and had reached a little over 4 m at its peak. After that it was over in about 3 days. And Simon had some photographs of the queues of visitors waiting outside the Tropical Wet House to catch a glimpse, and presumably a sniff, too. His time-lapse sequence revealed it to be an extra-ordinary beast.
Our next meeting will be our summer social evening, with a plant sale, refreshments and a photograph challenge. Members and visitors are all welcome and are invited to bring any plants and garden-related photos on Thursday 1st June at 7:15 pm. We will meet at the Barony College (SRUC) dining room, as usual.
Victoriana cruziana
Amorphophallus titanium
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‘Gardens of Ireland’ - an illustrated talk given to the Barony Gardening Club, on Thursday 2nd March, by Brian Connelly, of Barony College
We had another good attendance of eager gardeners to hear about some of the gardens of
Ireland – which, it turned out, were little known amongst our audience. But our own Mr Connelly has spent many years looking around them with his horticultural eyes, and so was able to provide a taste of what they can offer the appreciative visitor.
In all of them it is possible to find rare and/or tender plants which would have to be considered glasshouse specimens here in Scotland. Of course we would expect to find some of them outdoors in the west of Galloway – at somewhere like Logan Botanic Garden for example. Rheum, Echium, Sparmannia, Clinodendron, Astilboides and Eucalyptus grow happily at Mount Stewart Garden in County Down. This is all due to the Irish climate – mild and wet. Indeed, Brian had to confess that, although his pictures showed the glory of the gardens in bright sunshine, the visitor might not find it so! (The Italian garden of Garnish Island, Co Cork, can look distinctly un-Mediterranean without that weather!)
So he took us on a tour beginning in the north east and travelling clockwise to the south west. (He did mention the Burren, on the north-west coast of County Clare, for its unique limestone landscape and associated Alpine, Mediterranean and Arctic flora, and well worth a visit.)
Rowallane Garden (also County Down) has made itself famous for its trees and shrubs, some having been developed here, like the Hypericum rowallane, Chaenomeles rowallane and Viburnum plicatum Rowallane. Annesley Garden, Castlewellan (Co Down) has a very large maze. Powers Court Garden (Co Wicklow) boasts Italian and Japanese gardens rising up a hillside. It also accommodates the tallest Douglas fir in Ireland. Brian admitted that his favourite was Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford (Co Wicklow), for its organic gardening and New Zealand shrubs. He was particularly struck by its Mexican blue pine.
His tour finished at Bantry House and Gardens (Co Cork), an Italian-styled terraced garden overlooking Bantry Bay. It is best known for its 100-step stone staircase which connects the terraces. There is a wisteria-surrounded parterre and an array of azaleas and rhododendrons which must all cope with ferocious winds that have been interrupted by nothing apart from some thousands of miles of Atlantic waves.
It is tempting to ‘have a go’ with some of these rare and attractive plants in our own gardens here. It is true that we might be surprised; but experience will tell us that the chances are slim! Brian has a great deal of experience through his work in horticulture at the Barony College and knows just what our climate can do to those tender, and, yes, seductive, specimens. But it is not too difficult to take the ferry across the Irish Sea and enjoy them in their full magnificence over there. He recommends the gardens unreservedly.
Our next meeting will be quite different, when Mr Robbie Black, of Drumlanrig Castle, will offer us a practical demonstration. This will take place at the Barony College dining room on Thursday 27th April at 7:15 pm. Everyone is welcome. Telephone 01387 750 998 for details.
Mount Usher Garden
Rowallane Garden
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‘The Winter Garden’- an illustrated talk given to the Barony Gardening Club, on Thursday 2nd February, by Helen Knowles, of Tinnisburn Nursery, Canonbie
We had an excellent attendance of 45 members and visitors on a night when the weather was as benign as it could be at this time of the year, but still dark, of course. Our January talk had to be cancelled because of the icy condition of the roads. We may think gardens in winter can be drab and uninspiring, so the prospect of hearing of a different view was eagerly sought. And we were not disappointed.
Helen’s 1½ acre garden is perched 600 feet above sea level and exposed to a very testing climate. She was able to assure us, then, that the plants she grows really are durable. And she was also able to remind us of a range of plants that can add colour, structure, texture and even scent during these bleak months. Witch-hazels do some of these very well, but can be expensive, so might be reserved for a special position. Sarcocca confusa (Christmas box) may be a less-expensive alternative. Evergreens, like golden yew and variegated laurels add brightness, as well as form, without overpowering a garden. Jasminum nudiflorum and Viburnum bodnantense are reliable performers, adding colour and scent. Some of the dogwoods (like Cornus alba elegantissima) have brilliant red winter bark as well as striking variegated green and white foliage over the summer. Mahonia sp. gives excellent value with its form, colour and scent.
She further reminded us of the value of many autumn-flowering perennials that extend into early winter. Osmanthus, Euphorbia and evergreen grasses do this very well. And some leave behind attractive seed heads, like most of the umbellifers, Phlomis sp., Lunaria (honesty) and Hydrangea. If these are left un-pruned they can not only self-seed but provide shelter for over-wintering insects. Even the common ivy can be a surprise with its unusual habit of autumn flowers that can be a magnet for late-foraging bees; and left on the winter plant are attractive black berries.
There is also a very useful overlap of winter-spring plants: snowdrop, snowflake and hellebores being reliable examples of this. The Erica forms of heather (eg E. darleyensis) will flower in winter-spring and do not need the pruning regime of summer-autumn flowering heathers. Iris (reticulata and lazica) will flower in late winter-early spring. Most of the bulbs can be brought into flower early if kept in pots indoors, and offer scent and/or colour in those bleak months.
Helen was keen to emphasize that there is a great deal of enjoyment in approaching a garden as an all-year-round place for plants. As if to demonstrate the winter potential of plants she had also brought with her many thriving and – it must be said – seductive specimens. Her stall was a place of jostling interest at the end of her talk, and many of our members left burdened in a most satisfied way.
We hope the weather for our next talk will be equally benign. That will be on Thursday, 2nd March, at Barony Campus, when Brian Connelly will tell us about The Gardens of Ireland. Everyone is welcome - telephone 01387 750 998 for details.
A colourful winter garden
Winter garden detail
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'Gargunnock House Gardens throughout the year' - an illustrated talk given to the Barony Gardening Club on Thursday, 1st December 2016, by Willie Campbell, Head Gardener
Mr Campbell had travelled down from Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, earlier in the day, without incident, only to discover that we could oblige with some flat batteries in our microphones, so making our loudspeakers unusable! But he was not concerned as he knew all about reaching the back row with his own good clear voice.
He began by telling us something of his own route in to gardening, after careers in engineering, the Merchant Navy and with BP. And so he ‘retired’ to the Head Gardener’s position at Gargunnock. But he now seems to be finding difficulty in retiring from that!
Gargunnock House began its life as a 16th century tower house, and then followed the usual pattern of extensions and refurbishment as later times allowed. Its last addition was a Georgian frontage completed in 1794 by the last of the families to live there (the Stirlings). Its gardens have been developed over the centuries by the owning families. Miss Viola Stirling, who died in 1989, left no heirs, so placed the house and estate in the care of trustees. It is now administered by the Landmark Trust. It is kept as an exemplar of traditional Scottish country living, and can be booked by anyone for a self-catering holiday in the grand style.
The gardening year begins in February with a snowdrop festival, at a time when the gardens and woodland are awash with that long-awaited harbinger of spring. These are followed by daffodils in April and then bluebells in May. Rhododendrons and azaleas are a speciality, so that, during April, May and June, spectacular scents and colours pervade the mature woods. The house is surrounded by five acres of garden, and views across it are completed on the boundary by a mixture of trees and, in the further distance, the Gargunnock Hills. Mr Campbell had many photographs to show us of these views. The fringing woodland was a glowing sight in the autumn; and some of our members, who visited in the spring, remembered how colourful it was, then, in its myriad fresh greens, pinks and yellows.
Mr Campbell reminded us that some of the planting, completed in the 1950s, matured some time ago, and now needs to be replaced. We know that gardens are never static, but it can be difficult to keep in mind a long-term view of things. Snow damage to trees also leads to large-scale maintenance work: and we were surprised to hear that the snows present more problems at Gargunnock than the frosts.
Within the grounds is a fine doocot, a tall octagonal building containing over 200 nest boxes, and with its central mechanism (for ‘harvesting’) still in working order. It was restored in 1998. It is not used today, but is a potent reminder of how life and farming in those earlier centuries was so different from ours today. It is one of the major points of interest at Gargunnock.
Mr Campbell did not need to be concerned about a late-night return home to Gargunnock after this very interesting talk. He was able to stay the night at the home of one of our club members, and for that we thank Jeanie Jones very much.
Our next talk will be ‘The Dolomites and North Italy – a Gardener’s Paradise’ by Jim Jermyn of Gardening Scotland, on 12th January, at 7:15 pm at the SRUC's Barony Campus. Everyone is welcome.
Gargunnock House
The Doocot, Gargunnock
A view of Gargunnock garden in winter
All reports by John Lethbridge.