Peter Beales Roses, Simon White. October's meeting

 For October's meeting we had a fantastic talk from Simon White of Peter Beales Roses. Simon, accompanied by his wife, travelled from Norfolk to be with us. They also brought lots of roses and other garden products for us to purchase and he generously donated two roses for our raffle. Simon is the president of the Norfolk and Suffolk Horticultural Society and has been with Peter Beales Roses since 1981.

 Simon told us they plant the rootstock, which is grown from seed, in the Spring. The planting is now done by machine into fields. They rent fields from the farmer next door so that they can operate a system of rotation to reduce the risk of disease. In June/July they take a stem of the rose bush they wish to grow and graft it to the rootstock by hand. They have to anticipate which roses will be popular that year.

 When planting your rose at home, good soil preparation is important. Simon recommended that you purchase good quality horse/farmyard manure, but make sure it is well rotted or put it on your compost heap for 6 months. Fresh manure will burn the roots. If you have to plant a rose where one has been before then get a very large box. Dig a big hole and sink the box into the ground. Fill the box with new compost and manure and plant the rose into this. This allows the rose to establish itself before its roots come into contact with the original soil. Use bonemeal or mycorrhizal (e.g., Root Grow). Plant the rose at least one inch lower than it is in its pot so that the graft is below soil level. They are thirsty plants and need watering. Feed with a high Potassium feed.

 Prune in February and don't be scared. A good hard cut back is best. You can even prune into the hard wood. They are strong plants. Try to prune stems just above a bud (branch bud not flower bud), and ideally a bud which is pointing away from the main plant so that you create a goblet shape to the bush. When pruning a climbing or rambler rose, prune the vertical branches to create horizontal branches. These are what will flower. When deadheading, don't just remove the bloom, remove the stem down 4-5 leaves below the bloom. This promotes new growth. If you need to spray against diseases, use different sprays so the plant doesn't become immune. For an organic spray use skimmed milk diluted 50/50 with water.

 

 

Pond Life, Frances Dismore. September's meeting

 

We were very grateful to Frances Dismore, one of our own members, for stepping in at the last minute and presenting us with a fantastic talk about wildlife and in particular pond life.  

Frances’ talk covered both making a pond in our own gardens, even if just a tiny one in a upturned dustbin lid, and also making a freshwater habitat in the Tottenham Marshes.  Frances told us that if you create the right environment where the wildlife can live, breed and feed they will come.  One example was that water voles had repopulated the Tottenham marshes.  In her own garden she realized that mason bees need mud to make their nests.  A bog garden is useful for this.  Frances also told us that amphibians are an ‘indicator species’.  They are like the canaries in the mine they tell us about the health of the environment.  Unfortunately toads have declined by 75%.

Frances gave us tips on how to create our own wildlife garden.  Ideally if possible the pond should be 70 inches at the deepest end, sloping up to the other end.  If you have room, also create a bog garden at one side.  Dragon flies like perches at 45 degrees, so you can put a log at an angle.  To help naturally prevent duck weed use barley straw (used for pet bedding) tied up with string but leaving long bits sticking out.  If you want to plant yellow flag iris (they are very attractive) plant them in a bucket sunk into the ground next to the pond so that it can’t stray and take over your pond.  The same applies to purple loosestrife .  Frances’ top tip was to decide what wildlife you want to attract and then work backwards identifying what the wildlife want to live on and create the right environment to attract what you would like to see.

 

 

All Things Citrus, Michael Saalfeld. August's meeting

 

At the August meeting Michael Saalfeld provided a fascinating introduction to all things citrus. He grows over 100 plants in his greenhouses and poly-tunnels back in Buckinghamshire. But beware - as the plants cannot have a minimum temperature below 4^o in the winter this requires lots of expensive electric heating! There is only one variety of citrus that is winter hardy in the UK, Citrus Trifoliata (Flying Dragon), though it’s very bitter fruits cannot be eaten and it is used mainly as rootstock for growing other citrus. Michael told us that you can see one at Middleton House Gardens, but be careful it has very vicious thorns!

Genetics have shown all citrus fruit can be traced back to 3 original varieties – the mandarin, the pomelo and the citron – originally growing in southeast Asia. Varieties now encompass everything from the common oranges, lemons and grapefruit to the less familiar kumquat  and Bergamot Citron, which is used to flavour Earl Grey tea.  Citrus can also be easily hybridised, creating all sorts of crosses such as Ugli fruit and tangelos.  Michael brought some tasters of a variety called ‘Yuzu’ which is widely used in Japanese food and comes in various forms including sweets and candied.

Michael’s talk touched on the mystery of how citrus ended up growing in Australia, which has its own 6 native varieties. He told tales of his sometimes hazardous trips to Australia to track down, photograph and help map the locations of these plants.

Finally, don’t expect quick results if trying to grow your own citrus plants from seed – they will grow easily  but may take up to 20 years to fruit! And a top tip is to repot any citrus plants bought from the garden centre as these have a tendency to die. Change to a very free draining soil and water frequently, though never leave the plant standing in water.