There’s No Such Thing as a Houseplant by Michael Holland, October's meeting.

 In October we were delighted to welcome back Michael Holland, when he kindly stepped in after our booked speaker had to cancel. Michael’s talk “There’s No Such Thing as a Houseplant” was based on his newly published book  “A Jungle in Your Living Room”:

https://www.growingunderstandings.co.uk/writing

 Michael has had a long career in horticulture, working for many years at Chelsea Physic Garden, and is an award winning author. His interest in growing things began when he was given “The Pip Book” for his 8^th birthday. He began to plant pips and seeds, successfully growing avocado trees and citrus plants amongst other things.

 A “Houseplant” can mean many things, indeed is there such a thing? There are over 450,000 species of plant in the world, evolved and adapted to many differing climates. For a plant to thrive in the home it must have the right conditions. The most common cause of killing houseplants is overwatering them. We were fascinated to discover that plants can sense the world around them, and can learn, remember and be happy! The CIA conducted an experiment, wiring up a plant to a lie detector to see how it reacted to watering. The person then thought about burning the plant, and the plant reacted.

 The use of plants in the home has a long history, with the earliest ones being useful as well as ornamental, such as the use of sweet smelling herbs in the home before daily washing was common! Houseplants could also be used to demonstrate their owner’s wealth, as with the building of orangeries in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, which required lots of expensive glass and underfloor heating to protect the tender plants.

 Kew has the world’s oldest “pot plant”, originally brought to England in 1775 and now living in their tropical Palm House. In the age of the great plant hunters, there were fake maps and secret codes to protect the locations of plants. Orchids started to become popular houseplants in the 19^th century, when plant hunters brought these back to a domestic audience.

 Michael then talked through the history and quirks of many of the other plants we now think of as “houseplants”. These included spider plants (proved by NASA to purify the air), snake plant (great for the bedroom) and the popular, but poisonous, variety of Euphorbia we like to have in our homes at the Christmas, the poinsettia. Who knew the fruits of the Swiss cheese plant are edible and the fibrous roots can be used to make furniture? The family of Air plants include another popular plant, Spanish moss, which  is neither Spanish nor a moss! One of the most popular houseplants in the world is a variety of Ficus, the Fiddle-leaf fig, even though it is notoriously difficult to care for.

 Collecting houseplants can become addictive, with the botanist James Wong describing himself as a plant geek and having a collection of over 500 plants in his one-bedroom flat!

  Finally, a fun fact - did you know, 27th July is take your houseplant for a walk day?!

 

A Complete Guide To Clematis by Peter Skeggs-Gooch, September's meeting

Our speaker in September was Peter Skeggs-Gooch from Thorncroft Clematis Nursery (www.thorncroftclematis.co.uk)   Peter was a returning speaker having presented to us 2 years ago.  The nursery is based  in Ashton Under Hill in the Cotswolds and Peter is a third generation member of the family business who have won 12 gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show. Peter’s talk was very enthusiastic and informative accompanied by some lovely pictures.

 

With clematis you can have flowers throughout the year in a wide range of colours and some are scented.  Start in January to Mach with ‘Jingle Bells’ the Armandi variety. From April to May you have the Montana varieties.  Warning, most get to 30 foot but ‘Van Gough’ is an option if you want a shorter variety (12-15’).  In summer you get the large flowered varieties.  These are followed by those that will flower into autumn like ‘Golden Harvest’.  ‘Betty Corning’ has a spicey scent and is one of Peter’s favorites.

 

Clematis also come in various types and sizes.

·         Patio Pots – e.g. Pixie

·         Suitable for Pots – E.g. Countess of Wessex.  Will need something to climb up but only gets to 3 foot. Be imaginative with your plant support.

·         Garden Types that will grow from 6 foot to 30 foot depending on variety. They can grow through other plants e.g. roses.

 

Planting Tips:

·         Plant deeply. If you plant to a depth where the bottom 2 leaves are buried, the plant will through up new shoots from the ground. About 3 inches lower than the size of the pot.  Also the ground is more moist further down.

·         Improve the soil you are planting into with organic matter like garden compost.  Put it in the bottom of the whole so the roots grow down.

·         Tak of the pot you buy it in, Tease out the roots gently before planting into the whole.

·         Protect the crown from frost.  Put some mulch around the plant for the winter.

 

Pruning

·         Group 1 (Flower December to May) – These flower on old wood.  You only prune as necessessary to keep them tidy.

·         Group 2 (Flower from May – June) – In February there will be a lot of dead growth from last year. Cut this off.  Then after 2-3 weeks go back to the plant and look at which branches are shooting.  Cut off any dead wood without any shoots.

·         Group 3 (Flower June to Oct).  In March/Apr – hard prune these.  Kneel down, count the new shoots from the base on each stem and cut off everything above the second bud. (We promise it will regrow that year).

·         Feed when pruning.

 

Peter told us that although they like to exhibit at Chelsea it is a lot of work and his parents are getting too old (we can relate to this) and they need their staff at the nursery so they last exhibited in 2019. He also told us that there are less young people going into horticulture and unless this changes the specialist knowledge will die out.  He said that Christine Walkden (of gardeners question time) has been very supportive and helpful to them.

 

If anyone would like to borrow a copy of the catalogue then let us know.