Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - May 2007

Chairman: Charles Flawn
Secretary: Linda Hills-Harrop
Treasurer: Robert Bastin
Garden Hut Manager: Cliff Thayer
http://www.gardenclub.org.uk

Dear Member

The Garden Hut will be open every Sunday 10.00am to 12 noon.

It is very important that you remember to bring your membership card and show it when you make a purchase.

In stock and selling well we have Growbags, Decorative bark and Composted bark. LEVINGTONS multipurpose compost has been restocked. ROSEFOOD AND SUPERPHOSPHATE are available in 7lb & 14 lb amounts or 25 Kg bags. VITAX Q4 slow release fertiliser in 2.5Kg boxes or loose at 55p per lb.
Other items:-HAWS conservatory watering cans with fine rose and spout £5.50, Stainless steel hard forks and trowels £3.85 each, ROLCUT border forks £9.80p, Yard brooms, Soil rakes, Border spade at £7.50p and BULLDOG premier range digging spade £14 (rrp £29.50)
Don’t forget to feed the lawns we have an excellent selection of LAWN CARE PRODUCTS in stock.
Cliff Thayer

The high quality of entries to the Spring Show demonstrated the expertise and passion for gardening of our members. Over 60 members attended the Show and enjoyed judging the photographic competition, the cheese and wine and reading the judges comments on the winning entries.

Gardening is part of our cultural fabric. It influences the quality of our lives and directly links us back to the earth. The upsurge of interest in growing your own vegetables gives everyone the thrill of raising their own crops. Sharing knowledge and experience at the Show with other members demonstrates the very essence of our club and spurs us on to greater efforts.
Show results inside. Well done to the winners

Spring Show 2007 Results

Class 1 Polyanthus bowl of 6 cut stems own Foliage
1st Audrey Thayer 2nd Jill Marston 3rd Hazel Hewlett

Class 2 Daffodils vase of 3 blooms own Foliage
1st Jackie Reynolds 2nd Linda Hills-Harrop 3rd Hazel Hewlett

Class 3 Tulips vase of 3 blooms own foliage
1st Joan Hall 2nd Connie May 3rd Jill Marston

Class 4 Pot Plant in Flower pot not to exceed 6” in diameter
1st Cliff Thayer 2nd Pat Taylor 3rd Joan Manning

Class 5 Pot Plant Foliage pot not to exceed 6” in diameter
1st Hazel Hewlett 2nd Connie May 3rd Pat Taylor

Class 6 5 stems of different Evergreen Foliage in a vase
1st Barbara Gordon 2nd Linda Hills-Harrop 3rd Mrs Hallam

Class 7 A Floral Arrangement not to exceed 9” overall
1st Diana Tappin 2nd Sylvia Thomas 3rd Mrs Beecham

Class 8 Any Other Flower, one kind only, 3 or more blooms
1st Jackie Reynolds 2nd Pat Taylor 3rd Joan Manning

Class 9 3 Sticks of Rhubarb may be forced
1st Jane Campbell 2nd Bryan Nicholson

Class 10 Any Other Vegetable
1st Cliff Thayer 2nd Bryan Nicholson

Davies Cup Joint winners Jackie Reynolds and Cliff Thayer

Photographic Competition
Class 1 - A Garden Competition winner Sylvia Thomas
Class 2 - Spring Flowers Competition winner Bryan Nicholson
Class 3 -A Landscape Competition winner Pat Taylor
I would like to thank everyone who helped make the show such a success, the exhibitors, the judges, the committee and the catering team. Thank you. Jane Campbell

MAY MEETING 16 May 2007 will be held in the Mary Smithalls Room at the Community Centre from 7.30pm
Please note change of venue.
Grand Plant Sale and Swap. Bring along your plants for sale (you keep the proceeds) and/or Buy plants for summer planting. Refreshments available

Membership We are nearly up to 600 members. The new full colour Garden Club brochures are available at the Library, Community Centre and many other public places. Please encourage new members to join.
The experiment to e mail the newsletter has over 30 members receiving their newsletter on line. The newsletter is also on the website.

KEITH’S COACH OUTINGS:- 27 June 2007 ‘PARHAM HOUSE’

West Sussex. A 19th century Elizabethan house with a walled Garden, maze and lake. The house contains paintings (a connection with Captain Cook) and a display of rare needlework. Please tell me if you wish to lunch in the ‘big kitchen’ restaurant.
Coach departs Church Hall/ lane at 9.30am with a comfort stop on the way. There are seats left for ‘Audley End’. For late booking please ring 01753884012

……………………………………………………………………………………….
No of seats……….. Parham House @ £18 for mem’s/ £19 non’mem’s
Name & Address …………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………
Post code………….Phone No……………………..Total £…………….

Cheques payable to Chalfont St.Peter Garden Club please send to:-
Mr K Gould 10 Leachcroft, Chalfont St Peter, Bucks SL9 9LG

Jane’s May Garden Tips:
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security on warmer days and be tempted to plant out tender plants too early in May. The weather can still be unpredictable. Keep some fleece or sacking handy for emerging shoots if frosts are forecast, harden off bedding in the normal way.

Prune back flowering stems of hellebores to the base to make room for new shoots, if new seedlings are required leave stem to set seed and collect and sow when ripe. Tidy and clip back alpine plants, phlox, saxifrage, aubrietia and winter flowering heathers. As spring flowers are cleared away and new hardy annuals sown direct into the soil, also think about sowing next springs bedding displays, wallflowers, Canterbury bells, polyanthus and sweet Williams, these are best sown in a tray and pricked out into pots, keep watered through summer. Fuchsias benefit from pinching out the growing tips to encourage branching.
Plant up hanging baskets and containers protect from frosts.

Prune out unwanted shoots on all raspberries. Continue successional planting of salad crops, also sow outside carrots, beetroot, brassicas, and spinach, Leeks can be planted into individual holes. Plant out into enriched soil, marrows, courgettes and squashes once the danger of frost has passed allow plenty of room for each plant. Plant out or sow in position all beans, outside tomatoes can also be put in position. Earth up potatoes as the shoots appear. Pinch out the tops of broad beans to prevent black fly, also pull up soil around the base of stems for extra support. Grow sweet corn in blocks to aid pollination, each plant will provide a really tasty sweet cob in late summer.

Buyer Beware. Through the medium of this Newsletter the club is bringing to your attention, opportunities that may interest you, however, you must satisfy yourself that they meet your requirements as Chalfont St. Peter Garden Club will accept no legal, moral or financial responsibility.