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Editorial
It only seems like yesterday that we were packing away after the very sucessful Annual Show 2001 at the Parish Hall and here we are another year on, in the throes of preparing for this year's event.
The committee is certainly excited, as this will be our first show at our new venue. Some members were rather apprehensive when we siwtched our monthly meetings to the Central Hall in Queen Street, but now sing the praises about the move.
The same can apply for our Show. New venue, new passing trade, maybe newcomers for the future. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
Though we are all for trying something new, old values will still prevail. Like taking great pride in our show.
Over the years the Scarborough public and holiday makers (quite a few assured me last year that they book their stay to coincide with our show) have come to expect to see our hall filled to capacity with wonderful fuchsias. Yes, we have built up a great reputation of putting on an excellent show year in year out and we appeal to all members to rally round and rise to the challenge to fill this wonderful brighter, but also bigger hall, this year too.
Every exhibitor, be it the seasoned competitor or the tentative beginner, plays his part in supporting the Society in its show case, the annual show. It is your plants that matter, without them we would not have a show.
It always is a big step to participate for the first time, but only when you do put your plants on the bench and see them amongst others can you really judge how you are progressing, and you might be pleasantly surprised and pick up a card. Besides it is the taking part that really matters. There would be no winners without the losers and on many occassions the more unusual entries of relative newcomers, the added variety of cultivars they brought, have been the major talking points! Your plants are sure to be greatly valued as part of our wonderful overall display, so be brave have a go and join in with the fun.
The magazine as usual is brimful with interesting articles to hopefully fire up your enthusiam even further. Good reading!
Brambley's Ramblings
How quickly time passes, it does not seem like a year since we were preparing for the show.
Our speaker in May, Tom Alty did not really mention fuchsias but his 'Reminiscences of a Showman' told us about a way of life now only a memory vastly different hustle & bustle of the modern day. Charles Jenkinson came along in June and he is certainly a dedicated grower of fuchsias, telling us about how he grows his plants, we always seem to pick up some tips from speakers to try out ourselves.
The Mini Show this year will be held on the 31st July with Ken Pearn from Rotherham Fuchsia Society judging. I hope your plants are growing well and on the table. Can we top that number this year?
We then come to the big event of our year the Annual Show and this year will be the first one at Queen Street Central Hall where we shall have more space to display plants and also more room for the general public. Can we fill the hall once again with colourful fuchsias. I overheard a conversation last week saying what a wonderful sight on entering the hall, so come along and bring your plants and create another sight to behold. Beginners and novices do not think your plants are not good enough, you never know if anyone else will be exhibiting in that class, they are judged with the beginner in mind and you are always in with a chance and add colour to create a good show.
I am once again appealing for prizes for the Tombola, if you bring them along to the July members meeting or the Mini Show I will pass them on the Lois who organises it and does a good job. The plant stall is another good fund raiser and we can not have too many plants for sale. We all have some surplus plants so please bring them along. Refreshments are always popular and we have a reputation to keep up, so I am asking you all to bring along lots of cakes. Talking about refreshments we can never have too many volunteers to help in the kitchen and also on the cake table even if you can only spare half an hour. One thing we will not have to carry hot water and cups across a busy entrance way to the hall so that will make it a little easier. Volunteers are also required for the setting up the tables in the hall on Friday morning, just come along if you have the time and join in. I know I am always asking members to come along and help out, but it is a happy atmosphere and gives a break for members who are there all the time. We all look forward to seeing you, exhibiting, helping or just coming to see the show.
The Parks & Countryside Services 'Scarborough's Secret Garden' exhibition, on the West Pier will be held 9th-18th August and we will have a table to promote the Society. If possible we like to man the table sometime during the day to answer any questions and also to chat to anyone who shows an interest, you meet people from many different places, so once again if you have any time to spare and would be interested please let me know, you would not be on your own as usually we manage to have two members attending at once.
The next event of the year will be 'Fuchsia Fantasia 2002' to be held at Elsecar Heritage Centre, Barnsley on 31st August and 1st September, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Eleven societies, individuals, specialist nurseries, memorabilia and plant sales will all be taking part in the display. There will be a refreshment area also. Peter Long and Peter Bendall have created our display and David Edmond has supervised the growing of the plants. I hope you will go along and show your support for all the work that has been done.
Will the winners of the trophies last year please return them to me no later than the 21st July - in a clean condition please.
It just remains for me to wish exhibitors and helpers an enjoyable and successful show.
Bye CHRIS
The Wonderful World of the World Wide Web
All the basic information about our own Scarborough Fuchsia Society (as well as some nice photographs of the Lincoln Fuchsia Festival) can now be found on http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fuchsiasforfun/sdfs.html (please note new address)
A bit much to type in, so a more sensible route to it is to check out www.thebfs.org.uk the official B.F.S. Web site.
This excellent site is continuously updated and proves a great starting off point, giving useful information about all aspects of the B.F.S., their Regional Shows and lots more. It also provides links to affiliated societies such as ours by way of a simple click on the logo!
While browsing do check out Oxtoby Fuchsia Nursery's new site on http://www.moxtoby.supanet.com/ and our Ian Plew's Filey Allotment Association's site at http://members.tripod.co.uk/fileyaga
The Growing Year
JULY By now all of your plants should be in their final growing positions, whether in pots or baskets, and well on their way to flowering. In fact many early flowering varieties will no doubt be in full bloom. Some like 'Macchu Picchu', 'Pink Rain' and 'Mien Kuypers' are hard to stop flowering. Careful attention now needs to be given to watering. Test your plants before you water, as over-watering will do more damage than letting them go a bit dry. Over-watered plants, once they reach the wilting stage, rarely recover whereas plants that have wilted through under watering will be as good as new after a couple of days of tender loving care. So, if you find your plants looking sorry for themselves, feel the pot, if the compost feels wet do not give any more water until they have fully dried out. Remove dry plants to a shaded area, water and mist leaves. Continue to check for pests and diseases.
AUGUST To keep continuous flowering you will need to 'dead head' your plants regularly. This means not only removing any dead or fading blooms, but also any seed pods on the plant. Keep a sharp look-out for rust when it is very warm and damp; this is when you are likely to get an outbreak. If you find red or brownish blotches on the upper leaf surfaces and bright yellowish or orange pustules on the lower leaf surfaces then you have got rust. Remove and burn all affected leaves and defoliate plants in severe attacks. Plants and soil should be sprayed with a suitable fungicide, depending on those that are available, following the manufacturers guidelines. Keep watering well, even on rainy days, and feed regularly with a balanced plant food such as Chempak 3 or Miracle-Gro. Take notes of plants and how well they perform in various locations.
SEPTEMBER This is strangely enough the month when fuchsias sometimes look at their best, they seem to revel in the early morning dews that come at this time of the year. When you consider that most of them originate from the cloud forests of Central and South America this time of the year must seem just like being at home. Continue to feed and they will reward you with an abundance of blooms for a few more weeks. This is also the time of the year to start looking for the dreaded Vine Weevil. If any of your plants don't seem to be doing too well; droopy although watered and fed, knock the plant out of its pot and examine the root system. If the white feeding roots are missing scrape away the compost to see if any Vine Weevil grubs (white crescent shaped maggots with brown heads) are present. If they are, remove the compost and discard in the dustbin (not onto the garden), wash roots and re-pot the plant. Destroy the grubs. Courtesy of Waltham Forest Fuchsia & Pelargonium Group
Ssshh...It's a Secret
Preparations have begun for this year's Garden Pride Exhibition - but don't tell anyone...it's a secret!
The Parks and Countryside Services team headed by Manager Roger Burnett are to base this year's display loosely on the famous book The Secret Garden.
The event will run from 9 to 18 August and will depict a Victorian garden hidden from view for many years. The exhibition will have several water features and figures from plants of the Victorian era.
Planning for this year's event started as last year's marquee, which had housed the tremendously successful Dinosaur Coast exhibition attracting over 27,000 visitors, was being taken down. Many plants to be used are already growing at the Council's Manor Road Nurseries.
Like last year Horticultural societies will be asked to display their work and a gardener's question desk will be open. The exhibition will coincide with the visit to Scarborough by the judges for the Britain in Bloom competition and will be well worth a visit.
Though we will undoubtedly be very busy with our own show on the August 10-11 weekend, the Scarborough & District Fuchsia Society is pleased to have been invited to participate again and will endeavour to put on a nice display and have committee members manning the Society's stand when possible to answer queries.
Can You Beat This?
We have heard a lot of tales about things being extremely early to flower this year due to the unseasonably mild spring. In London i.e. the bluebells and dafs were in full flower a fortnight earlier than usual as widely reported in the national press. More locally the Yorkshire Post reported an abundance of colour in the local parks way ahead of the usual time.
Though things have been bursting into life, with fresh foliage and even in full flower well ahead of the norm this spring, this does happen from time to time and weather records prove that mild springs are in fact not such a rarity at all, with 7 out of 10 being actually relatively good, somehow we seem to remember to cold ones more readily.
However, we were certainly extremely amazed to see a fuchsia in full flower as early as 9 May!! In York, in Huntington Road to be precise (where one still can park free of charge!!) Yes, it was F. magellanica riccartonii, but still, in full bloom at that time of the year. Surely this must be record! Unless, of course, you can tell us otherwise. Have you ever come across an established hardy fuchsia flowering earlier than this???
New Shoots
This is a new publication produced by the British Fuchsia Society to attract and interest children in the cultivation of fuchsias.
The children who are already members will have received two cuttings to grow on, along with instructions as to how to proceed.
If you have children or grandchildren below the age of 16 who would be interested, membership is free via the B.F.S. painting competition.
(Pages on the B.F.S. Web site http://www.thebfs.org.uk/newshoots/ )
This year's competition is available from most Committee members and at any of the national shows.
For more details please contact Derek: telephone 01202 386517 or e-mail derek@dluther.freeserve.co.uk Derek Luther - the CAD's BFS Fuchsia News
Show Business
For members considering entering our Show on 10 August, the following points might be of use in the last couple of week before the day itself.
Inspect your plants daily. This will enable you to detect any pest or disease and take prompt action. In addition by handling the plants you can assess whether they require water (with practice the weight of the pot will tell you if water is required or not). And finally daily inspection will remind you to give each plant a quarter turn to ensure even light conditions that will result in even growth and even flowering.
Remove any litter on the surface of the compost. Fallen leaves or flower buds can encourage fungal diseases such as botrytis to develop and unchecked botrytis can cause whole branches to wither and die just days before a show.
Remove any yellow leaves before they fall (Prevention is better than cure). Don't remove yellow leaves on triphylla-type fuchsias though, as this will only encourage more leaves to yellow and fall - but make sure that all yellowed foliage has been removed on show day.
Continue to feed your plants. A balanced feed such as Chempak 3 is best. Be careful about using high potash feed. Although it encourages the flowering hormones it can also lead to premature ripening of the wood and this can damage the plant's long term health. If however, you have a plant of buds a week before the show that is clearly going to be a few days late, give it a full-strength feed of Chempak 4 every second day until the show. Such treatment is extreme and the plant may not look too good a couple of weeks afterwards, but it can force the reluctant plant into bloom! (Feed with Chempak 2 (high nitrogen) for two or three weeks after the show to redress the chemical balance).
In general avoid spraying chemicals on fuchsias once the buds start to show colour, as there is a risk of staining blooms. However, we want show plant to be as clean as possible. If you still have a supply of Polysect (now sadly withdrawn from the market) you can use that to combat whitefly and even red spider. Polysect doesn't stain even open flowers. Stergene is a viable alternative for the use against whitefly. A capful to two litres of water will kill the whitefly and again the blooms will shouldn't be damaged as long as you keep the plants out of the sun for a couple of hours after spraying.
Fuchsia rust can be a problem in August. Afflicted plants should not be entered in the show (rust spreads easily and it isn't fair to risk infecting other members' plants). In the case of a mild infection, remove all affected leaves and dispose of them (burn or bin, never compost) and water the surface of the compost with a good fungicide (I recommend Systane). Don't spray the plants with the fungicide at this time of the year as again blooms will be badly marked.
In the last couple of weeks before the show keep particularly vigilant about extreme weather. Thunder storms can flatten a plant full of bloom and ruin the shape of the plant and even break branches heavy with bud. At the risk if heavy rain, get all vulnerable show specimen under cover. High winds can blow over and damage plants full of leaf and buds. Make sure the show plants are in sheltered spots and place pots within larger clay pots wished down with gravel. Concrete blocks purpose-made to support pots can also be used. Check that standards are securely tied to their stakes.
Ten days before the show you should have a clear idea about which plants will be going to the show. Fill in your show entry forms as soon as you can and send it in.
The above points are by no means a comprehensive guide to show preparation in the couple of weeks before the big day, but I trust it will be of some help.
I've not mentioned the preparation that is required on the day itself - if you want help staging your plants please see one of the stewards, they sure to be pleased to assist. Most important of all: do enter the show as a quality show reflects well on the Society and will encourage the public to visit again next year and even convince a few people to join us. Nick Dobson courtesy of Waltham Forest Fuchsia & Pelargonium Society
Highly Recommended
As well as our Mini Show on July 31st and our Annual Show on August 10th & 11th we have some excellent speakers to look forward to for our next few meetings. As we have adequate room at our venue at Queen Street Central Hall, Queen Street Scarborough may we remind you that you are welcome to bring along prospective members or friends visiting the area.
July 17th - Eddie Reynolds - 'Show Presentation and Judging Faults'
September 18th - Peter Stott - 'Triphyllas'
Also
October 16th - Fuchsia Workshop - hands-on advice on 'Overwintering'
November 22nd - Society Social Evening
We have also for sale a wide range of excellent BFS cultural leaflets at 10p each, a good selection of practical books on many aspects of fuchsia growing and some Scarborough Fuchsia Society Badges.
Now also available our new booklet 'TOPICAL TIPS'.
Cultural hints to take you through the fuchsia growing year supplemented with a variety of detailed articles about growing techniques and timely reminders for show preparation. Good value at 70p only (or £1 including p&p).
Borough To Grow For It
Scarborough has been chosen as a finalist in a new category of coastal resort in the prestigious 'Britain in Bloom' competition for 2002. This follows hard on the heels of last year's prize-winning entry in the regional 'Yorkshire in Bloom' competition. Scarborough secured second place to Harrogate in the large towns' section and tied with them for the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management Shield, awarded for town centre floral displays. Scarborough also won the Wybone Keep Britain Tidy Trophy for the tidiest town centre.
The Parks and Countryside staff are delighted to have been given the chance to compete at national level and will be pulling out all the stops making sure the town looks it best for judging in August. Parks and Countryside Services Manager Roger Burnett said: "This will be the first time Scarborough has been a national contender and carries great prestige. The whole town can benefit from taking up this challenge and proving to the rest of the country that we are among the top floral resorts." Scarborough's residents and businesses are being encouraged to take part in the various 'In Bloom' activities and decorate their properties with hanging baskets and containers. "We would everyone to put that extra bit of effort into making their gardens look special this summer."
Britain in Bloom is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society who have taken over the running of the campaign from Encams - formally the Tidy Britain Group. The Britain in Bloom objectives are to encourage communities to work together to improve the local environment, creating a more beautiful Britain through imaginative planting of trees, shrubs and flowers, attractive landscaping, sustainable management and cleanliness initiatives.
Scarborough already has an 'In Bloom' committee who help promote the competition locally. The chairman of this group Councillor David Jeffels says, "Scarborough will compete at the highest level. This nomination will give us the chance to pit our skill against some of the finest coastal gardens up and down the country. Our gardeners have an excellent reputation and the work they are doing on a day-to-day basis continues to give a great deal of pleasure to everyone living in or visiting Scarborough. I am confident we can rise to the challenge and will acquit ourselves well".
Parks and Countryside Services have recently established a Britain in Bloom Marketing co-ordinator, Carolyn Jackson, who will be organising the entry and raising awareness both locally and nationally. She will also be launching a new sponsorship scheme to help promote the major floral features of the town and is hoping for local business support. Anyone wishing to contact Carolyn can do so at the Parks and Countryside Helpdesk number (01723) 374079, or by e-mail at carolyn.jackson@scarboroughbc.gov.uk
For further info visit the councils website at www.e-sbc.co.uk
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Quiz Corner - Joining Names
What words join the two words below to make two well known names.
i.e. ELTON
... LENNON would be JOHN (= Elton John & John Lennon).
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GEORGE
STEVE
DAVID
LIONEL
JAMES
EDWARD
GORDON
RAUL
JAMES
CLIVE
GEORGE
DAVID
CHARLIE
PAUL
SUSAN
JOHN
KEN
MICHAEL
JAMIE
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CHRISTOPHER
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BROWN
ROBERTS
DIAZ
NESBITT
HILL
HUNT
BEST
PARSONS
CLOONEY
PECK
WILLIS
BADER
REED
CLEMENCE
TAYLOR
BURNS
MARVIN
SECOMBE
HEALEY
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Open Gardens
Well worth looking out for. An excellent way of supporting charity and enjoying a pleasurable afternoon strolling through and nosing round other folk's gardens. Particularly great value when villagers join forces and several gardens are on view together, showing the great variety gardening offers.
One of the best remains the GRISTHORPE Gardens, once again open to the public in aid of ST CATHERINE'S HOSPICE on 14th and 21st July. It would be interesting to see how many fuchsias you could spot!
Gardens in our region open under the BRITISH RED CROSS open gardens scheme (usually well sign-posted on the day) include:
21 July 12.00 - 5.00 59 All Hallows Road, Walkington, Beverley
21 July 2.00 - 5.00 Springfield House, Westfield Lane, Tockwith, York
11 Aug 2.00 - 5.00 The Moorlands, Levisham, North Yorkshire
1 Sept 10.00 - 5.00 Pinchinthorpe Hall, Pinchinthorpe, Guisborough
13 Oct 11.00 - 5.00 Helmsley Walled Garden, Cleveland Way, Helmsley
20 Oct 2.00 - 5.00 Constable Burton Hall, Leyburn
PLEASE NOTE - details correct at time of going to press, but if travelling any distance, please do check before setting off by telephoning your local branch, visiting the British Red Cross Web site www.redcross.org.uk/opengardens or check your local paper.
Also keep an eye open in the local press and tune in to your local radio stations for more open gardens for other charitable organisation i.e. ST JOHN AMBULANCE. Stillingfleet Lodge and a trio of gardens opened under this scheme in June and the walled garden with greenhouse and extensive parkland at MULGRAVE CASTLE, the residence of the Marquis and Marchioness of Normanby at Lythe, near Whitby will be open to the public on 21 JULY between 2.00 and 6.00.
The National Railway Museum
Queen's Golden Jubilee Garden
As part of its Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations the National Railway Museum in York has created a great railway station garden. A wonderful nostalgic trip back in time to the good old days when railway staff tended station gardens with loving care and great pride and passengers made special train journeys just to admire these colourful master pieces.
The garden was opened in mid May, drawing good publicity as it was performed by TV & Radio personality and well-loved Garden News columnist, Geoffrey Smith and Nigel Harrison, also well-known to us from Radio York's Gardener's Question Time and a past speaker at the Society. And to the delight of young and old Bill and Ben joined them!
Museum Chief Andrew Stott expressed his delight with the imaginative design at the opening ceremony and went on to say that the Jubilee Garden was not only an exciting and lasting celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee but also a wonderful tribute to the generations of British railway gardeners and hopefully an inspiration to those who still tend railway gardens today.
Students at an Askham Bryan College garden design course had been invited to submit designs and the winning concept selected from the eight entries came from part-time student Anne Williams. Suitably, Anne, who also works as a radiographer at St. Luke's Hospital in Bradford, always had a great interest in railways. Her grandfather was an engine driver who's favourite stories including telling her about driving the famous 'Mallard' and not surprisingly with that background one of her favourite day out as a child was a visit to the National Railway Museum, to see the famous engine, and felt like coming to see granddad's personal train!
This nostalgia was the inspiration for the Jubilee Garden design which was created by fellow students at Askham Bryan College to form a stunning show piece for the museum, which once again will prove a popular attraction now entrance fees have been abolished - though donations for the upkeep are naturally much appreciated.
Manor Road Nurseries
by Christine Bramley
Our tour round Scarborough Borough Council Manor Road Nurseries on 24th April opened with a welcome from Roger Burnett the Parks & Countryside Manager, accompanied by some loud quacking from ducklings taken from abandoned nests and hatched in the incubator.
The maintenance and planting of the gardens in the Borough is under the control of a supervisors who are responsible for the planning of the gardens and displays under their control.
The greenhouses with three different temperature zones are controlled by computer, from heating, ventilation, shading, watering and misting. If a boiler should malfunction staff are immediately alerted by telephone when no one is on duty. This enables staff to concentrate on growing the plants, one third of a million plants for bedding out and displays, and then a further third of a million for use later in the year, plus stock plants such as fuchsias and geraniums and the more exotic plants in the hot house. Any surplus plants are put on sale in the shop.
There are numerous labour saving machines, from putting compost in pots with the hole ready made for the plug plants just to be dropped in, to sowing seeds of various sizes and numbers into the trays ready to be put in the 'intensive care' section where cuttings are also housed.
Carolyn Jackson, Britain in Bloom Co-ordinator gave a short talk about the work involved and when judging will be carried out, with the hope that judges will be in the area when the exhibition on the West Pier is open.
We were also told about the security patrols every night to spot and hopefully deter vandals and that they now have the general public keeping a lookout and reporting any incidents to them. In the main section which mainly houses the bedding plants, their way of pest control was explained. We were then left to look round and ask any questions we wished.
Roger Burnett confirmed that the Society will once again have a table at 'Scarborough's Secret Garden' Exhibition on August 9th - 18th.
Thanks were given for an interesting and very enjoyable evening.
A Short Course In Human Relations
The seven most important words: "I made a mistake, I m sorry."
The six most important words: "You have done a good job."
The five most important words: "And what is your opinion?"
The four most important words: "Can I help you."
The three most important words: "I appreciate you"
The two most important words: "Thank you."
The least important word: "I".
Norman Welton sends his regards and reminds us
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if on holiday in Northumbria or you just fancy a nice drive out on 24th August,
why not visit the B.F.S. Border Show at Hexham,
meet and chat to growers and officials - all will be please to meet you.
Growing a Fan
by Chris Woolston, Rutiand
Training the Plant
The fan is grown from a single cutting taken around April.
As a rooted two leaf cutting, it is first potted into a 3" pot until roots start to run around the bottom of the pot. (Support the cutting with a single cane as if you are growing a standard).
It is now that I pot up into a 5" pot. It will then be moved up in pot size by two inches when necessary.
The cutting is allowed to grow five sets of leaves (three sets left to right, and two sets front to back) The growing tip can now be stopped. The two sets of leaves that grow to the rear are taken off. (Erect framework now).
As side shoots grow and the two from the stopped tip, train the shoots up and across the frame. Any shoots that grow to the rear are either taken off or trained into any gaps. Forward growing shoots are stopped at every tip.
Continue growing as above until the fan is to the size you want. (If any flower buds appear remove them).
The Framework
To start, the frame is made up by eight, 12" long thin canes. Erected in a fan shape, canes are, again tied across the vertical canes at 2" spaces. As the plant grows taller than the 12" canes they will have to be changed for thicker and longer ones, These canes are changed one at a time. (I use bamboo canes). Add more canes to frame as pot size increases.
I recommend thin wire for the frame, and plant ties for holding the fan to the frame. Don't over-tighten plant ties. Change or slacken them if they bite into the plant growth.
Feeding
The fan is not fed in the winter months when the light is poor and growth is slow. I start feeding in the middle of February, once a week, at half strength feeds of a high nitrogen mix. This will continue until mid-April, then I change to a half strength mix twice a week feed of a balanced fertiliser. This will continue through to the flowering stage.
If during June or July, the weather is not too sunny, I will feed the plant with the odd full strength high potash mix.
Show Time
As this fan is seven feet six inches wide, and four feet six inches high, grown in a 14" pot, this makes transporting a bit of a job! I hire vans to take the plants to the shows.
The fan is stood as near to the side of the van as it will go, it is now tied from the frame work to the fixing points on the side of the van. I have travelled many miles with the fan this way.
This fan has won 4 best in shows and 2 runner ups at British Fuchsia Society shows in its five and a half year life.
Over-wintering/Spring Time
The plant is over-wintered after the showing season (the end of September).
To prepare the fan for the winter I will not water for three days. It will then be cut back hard, as close to the main fan form as possible.
It is then left for another 3 days. This is to allow the cut back branches to heal. It will now be watered and given a good spray with water. This will encourage fresh growth. When the new growth is big enough, stop all the growing tips. All stops must be done at the same time. This takes a long time on a large fan, but must be done. Keep spraying the fan with water at regular intervals if shoots are slow to show.
The fan is over-wintered in an upright position on the greenhouse staging.
The greenhouse is kept at 45ΊF or 7ΊC.
No compost is removed from the plant's root ball, it remains in its 14" pot at all times.
As the months pass and the weather improves, the fan is moved outside, (from mid-June onwards). The fan is placed in a position where it is sunny in the morning and shaded during the warmest part of the day. The pot is protected from the sun by placing a board in front. This keeps the root ball cool. During poor weather, e.g. heavy rain or strong winds, the plant is moved back into the greenhouse.
Courtesy of the British Fuchsia Society Annual 2002
Snippets
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Beware
Of
The Dreaded Fuchsia Rust
This highly contagious fungal disease, first appears as a red-dish or black/brown discolouration on both sides of a leaf.hortly, orange eruptions (spores) appear on the underside of the leaf and the disease is ready to spread.
The best treatment is prevention - don't overcrowd plants.
Ensure good ventilation (rust thrives in humidity), inspect your plants at least weekly, particularly during periods of wet weather.
Like cancer in humans, rust is an insidious disease; pick up plants in pots and look under the leaves.
If you find rust, remove all affected leaves: seal in a bag and dispose of with your refuse; isolate infested plants.
Fuchsia rust is highly contagious, so please don't sell or give infected plants. Disinfect your hands and cutting tools in between handling each plant.
From now on, check all your plants on a daily basis until you are quite sure the disease has been eradicated.
Isolate newly acquired plants (including cuttings you may be given to propagate) until you are sure that they are free of infection.
Courtesy of
The Australian Fuchsia Society Inc. April, 2002
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The Price of Perfection
When all the weeds that grow today
Have been pulled up and thrown away
When greenfly are good as gold
And Fuchsias do as they are told
When mites & thrips & every pest
Decide to give us a rest
When from our troubles we are free
How very bored we all shall be!
Author of this unknown, published courtesy of the Louth & District Fuchsia Society Newsletter, who's editor in turn spotted it in the Felixstowe & District Newsletter while on holiday.
What is
AT up to?
Speculation is mounting that Alan Titchmarsh is being groomed to take over from wild life legend Sir David Attenbrough.
Alan (53) remains coy, but he is quitting BBC's Gardener's World after seven years at the helm and he is also fronting two new BBC projects one on the natural history of Britain.
He is however making a second run of BBC 2's 'How to be a gardener' and also will still be hosting the 2003's Chelsea Flower Show Coverage.
Favourite to take over Alan's role at Gardener's World is Rachel de Thame, but I am tipping Joe Swift.
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Milder
Winters
- More Pests
With the occurrence of milder winters and warmer springs there is the problem of pests over-wintering more successfully and multyplying more rapidly once the weather starts warming up.
Aphids have been present, or at least in my garden, throughout the winter.
Vine weevil will also be active at this time of the year and precautions should be taken to protect any vulnerable plants, but particularly fuchsias and tuberous begonias - although many other genus of plants can be affected. Start a regime of watering with Provado or Armillatox at the first sign of infestation = distinctive notches eaten from the leaves. This will help break the life cycle of the pest.
Courtesy of Mick Allsop - Waltham Forest Fuchsia & Geranium Society Newsletter
Did You Know
Berba's Trio, raised and introduced in 1983 by Mrs N A. Bats-Wesseling, is an unique fuchsia as it has three different corolla colours on the same plant, white, violet and a mixture of the two! Lax trailer, with red upswept petals.
Food For Thought
It is what we learn after we think we know it all that counts!!
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The Funny Things
That Happen At Talks
I already knew that Nancy Darnley once gave a talk by candle light, and telling Derek Luther (of CADs) what happened at my last talk he then told me that on once occasion the electricity failed because the meter needed feeding! None of the audience had any money on them so Derek, as guest speaker, had to supply the necessary cash!
What happened at my last talk? Well, I had been warned that I must not use certain power points because they would cause the lights to fail. Hardly had the words been spoken than we were in the dark. Torches were switched on, it was a rural area with streets lights only in the middle of the village so torches were a necessity, and someone went in search of the key to the switchboard. I started my talk in the dark as I only had 75 minutes to teach them how to grow fuchsias(!). After about ten minutes hooray, lights. Ten minutes later darkness. This happened three times until they discovered that the hot water boiler was causing the trouble. Needless to say when I wanted to use my projector I used different plugs. The society is moving the a different hall.
Many of you must have had funny experiences when giving talks, please can we hear them.
Barbara Price Trasler
- B.F.S. Annual 2002
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Compost Confusion
Composting Awareness Week, at the beginning of May, an international initiative originating in Canada, should have received extensive newspaper coverage in a positive way, for isn't recycling the great way forward. The event was backed by Alan Titchmarsh with more than two million 'Alan Titchmarsh Guides to Home Composting' having been made available to composters and local authorities nationwide and it followed hot on heels of several local authorities persuading people to buy their composting bins. However the unfortunate story that hit the headlines in the national press claimed £5,000 fines on the way to gardeners if caught composting!!!!
Yes, confusion over composting could cause the collapse of the Government's plans to increase recycling and lead to more waste being incinerated. The crisis over composting, caused by the Government's delay in setting the health standards that compost is supposed to achieve, is being compared to the ongoing crises over fridges and abandoned cars. The Government admitted that rules imposed to stop meat from catering waste causing another epidemic of foot and mouth or swine fever could be interpreted as banning kitchen waste such as potato peelings, from compost heaps. (Recommendation has of course always been to compost only materials that can be found naturally in the garden any way, and to avoid cooked food which can attract mice, foxes etc. )
Though the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it had no intention of preventing people composting their kitchen waste, or councils from composting green wastes, the legal implications of the new rules have caused major problems for local authorities. Cheshire i.e., which composts 30,000 tons of green waste such as garden clippings, each year has not been able to use the materials for anything other than backfilling landfill sites in case the compost contains food waste from households. Gardeners would be required to have their composting bins sited a certain distance from their boundary, making just about every composting bin/area in existence illegal and the owner liable to huge fines. (Yes, the world's gone mad readily springs to mind!)
Kay Twitchen, Conservative chairman of the Local Government Association waste executive, was quoted in The Times saying the confusion is making more incineration, which is unpopular, more likely. "There is a total lack of clarity from government about whether we can compost kitchen waste and use it as compost," she said. "The department has got to get its act together. It is just like fridges and cars, we are left with total uncertainty and chaos. I'm afraid the environmental agenda is a very low priority for this government and these big fiascos keep happening because they won't give it the time and attention." She added that local councils face increasingly onerous targets under national and EU legislation, requiring them to recycle or compost 25 per cent of domestic waste by 2005, with a statutory target of 17 per cent in 2003.
Britain currently recycles only 12 per cent!
The Government says that it is carrying out a risk analysis to see whether pathogens dangerous to animals can, survive the composting process. It is expected to announce the results later this year.
Rather farcical, and had it been published a month earlier I certainly would have put it down as an April Fools story. It be interesting to see what the outcome will be - one can never be sure when government and EU directives are involved - but let's hope common sense will prevail and we, responsible gardeners, are left to carry on with the good organic recycling work we do.
Let's give Alan Titchmarsh the last word on this (though this quote was very likely made while he was unaware of the present rumpus) : "I have made and used soil enriching composts for as long as I can remember. Every garden and home has enough waste to produce a rich garden compost that helps provide organic matter and nutrients essential for healthy plant growth. What's more, provided you follow a few simple guidelines, it's easy to do, environmentally friendly and best of all, completely free."
And what has all this to do with our beloved fuchsias? Well, home-made compost is recommended for covering the crowns of your hardy fuchsias in winter for added frost protection and also for a spring/early summer mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
P.S. A great way of speeding up the rotting process is by shredding your coarser material and prunings. (Though strictly speaking maybe not all that environmental friendly as I haven't come across a silent shredder yet!) The shredded material with the enormous amount of exposed cuts heats up fast and furiously and furthermore this heat, the key to good composting, can be trapped by covering the heaps with layers of insulation material, polystyrene sheets, old carpets etc. If you are undecided whether compost really improves the soil structure, just cover an area with a good mulch and see the difference when subsequently working it in the autumn/next spring - you'd be amazed!
Don't Just Talk To Plants, Listen To Them!
Watch your step in the garden, take cuttings and cut flowers with care: stems scream and blooms cry when cut, cucumbers squeal and even healthy fruit gurgles according to new acoustic research on the stressful life of plants.
The findings, released by the Institute for Applied Physics at the University of Bonn, could have important implications for farmers and gardeners as with the kind of eavesdropping device, it is now possible to distinguish between healthy and sick vegetables. The Bonn scientists developed laser-driven microphones that pick up sounds inaccessible to the human ear. When a leaf or a stem is sliced, the plant signals pain or perhaps merely dismay by releasing the gas ethylene over its entire surface.
Doctor Frank Kόhnemann of Bonn University has been trapping the ethylene in a bell jar. The gas molecules are later bombarded with calibrated laser beams, which makes them vibrate. This produces a soundwave picked up by the microphones. The more a plant is subjected to stress, the louder the signal. They have tested a range of plants, always in rooms with controlled temperatures and simulated natural light, and were most surprised by the reaction of the cucumber. Appearing to be in good shape, according to the acoustic measurements it was virtually shouting with agony. On closer inspection it was discovered that it had developed mildew, though the symptoms were not visible.
This discovery is likely to make an impact on agriculture. By eavesdropping on plants it should be possible to develop an early warning system to detect pests and disease. Infections can be detected the day after it has set in, while presently farmers looking at their plant in the field, have to wait a week or so until the mildew spots have visibly broken out before they notice the problem.
Knowing the stress level of fruit and vegetables can also be an aid in efficient storing and transporting. Acoustical evidence demonstrates that apples emit higher levels of ethylene, which causes neighbouring plants to wilt. As a result, the scientists urged fruit producers to store apples separately. When ripe fruit is packed with unripe, a substantial amount of fruit often ends up rotting even when the shipments are separated by type. The scientists in Bonn have solved this mystery too: differences in ripeness are often invisible, but can be detected acoustically in the form of ethylene. It should therefore be sufficient to measure fruit with laser microphones to separate it into batches of appropriate ripeness before loading it on to ships and trucks. If the relative ripeness of fruit can be worked out beforehand, it can be intelligently separated. Then we would know which batches to ship together and how long they would stay fresh.
But the Bonn University team believes plants do more than just chatter about aches and pains as if passing time in a doctor's waiting room. The team also reckons plants warn each other about approaching danger. The "alarm signal" is a chemical message transmitted between individual plants which also can be measured by the new equipment.
Our Monthly Meetings
17 April - David Bancroft: 'Growing Fuchsias for Pleasure'
David reckons that growing for showing, getting it perfect, requires true dedication, 100% of your time. Looking after a 10 acre hotel garden pretty much on his own as there are no staff left, means that he is now no longer able to devote enough time to growing fuchsias to show in earnest, but, as he explained in the first part of his talk to us, he still really enjoys growing them. He also advocates, rightly, that even if you are growing only for pleasure it is important to support the shows as this is what draws the public and encourages newcomers to join societies in the future. Paramount too, that even if not intending to show, you aim to grow your plants to the highest possible standard.
David's growing cycle starts by taking cuttings in September/October which are grown on and taken back to one shoot at the end of October to be overwintered at 38°F, just growing very slowly and cool which ripens the wood to support the subsequent blooms.
A way of testing this is to see if the plant pot and compost can be supported by the growth by turning the plant upside-down and standing it on its head. If it is strong enough to tolerate this, it will be strong enough to support the flowers. It is, after all, so annoying to see an apparently well-shaped plant suddenly collapse under the weight of flowers just prior to a show - often due to too much nitrogen. On the other hand also a warning about being heavy handed with potash. Too much often leads to plants not coming back into growth after being dormant in winter.
In spring, when light level naturally improve, plants are fed with a high nitrogen feed, switching to a balanced feed (7-7-7) for the rest of the growing season, a good regime for getting new growth after the winter rest.
He stops his plants at every second joint and reckons 6-8 weeks stopping time is OK for singles for Leeds. Then he reckons we are in the lap of the Gods and Mother Nature as to whether the plants will actually play ball and flower just on time and make it to the show. Dedicated show people get round this problem by growing in multiples. To get 5-10 on the show bench they grow 20-25 and stagger the pinching.(David Edmond hastened to add here that in Filey, growing in semi-shade his single flowering fuchsias need 10 weeks).
David Bancroft firmly believes in growing his plants cool, he believes they definitely prefer this. He puts them outside pretty early in spring, not really worried by spring frost as in his experience it is only a touch that appears at dawn more often then not and disappears quickly again an hour or so later. He recalled how one day when there was no frost whatsoever at around 5 o'clock in the early morning he then had to scrape the windscreen of his car at 5.30!
He also stressed the importance of having the right compost. Irish or what he admits, but compost needs to be able to hold moisture and yet be free-draining. It needs to be moist, not wet. Fresh good compost clings together when squeezed and needs to be opened up by the addition of grit, perlite etc. to acquire the airpockets needed for roots to grow into. This will lead to a good root system which will in turn be reflected in good top growth. Fresh compost contains food for approximately six weeks. Thereafter supplementary feeding is required to sustain good growth. Bacteria break down insoluable parts of fertilisers then make it available, so if you feed today it will be seven days or so before it is ready to be taken up by the plant. You'll get a guaranteed constant supply of available food if feeding at every watering with a diluted solution.
This statement prompted the first questions from the floor. Can you overfeed? David's reply was a firm yes, quite easily. If you use a double dose or more and continue to do this for a while the solution in the compost in the pot can become stronger than the solution in the plant and it can no longer draw up food from the compost but like a magnet it is drawn out from the plant and kills it. A good idea therefore to stick to the recommended doses, these were after all derived after extensive testing. At quarter strength every day the solution is weak enough with the natural leaching out not to create a problem.
Slow release fertilisers are fine, but the drawback is that they are only available to the plant if the temperature is ambient.
After the break a further question session followed covering a variety of subjects i.e insecticides. David recommends using two or three different ones, contact or systemic and alternate to confuse the pests so an immune system can not be built up. Ideally combine with a fungicide when spraying, but make sure they are indeed compatible, otherwise the mixture can be dangerous.
Vineweevil - the scourge of all growers now, naturally was brought up!! David explained that compost is available with the mixed in chemicals to control them once out of the egg stage, but it is only a preventative measure not a cure. All vineweevils are female, they don't need a male for breeding. The eggs are to be found 1" down at the edge of the compost in a round ball the size of a penny. He wondered whether the growth in mass microculture namely in Israel and Holland had a hand in spreading the weevils so extensively. The trouble though is how to get rid of them now everyone has got them! He was most disturbed to see a well established bed of pyracanthas in the garden he works in completely destroyed, with not a single plant alive now. Keeping an eye on things is the only way. We can use the products available as they have some effect in slowing it down, but nothing is available to entirely eradicate the pest. Good hygiene is important, checking plants on a regular basis and checking hiding places like under pots and under the benches.
How do they travel, fly? - "They can walk for miles - by gum the can walk!"
How long do they live? - "Until somebody hits them with a hammer!"
A cure to solve the problem? NO - nothing is foolproof except a 2lb hammer!!!
Another truly excellent evening, entertaining and educational - though you'll forgive me for not mentioning the maggots!!!
15 May - Tom Alty: 'Reminiscences of a Showman'
Not about fuchsias at all but a most enthralling talk, a trip down memory lane that held everyone's attention from start to finish.
Showing runs in families and it does for Tom's. Granddad had been a keen showman, (though dad couldn't stand it), his two daughters were very keen until boys became more interesting and now granddaughter is showing pigs.
Tom started off, like so many, with entering the children's class at the local show. He won first prize with his bantam hen and remembered the lad in second place crying. A year later the roles were however reversed and "I think I did!". They became pals and have been ever since.
Bitten by the bug he travelled all over (on his bike) as every village hall had a show in those days, the early 50's. He remembered taking birds down on the train too, fancy that as a 12 year old lad travelling out on his own on the train from Preston to London to enter a few birds in a show there!
Tom reckons that in everyone's life somebody becomes a terrific influence, leaving a lasting impression. For Tom this man was 'Old Bert'. Bert Anthony, a wonderful man, the very last professional poultry showman in the country.
"A past master who forgot more about showing then I'll ever know!"
For a living he bred, bought & sold and showed. A wonderful life - and lucrative too, picking up 20 prizes 2 or 3 times a week when the first prize was £2, quite a decent income then. Tom went there every Sunday (after Sunday School!), summer and winter, even though it was about 10 miles away. He must have mucked out the pens, but the memories are predominantly of learning from watching Bert. As a judge he would also test Tom, challenging him to find the deliberate mistake and hence gaining invaluable experience. Tom treated us to some absolute gems of anecdotes, too numerous to mention and besides it isn't easy to take notes when you are laughing so much!!
Over the years Tom and his pal, Dave, judged poultry and ponies all over the British Isles and abroad too in Sweden and Holland. However, only when he retired from teaching could he finally attend the big shows, which always take place in mid week.
Tom, like a true showman, enthuses about its virtues. Showing is an all consuming passion - you get a great buzz, a real kick out of it. You make some great friends around the shows. The taking part it the most important aspect. And as Chairman of the Fylde Fuchsia Society encourages members to support their shows. Can't means won't -there is no such thing.
Tom finished off by paying tribute to his good lady, pleading guilty of things like washing hens in the kitchen sink and pinching the last bar if soap in the house to wash his show pig. She has been very good about it all most of the time though he has on occasions been called many unrepeatable names - and pleads guilty of course.
Tom believes it is easy to win, but everyone has to learn to lose.
How true - take heed!!
Local Interest at the Chelsea Flower Show
Scarborough florist Kate Corrigan, partner at Louise Florist in Huntriss Road, Scarborough, was one of 18 asked to take part in a competition for commercial florist at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. They had to put together five displays based on the wedding theme. Kate did a wedding bouquet, a bride's maid headdress and table, pedestal & chair-back arrangements, using roses, gloriosia, lillies and an assortment of foliage. Though she didn't get a medal she was pleased to be asked to take place, learning a lot from this first attempt and getting a better idea what is required. Kate has vowed to be back next year, aiming to put the experience to good use.
Following on from this Kate won a place, representing the north-east region, in the national final of the prestigious Interflora Florist of the Year competition which is taking place during the Royal Horticultural Society's show at Tatton Park as we go to print.
The Society Library
As you will have noticed over the last few editions of our Newsletter, our own offerings have been greatly complimented by contributions acquired from other sources, fellow fuchsia enthusiasts from all over the world. Made so much easier nowadays because of the Internet access, but also because we have managed to set up exchanges with a good number of other Fuchsia Societies and the introduction of the CAD's Fuchsia News, the BFS publication specifically set up to aid affiliated Society editors.
These magazines, including the New Zealand National Link, are placed in our library for your perusal. During our monthly meetings you can see our Librarian, Carol Tindall, who can show you the books and assist you.
The library also contains the periodical publications of the BFS and the RHS, to which we are affiliated, back issues of our own Newsletters and a good range of books covering many aspects of fuchsia growing.
The magazine also contained a most interesting article 'RAISE YOUR STANDARDS'
by Nick Dobson, courtesy of Waltham Forest Fuchsia & Pelargonium Group
which can be seen at their web site http://www.communigate.co.uk/london/fuchsia
STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS
Scarborough Council 's Parks & Countryside Services Team had been invited to enter a display at The Great Yorkshire Show and the team who used 2,000 plants grown at the Council's Manor Road Nurseries, the Society had visited last month, were delighted to take part in this prestigious event for the first time ever. The floral display 'From the Coast to the Country' featured a 3-D planted model lighthouse complete with flashing light, pier, formal garden and countryside scene complete with babbling brook attracted many admirers and certainly caught the eye of the judges who awarded it a GOLD MEDAL.
The Last Word
Down to the final few lines with just enough space left to once again express my gratitude to the 'guest authors' for granting permission to reproduce their articles and so helping to turn this newsletter into such good read for our members. Yes, fuchsia folk are friendly folk!
Hopefully you enjoyed reading it all and may I again appeal to you to submit your news and views too. Any contribution, however small will be much appreciated!
Your editor, Claudy Dixon
fuchsiasforfun.@tiscali.co.uk.co.uk
FUCHSIASFORFUN HOME PAGE
Including
SCARBOROUGH & DISTRICT FUCHSIA SOCIETY INFO PAGE
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October 2004 June 2004 February 2004
October 2003 June 2003 February 2003
October 2002 July 2002 April 2002
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