YAWA: Your Events Diary for October

September's sunshine and lack of rain means the flowers are still going strong - just like my new Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' above - though the trees look like they're suffering from the lack of water. Now October's here, autumn's threatening to kick in properly, so I've had the You Ask, We Answer team hunkered down to find the best seasonal treats on offer this month:

4th: Mangold Hurling Championships, Sherston. Unusual sport with vegetables doesn't get any better than this traditional game from Somerset. The Mangold Hurling website tells you everything you need to know and more. However, Wiltshire is leading the way and the Gazette and Herald reports there's a bumper crop this year. Glutbuster recipes have been devised by the local chutney company (soup) and the pub formerly frequented by Prince Harry has mangold crisps on the menu.

8th: National Poetry Day. As last year, Flighty will be collating blogging contributions. This year's theme is Heroes and Heroines.

9-11th: Grand Designs Live at the NEC. The show of the popular TV programme has an expanded garden section this year, which I'll be investigating :)

11th: World Conker Championships - Ashton, Northamptonshire. Another of our noble sports and traditions gets an official airing this month, assuming the horse chestnut trees have yielded enough good quality conkers in time.

13-14th: RHS Autumn Show, Horticultural Halls, London. This was the first RHS event I ever attended, 2 years ago. It's a mixture of produce show - though the grapes come from places like Blenheim Palace - plant stalls, and art. I saw James for the first time (though not to speak to - I wasn't blogging then, so we hadn't 'met'); had a gentleman recite poetry to me; discovered there were other Heucheraholics out there; got told off by an RHS judge when I remarked to my companion that some potatoes on show looked like they'd been polished; and discovered the incredible work of Niki Simpson, not realising for a while our squeals of delight were being overheard by the artist herself. Great stuff and free if you're an RHS member.

14th: Bath University Gardening Club's monthly talks programme resumes. First up is Fergus Garrett :)

15th: Blog Action Day. This year's theme for your post is climate change.

21st: Apple Day. An event started by Common Ground to raise awareness of our fantastic English apple heritage. Whilst the 21st is the nominated day, events occur from September onwards with many throughout October. Lacock Abbey are having their celebrations on the 18th. It's also the Bramley apple's 200th birthday this year, a double excuse to celebrate all things pomme this month :)

25th: British Summer Time comes to an end and the clocks go back an hour in the UK during the wee early hours of the morning. Don't forget your extra hour in bed!

31st: Halloween. The annual sweetfest for kids and a certain blogger's favourite time of the year!

Comments

  1. Sue Swift3 October 2009 at 16:37

    Oh dear - I'm going to miss the Mangold Hurling. Can you pick who you hurl them at I wonder? Now there's an idea for a meme - who would you most like to hurl a mangold at. Hmmm...

    Came in to say thank you for the congrats and that you had my vote ... But you had amazing competition.

    Have been out of everything for months for all sorts of crazy personal reasons. Really hope I'll be able to get back to normal this autumn - but I said that in July... and August... and September. Oh well - life. I am back to my own blog again, but am still way behind with reading everyone else's. Sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3 October 2009 at 16:47

    I'm an Autumn gal and love your Lemon Queen. I would like to see the mangold hurling. Sounds comical. We have a hollering contest in a place appropriately called Spivey's Corner---which sounds so redneck.

    Looks like you have a very full month of activities to choose from and I'd be enjoying them all if possible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joanne3 October 2009 at 19:18

    Lemon Queen looks lovely

    ReplyDelete
  4. easygardener3 October 2009 at 19:48

    Lemon Queen looks lovely - a very clean colour. I used to regularly visit the RHS shows when I worked in London - haven't been to one in ages. I should make the effort as the Autumn one sounds an attractive mix.
    Mangolds - there's a word that conjures up yokely thoughts!

    ReplyDelete
  5. CanadianGardenJoy3 October 2009 at 22:11

    VP girl !!
    You are such a nutter to mention me .. and my OBSESSION ?? LOL
    It was amazing here today, but I hear from a friend near Shropshire that it has been amazing there with beautiful weather too .. but she knows it is a fluke and hates to think about what those long dark winter hours to put in again.
    I love your Lemon Queen too ! it is a beautiful shade of soft yellow : ) .. but alass .. it is October and ORANGE is my colour for now ? haha
    Joy
    PS .. mangold hurling , with or without ale ?? hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anna4 October 2009 at 10:35

    Now mangold hurling conjures up all sorts of weird and wonderful images :) 'Lemon Queen'is bright and cheerful - she was in abundance at the Malvern Flower Show.

    ReplyDelete
  7. VP5 October 2009 at 08:50

    Sue - I think it's a bit more like welly wanging! It's good to see you out and about again and understand perfectly that real life has to take priority :)

    FGG - that's sound fun. We have a variation on that - there's a town criers competition. Must find out more about it - and when the world welly wanging championships take place!

    Joanne - I first saw it at the RHS Inner Temple show last year and fell in love with it. I'm really pleased with how its turned out in my garden this year.

    EG - it's very yokely ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP5 October 2009 at 08:51

    Joy - with lots of ale :)

    Anna - I'm not surprised she made an appearance :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more