The Cumbria Group of the Hardy Plant Society was formed in January 1996. We have a membership of around 175. At the Holker Garden Festival, held in June 2000, we had a show stand and won a Gold Medal. This was the first time we had staged the exhibit on behalf of the Hardy Plant Society. Our theme for the exhibit was "A Corner of Cumbria". The team effort which designed and set up this successful, award winning display came from within our group membership. Due to the Foot and Mouth disease restrictions in our area, the 2001 Holker Garden Festival had to be cancelled. Our group has been invited by the Hardy Plant Society to stage the HPS exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Show in May 2002. The design of our exhibit called "The World in a County" is by Mr Ray Lakeland, a member of our group. The hardworking team created an exhibit which was awarded a Bronze medal. After Chelsea the exhibit was dismantled and re-created for Holker 2002. The effort of transporting and re-creating the garden was well worthwhile. The judges awarded the exhibit a Gold Medal and Best in Show. In 2003 our exhibit on behalf of the Hardy Plant Society at Holker was called "The Hexagonal Garden". We were delighted to be awarded a Gold Medal for our efforts Photo Gallery.
We have some talented,
dedicated and hard working members but we always welcome more help with our
activities. As a keen HPS member, you might
consider joining our group and contributing your talents to help
make gardening fun for all. Do you want to learn more about hardy
perennials and share experiences with our members? We offer a
varied programme of lectures. At our meetings there is often an
opportunity to purchase plants grown by our members. Our collection of
specialist gardening books is available for you to
consult, or for short term loan. To become a member of our group
you must already be a member of, or join, the Hardy Plant
Society. For more details go to Links
We hold our lecture meetings at the Masonic Hall, Station Road,
Kendal, CUMBRIA.
Contact us at Hardy Plant Societyby email
How to find our Meeting Venue in Kendal
Saturday 10 January 2004 at 2.00pm Talk by Sally Beamish "A Garden with a Diference"
Saturday 14 February 2004 at 2.00pm A.G.M.followed by "Gardener's Question Time"
Saturday 13 March 2004 at 2.00pm Talk by Ken Green "Gardening for Wildlife"
Monday 5 April 2004 at 7.30pm Talk by Dilys Davies "Alliums - a world tour"
Monday 17 May 2004 at 7.30pm Talk by Margaret Brown "Some like it Hot - HOT Colours in the Border"
Monday 14 June 2004 at 7.30pm Talk by Diane Nichol-Browne "Propagation"
Sunday 20 June 2004 Annual Plant Sale
Sunday 12 July 2004 Annual Plant Fair
Monday 27 September 2004 at 7.30pm Talk by Stuart Dixon "The Garden at Hebb's Farmhouse"
Monday 18 October 2004 at 7.30pm Talk by Mrs H Kaye "Water Gardens and Plants"
Saturday 13 November 2004 at 2.00pm Talk by Don Wilton "Euphorbias"
Sunday 5 December 2004 at 12.00noon for 12.30 Christmas Lunch at Holehird - Admission by Ticket only
Our Group Newsletter is published twice yearly, in the Spring and Autumn.
Propagation Workshop - This event was held in March. Committee and other HPS members gave advice on techniques for seed sowing, plant division and taking soft and hardwood cuttings. A good selection of plant material was available together with various types of compost. The Parish Hall at Kendal was "a hive of activity" as members happily sowed their seeds and prepared cuttings. The best news is that many have been successful in their endeavours.
Willow Making Days - These workshops were organised on two Saturdays in May and held at Winderwath Garden, near PENRITH. Both events turned out to be a success. Obelisks and supports of various shapes were produced.
Annual Plant Sale - This was held in June and staged at the Parish Hall, KENDAL. There was a wonderful collection of plants for sale donated by members. The quality was outstanding, proving that it is less difficult to produce good plants in June rather than waiting until October as in previous years.
The Hardy Plant Society is encouraging the local groups to setup conservation schemes. The aim is to try to conserve the lesser known hardy perennials. The benefits which will come from responding to this challenging task are
Our Group has decided that Arisaemas warrant a wider cultivation. Seeds of this plant genus are collected from the wild by Seed Collecting Expeditions. These depend on gaining permission from the authorities to collect seed and a successful expedition. If steps are not taken to continue to propagate plants from the seed we can collect ourselves, Arisaemas will become very scarce. Ron Davies has agreed to be coordinator of this project, which could be ongoing for at least five years. If we are successful, we will have increased the stock of Arisaemas in our area and have been able to identify some cultural do's and don'ts for this genus.
The Aroid family has many strange and interesting Genus, none more so than the Arisaemas.
These protect themselves from predators by mimicking the inflated head of an angry cobra.
The hood is, in fact, a bract which protects the reproductive system of the plant.
There are many colours, A.candidissimum perhaps being the best known with its pink stripes on a white background, but many other colours are available from the yellow of A.flavum, green and white stripes of A.jacquemontii and purples of A.grifithii being just a few examples.
My interest in the Genus arose through growing seed collected by Chris Chadwell many years ago. Since then I have managed to successfully grow A.tortuosum, flavum, aralcea and other unnamed species, in the open garden. With protection they have proved themselves to be hardy. Indeed, A.flavum has seeded itself around and formed a colony.
Unfortunately, very little has been written about this Genus in general gardening books, so in the first few years the cultivation of the seeds I could obtain was purely guesswork. I do now have a book printed in India which specialises in the Himalayan varieties. Arisaemas are now growing in popularity and, although expensive, flowering sized tubers are available. You can also obtain seed from specialist's lists and indeed from the seed list of various societies including our own HPS.
There are only a hundred or so species recorded around the world of which 25 come from the Himalayas. As they become more popular, pressure on their survival in the wild will increase. Already, some nurserymen are pressing for them to receive CITES status. Let us not waste plants that are available if we, as a Group, can successfully grow them.
I am in the enviable position of working professionally as a gardener at Winderwath and will be able to obtain some of the less common tubers. Indeed, we hope to house a collection at the garden. You may rest assured that of any seed collected, some will be shared amongst our Group.
I hope that through this article, more of you will be interested enough to join our Group, or to collect and grow Arisaemas yourselves.
Some people have had difficulty in identifying Arisaema seedlings. They are quite distinctive. The seedling emerges as a loop, shaped like an inverted hairpin. When the leaf unfolds they are almost always Trifoliate, i.e. a three-lobed leaf or cordate, a single heart -shaped leaf.
I feel it is best to grow them on undisturbed for the first yea; when the leaves die, cease watering and allow to dry, starting them into growth early in the following year. Begin gentle watering and when the leaves are stronger in mid-season you can then carefully divide them and individually pot them; then feed on a regular basis. The following year plant them into the garden in light dappled shade, incorporating leaf mould into the surrounding area but, as an insurance continue to grow some in pots. They should now be ready for flowering. If they seed the cycle will repeat itself.
This article by Ron Davies was published in the October 2000 Newsletter of the Cumbria Group and is used with permission.
Sunday 23rd May dawned overcast and showery, but this did not deter our group of 48 from setting out and enjoying the coach trip to Dumfries and Galloway. We travelled to Bridge end nurseries at Gretna. They specialise in rare and unusual plants. We spent a glorious couple of hours buying up most of what they had for sale. It certainly seemed that way when we came to pack the spoils in the very large luggage compartment on the bus. Then it was time for the next part of the trip to visit Threave, the Scottish National Trust property at Castle Douglas. Some of us took a guided tour of the wonderful grounds and gardens. Others in our party chose to make the tour on their own.
Unlike our May trip, Saturday 24th July dawned a sunny and hot day. This time 53 passengers headed for North Yorkshire - in a double decker bus no less! We travelled via Thirsk to Husthwaite, where we visited The White House. Here we saw a very lovely 1 acre garden divided up into smaller individual gardens. Each garden was packed with glorious colour and some surprises too. We drove from The White house through glorious countryside and villages arriving at Helmsley. From here we took a mini-bus to the next garden, Sleightholme Dale Lodge. The garden is set on the side of a hill in a lush valley. Enclosed within high walls is a glorious cottage garden, richly planted and carefully tended by three generations of the same family.
If you wish to contact our group by email, please send your email to the Hardy Plant Society using the following address - Cumbriagroup@hardy-plant.org.uk
We meet at the Masonic Hall on Station Road, Kendal. The Masonic Hall is situated next to Kendal Museum. There is some parking to the rear of the Masonic Hall and also in the streets close by
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The HPS Cumbria Group's Gold Medal Exhibit Holker 2003 - "The Hexagonal Garden
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The HPS Cumbria Group's Bronze Medal winning exhibit at RHS Chelsea May 2002 "The World in a County"
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The White House taken on our Garden Visit to North Yorkshire |
Herterton House taken on our Garden Visit to Northumberland |
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Last updated December 2003
Photo credits Norma Bates, Ron Davies, Ray Lakeland, Anita McAree
©Copyright Hardy Plant Society - Cumbria
Group
For future reference our page is at
http://uk.geocities.com/km1939/index.html