No 120 Summer 2020

Dear all

First of all we very much hope you are all well, and safe, and we are writing to let you know that we are thinking of you all . By the nature of our Group, we are incredibly lucky to have an interest in gardening, especially with this wonderful weather. In fact I am sure that for all of us fortunate enough to have a garden, however small or large, the idea of being inside on a computer is not appealing. However, as this is England, it WILL rain in due course and I have compiled a few things that might be of interest to compensate for our lost garden visits this summer.

It was very fortunate that we managed to have the wonderful talk on Pictorial Meadows in March. It was disappointing that Nigel Dunnett was unable to come at the last moment but I don’t think it was in any way diminished by Susan France, who jumped into the breach with such enthusiasm. I for one have been working on a “pictorial” area of long grass and wildflowers but apart from enhancing our own gardens, what has been achieved in deprived inner city areas by this organisation was inspiring.

One of the disappointments this summer will be the closure of NGS gardens, although some will be opening from this month so it is worth checking their site, which has a lot of interesting information, and links to many podcasts made by their members, including Ulting Wick and Bridges, Woolpit. Bridges was scheduled for us to visit on the 11th June and a ‘virtual’ visit can be found on the National Garden Scheme’s website, entitled “Suffolk; where Shakespeare takes centre stage - National Garden Scheme”. On all the sites there is the option to ‘Donate’ as their openings are an invaluable source of income for charities. The RHS also has an inspirational ‘virtual garden’ web page found on rhs.org.uk/gardens and their gardens will be open from 10.00a.m. 3rd June. Beth Chatto is planning on opening their nursery and gardens from 8th June, but it is worth checking all gardens before visiting to find out exactly how they will be managing them.

Great Dixter are offering talks on Zoom with interesting lectures and virtual tours of the gardens. Tickets can be booked at greatdixter.co.uk.

The visit to 11 Brookside, Moulton, Newmarket on the 8th September has been cancelled but we are still hoping the EAGG holiday later in September will be able to take place. More anon.                         Also our speakers booked for 3rd October - Ian Bedford on Garden Bugs, and 7th November, Mark Lane talking about the Gardens of Buckingham Palace, together with the AGM are still scheduled.

The rescheduled Hampton Court Flower Show has now been cancelled , but the RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show can still be found on their web site rhs.org.uk/chelsea There were some very interesting talks on several subjects, including agapanthus.

RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show has been moved to the 2nd - 6th September 2020 but this also might be cancelled so please check before visiting.

You can also listen to The Garden Podcast at rhs.org.uk/thegardenpodcast

Chelsworth, who have held their Village Open Garden’ at the end of June for the last 53 years is doing a ‘virtual’ open gardens. There will be drone videos, photographs, talks and tips and will be accessed through the Chelsworth site, chelsworth.org.uk Like the NGS, villages rely on these events to support their churches, village halls and local charities and there is a facility to make donations.

I am sure other villages will be doing something similar so worth looking out for notifications.

Looking to the future, we are still hoping to hold another Christmas Wreath making day in early December, and since obviously the summer social, due to be held in Sue and Elio de Sabata’s garden at The Coach House, Chelsworth in June has been cancelled we are hoping we can reschedule a social get together around Christmas to be held at Chamberlain Hall.

We are also exploring the prospect of hosting a BBC Garden Question Time.

Another thing I would like to share with you. Ken Thompson, who gave us a talk on The Sceptical Gardener and is a fascinating and knowledgeable plant biologist with a keen interest in the science of gardening has recommended a smartphone app to identify plants (and sometimes other things too). He is a self confessed cynic when it comes to new technology and has not been impressed by similar apps in the past. However the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland put nine apps through their paces and one called Seek - inaturalist.org/pages/seek app was impressive. Other apps tend to give you a name even if they aren't sure, but Seek doesn’t do that so it may not come up with an exact name but it made the fewest mistakes and works in real time so tells you what it thinks you are looked at without needing to take a picture.

When the app narrows your plant down to a species it prompts you to take a

picture which unlocks more information about the species. No login or account is required but you can sign in to the parent inaturalist site, and your observations can help SEEK to learn new species.

And looking forward to next spring, what about planting white madden rhododendrons - ‘Fragrantissimum’ and ‘Lady Alice Fitzwilliam’ - in pots. They are slightly tender but there is little to rival them for scent.

Further news - we had begun a project commissioning a new web site to make our Group more exciting and modern. However this is not the moment for such expenditure so we are working to update the current Suffolk One site.

The current website has information going back to 1964 when the group was called East Anglian Iris and Lily Group. The subscription was 10 shillings, and there was a seed distribution scheme where members saved seeds for other members to buy. There are also newsletters going back to 1968, and Event Reviews going back to 2013 and we are anxious not to lose this archive, whilst we feel we need to focus on the future. It is this history that identifies EAGG as different to village gardening societies. It has been decided to keep a separate archive on the site with everything over five years old, plus a USB backup.

We are still looking for volunteers to take over from Judy Baker organising teas for our talks. She has done amazing work and deserves a break.

We are also desperate for someone to take over as Treasurer from Jan Kelsall who retires in October. If any of you would be interested in offering your help in either of these fields, or know of anyone else, please do let us know, and spread the word.

We all send our very best wishes and looking forward to reconvening later in the year when hopefully we can look forward to returning to a normal way of life. Meanwhile, how lucky we gardeners are!

Sue de Sabata