Cotswold & Malvern Group - Alpine Garden Society

Cotswold &
Malvern Group

Alpine Garden Society

Newsletter Winter 2014/2015

Chair: Ross Barbour Welcome to the Winter 2014/2015 Newsletter.
Vice Chair: Vacant
Firstly on behalf of the Chairman and Committee can I wish all
Secretary: Pam Turner members and friends a Happy, Prosperous and Good Growing New
Bramblegarth, Forge Lane, Year, and say a big thank you to all those who have contributed to
Upleadon, Newent, GL18 1EF. this newsletter and those published over the last year, most of all
 01531 820666 my two proof-readers!
Email: [email protected]
Once again we’ve got an interesting and varied programme to look
Treasurer: Helen Picton forward to thanks to Eric Jarrett, but if you’ve got any suggestions
Parkwood, Brockhill Road, for speakers and/or subjects you would like to be considered for the
Malvern, WR14 4DL. programme please speak to Eric, I’m sure he will be only too
Mobile  07971 522891 pleased to consider any requests.
Email: [email protected]
If you’ve ordered and received your seed from the AGS Seed
Membership Secretary: Exchange and haven’t sowed it yet you might find the item in this
Pauline Carless newsletter on composts helpful.
Bodenham Close, Winyaton West,
Redditch, B98 0JU. An important show date for your diary!
 01527 525824
Email: [email protected] Cotswold & Malvern Group Annual Spring Show & Plant Sale
Monday 6th April 2015
Programme Secretary: Eric Jarrett
Show Manager: Eric Jarrett Once again this show will take place at Maisemore Village Hall,
Social Secretary: June Fairburn Church Road, Maisemore, Glos., GL2 8JE. A show schedule is
enclosed with this newsletter so you can see the breakdown of
Newsletter Editor: Rod Wells competitive classes etc., and plan what classes you are going to
15 Lapwing Close, Northway, enter! Show open to all from 12 noon to 4pm.
Tewkesbury, GL20 8TN.
Email: [email protected] A direct plea to all members - please come along and support
YOUR show, I’m sure Eric would be very grateful for volunteers to
help out, if only for an hour or so on the day, and if you can supply
an item for the raffle we would be very grateful.

For more details or to offer help, please contact the Show Manager,
Eric Jarrett on 01453 762812 or email [email protected]

Rod Wells.

-1-

© Published by the Cotswold & Malvern Group AGS

The Origin of Galanthus ‘Primrose Warburg’

Visiting my parents in Belford, North Northumberland last Easter break, I was introduced to Philippa Craig and her
garden Goosewells.

Originally owned, landscaped and planted by the talented Judy Brunskill in the 1960s, this wonderful garden and
converted water mill has matured well, allowing many woodland treasures like Trilliums and Erythroniums to
flourish. This also of course includes many Snowdrops and here is where my tale begins.

As Philippa introduced me to this long hidden gem of a garden she began to tell me of the Northumbrian
Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis Lutescens (Galanthus nivalis Sandersii Group). I am aware, as I’m sure everyone is,
of the coveted yellow forms and cultivars of Galanthus but Philippa believes that they are all forms of Galanthus
nivalis Lutescens. A group of snowdrops exclusive to a specific area in North Northumberland where they are to
be found and to prove a point she explained to me the origins of some of the plants we know so well.

Spindelstone Nursery was set up and run by the late Diana Aitchinson who was a great friend of Philippas. It was
when Philippa and Diana were out surveying the range of naturally occurring Galanthus nivalis Lutescens
(Galanthus nivalis Sandersii Group) that Diana brought back some bulbs and planted them near what had been
the Nursery, close to the house. A subsequent visit by Ron McBeath and Jim Jermyn led to the naming of this
plant as ‘Spindlestone Surprise’ and its general release in 2000.

Miss Sanderson’s garden in Belford, North Northumberland is where Ray Cobb acquired his yellow snowdrop
bulbs. A farmhouse and walled garden where many Galanthus naturalised, including Galanthus nivalis Lutescens
(Galanthus nivalis Sandersii Group). These were then exchanged back and forth between himself and Lady
Buchanan until it was exhibited as ‘Ray Cobb’ at the RHS Halls in 1999 by John Foster.

This extra detail was all fascinating to hear but what made my jaw drop was when Philippa recounted a visit by
Primrose Warburg to see her and the Northumbrian Snowdrops in the 1980’s. Primrose stayed at The Bluebell Inn,
Belford; unfortunately the heating was broken and as it was late Winter Philippa remembers Primrose being
permanently frozen. None-the-less, the tour was a success and Primrose returned to South-Hayes with a good
form of the Northumbrian Snowdrop from Philippa.

In 1997, a year after Primrose died, her friends went through the garden and on finding this clump of yellow
Snowdrops declared it Galanthus ‘Primrose Warburg’. As with a lot of plants in Primroses garden many were
either un-named or had cryptic labels and when the newly named ‘Primrose Warburg’ was lifted it had a label with
the initials ‘PC’ on it. Is this Philippa Craig? It certainly seems likely to me.

First named as Galanthus nivalis var. sandersii by Revd. H. Harpur-Crewe in 1879 after a Mr Sanders from
Cambridge who had collected it from a farm house near Belford in North Northumberland. Material received by
James Allen also from Sanders led to a second naming as Galanthus lutescens. Another discovery in 1889 by
William Boyd in Whittingham, Northumberland produced yet another name, Galanthus flavescens. Today however
these are all now covered by Galanthus nivalis Sandersii Group.

Source: Snowdrops, A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis and John Grimshaw.

Ross Barbour.

Editors’ note…….My thanks to Ross for the above item on Galanthus ‘Primrose Warburg’.

-2-

© Published by the Cotswold & Malvern Group AGS

Composts

At shows I am often asked “What compost are you growing a particular plant in?”

People seem to think that if I am able to keep a plant going then if they copy me then they will be successful.
Nothing is further from the truth than this as the constituents of compost form only a part of the story as to which
plants will grow for us and those that do not.

The other factors that come into the equation can be moisture levels, air movement and average temperature all of
which are to a lesser degree fixed and dependent on your local environment. Obviously we can use Alpine Houses
and frames to give us some degree of control but in the end whether you find a plant easy or difficult probably
depends more on where you live than any amount of care you take in cultivation.

Fortunately for us many plants do take to cultivation and, as any visit to AGS shows will prove, some can be grown
to a very high standard.

There is one thing that almost all exhibitors agree on as regards to compost and that is that it must be free draining
and moisture retentive. This sounds like a contradiction in terms as how can a compost be free draining and be
moist at the same time? To understand this we need to look at the science behind what we mean by these terms.

We will find that there is a figure that we can obtain to give us a measure of how well a compost is drained which is
known as Air Filled Porosity or AFP. The definition of AFP is a measure of how much Oxygen (Air) there is
remaining in a soil when at its Field Capacity. Field capacity being how much water remains after the soil is
flooded and allowed to drain freely.

However we do not need to measure the AFP of the plant in its natural surroundings as it is a very safe conclusion
to assume that all alpines must have a soil that has a high AFP. To achieve this we need to add components to
our compost in the form of grits, sand and other mineral materials. Moisture retention will be obtained by the loam
and humus that form part of the other constituent of the compost.

Now to what I actually do!

I am a firm believer that a good quality loam is essential and forms the basis for any compost. As I do not have a
reliable source I always will use a proprietary JI compost obtained from Ashwoods Nursery, which I have found to
be very reliable and convenient.

The mineral component comprises equal parts by volume of Cornish Grit, Very Sharp Sand and Coarse Grade
Perlite, I also believe that it is good practice to be as consistent with your mix as possible although I do know that
there are people who make their mix as they see fit. This may work for them but when you are growing hundreds if
not thousands, of plants in pots it is much easier to try to be consistent and the mixes I am about to give you I
have found to be adequate.

Mix 1 - General Purpose
Suitable for Saxifraga, Primula, Campanula, Dianthus, Gentians etc.
JI No.2 or 3 - 3 parts by volume + 4 parts by volume of mineral content.

Mix 2 - High Alpine
Suitable for Aretian Androsace and many of the new South American alpines e.g. Benthamiella, Junellia, Ourisia.
JI No. 2 or 3 - 1 part by volume + 3 parts by volume of mineral content.

These two mixes form the basis for most of the plants I grow; there are a few ‘specials’ that require a slightly
different approach.

-3-

© Published by the Cotswold & Malvern Group AGS

Mix 3 - Dionysia
These difficult and demanding plants can be grown in a compost comprising entirely of mineral content and some
of the good growers, particularly on the continent, do use this but to my knowledge no one in Britain has gone that
far. My mix is as follows:
JI No. 2 - 1 Part by volume + 1 part by volume Seramis + 3 parts by volume of mineral content.
Mix4 - Bulbs
JI No. 3 - 2 parts by volume + 1part by volume Coarse Grade Perlite + 1 part by volume Sharp Sand. To this mix I
add a good pinch of Bone Meal + Super Phosphate. I omit the Cornish grit as there is some evidence that it can
damage soft scale bulbs (e.g. Frits).
Mix 5 - Acid Lovers
Same as mix 1 but a loam based Ericaceous compost is used instead of JI.
I hope that this may be of some assistance to anyone who is having difficulties with their plants but please do not
change if things are growing well for you.
Good luck and keep growing - Eric Jarrett.
Editors’ note…….We had a fantastic talk from Jim Almond on ‘Sowing, Growing & Showing’ at the December
meeting, if my memory serves me right Jim said he uses the following compost for seed sowing; Equal parts JI
No2 or lime free variant, 5mm grit and fine vermiculite. Eric tells me he is going to use something different this year
to what he’s used in the past so watch this space! But if you are successful with the compost you use already
please don’t change what you are doing.

The image above shows a trough planted up by Eric who says, ‘My new trough planted with only Saxifraga, as it is
only two years old the results look promising.’
Editors’ note…….My thanks to Eric for the image and the understated description!

-4-

© Published by the Cotswold & Malvern Group AGS

Do you have an email address?

If you have an email address and are happy to receive your newsletter by email (and save the Group a few pence)
please send an email to [email protected] with ‘Newsletter’ in the subject line, you will then receive all future
newsletters (which contain colour images) by email.

And don’t forget the Group’s pages on the AGS website at
www.alpinegardensociety.net/groups/Cotswold-and-Malvern

Details of the Cotswold & Malvern Group meetings: Next Meetings

Meetings are held at Redmarley Village Hall (off January 7th 2015
A417 Gloucester to Ledbury road) on the first
Wednesday of each month except July & August. Keith Ferguson talking about,
'Trilliums and other Woodlanders'.
Meetings start at 7.15pm with a talk which is
followed by plant sales, coffee and a raffle, February 4th Hilary Little talking about, 'Along the
(Members are invited to bring plants as prizes). Floral Highway in Patagonia'.

Each season we hold a cumulative point’s March 4th Jon Evans talking about, ‘Blackthorn
competition, where members may bring display Nursery Part 1’.
plants. These are judged at each meeting and an
AGS Voucher is presented annually to the winner. April 1st John Hughes talking about, 'Cool
Customers'.
We encourage members to bring plants for sale to
the monthly meetings and Annual Show. May 6th Cliff Booker talking about, 'The
(75% to the grower, 25% to the group). Dolomites'.

Annual Subscription Rates for 2014/2015 June 3rd Members Mini Show & Social.
July 1st
AGS Members - Single Membership £10, Cheese & Wine Evening
Joint Membership £14 and Visitors £2 Venue etc. to be advised.
(per meeting).

Non AGS Members - Single Membership £15,
Joint Membership £20 & Visitors £3 (per meeting).

Contributions to the Newsletter are always appreciated. Notices, articles, images of a well grown plant, items for
sale, wants etc. for inclusion in the next issue need to arrive with the Editor by Wednesday 12th August 2015.

-5-

© Published by the Cotswold & Malvern Group AGS