July 2026

Dear members,

                Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s July newsletter. Following days when new records have been set for summer temperatures you won’t be surprised to find that watering features among this month’s Top Ten Tips. Watering is also keeping busy those members who look after our planter near Tesco on Green Lane. I’m informed that pelargoniums, which are among those given out to members to grow on for the show, are proving to be an attractive feature.

On the very warm evening of Tuesday 23rd June the Club held an Open Gardens evening and visited the superb gardens of Members Sarah Pickersgill and Sandra Edwards. It was a very enjoyable and well attended evening. Shown below is a small gallery of some of the pictures taken. Many thanks to Sarah and Sandra for sharing their gardens for the evening. What a pleasure it was, not only to view two outstanding gardens but also to meet and chat with fellow members in the warm evening sunshine. Our thanks to Sarah and the two Sandras for making us all welcome and to Max Asso and other members who provided us with refreshments and dealt with other matters of organisation.

Pictures courtesy of Geoff Lawson.

                July sees another Open Garden Evening on the 7th in the form of a visit to the garden of Maxine Nelson at  7 Tinshill Grove. Tinshill Grove is located at the top of Tinshill Lane directly next to Cohen’s Pharmacy. As it is a short and narrow cul-de-sac please park in Tinshill Lane and not in Tinshill Grove. Maxine’s garden will be open between 6.30 and 8.30. There will be no charge for entry but tea/coffee and cakes will be available for £3 and there will also be perennial plants for sale.

                This is the time when we start to keenly look forward to our Annual Show in September. We need to start by drawing the attention of as many people as possible. We have several A4 and A5 sheets which list all of the classes so if anyone is able to take at least one and display it with a friendly shop, business or any other display point easily seen by the public we would be very grateful. If you feel that you can help in this way then please contact our Club Secretary Joan Waite [joanw8@icloud.com] who will be bringing some sheets to hand out at Maxine’s on July 7.

 You may have  family members or friends who might consider themselves capable of entering some of the classes so do please urge them to do so, particularly in the baking and craft sections where the number of entries was down last year.

We are also always grateful for the donation of raffle and tombola prizes so if you have anything which you would like to donate then please contact our Show Secretary Max Asso – 07816 564437 or maxasso@live.co.uk – who is willing to collect.

JUNE 2026

Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s newsletter for June. No doubt many of you will be enjoying the current record hot weather either busy in the garden or on a holiday break somewhere. Either way, we on the committee hope that you will take the appropriate precautions to avoid over exposure to the hot sunshine. As much as we welcome such summer weather it does have serious implications for gardens of all sizes everywhere. The National Trust, in its summer magazine, describes various measures which are being implemented in the gardens of its properties and which are intended to conserve water, to exist in harmony with wildlife and to cultivate as sustainably as possible, considerations which we could well consider in our own gardens, ( in connection with which the newsletter was accompanied by an attachment showing a plant list following from our May talk given by Peter Williams a few weeks ago ).

 Although our indoor talks are now suspended until October we can still offer activities for members during the summer months. On TUESDAY  June 23rd  we are holding our Members’ Open Gardens Evening. Sarah Pickersgill is opening her garden at 5 Moseley Wood View, LS16 7ES to be followed by Sandra Edwards’ garden at ‘BURWAINS’, Smithy Lane, LS16 7LY [close to Cookridge Cricket Ground]. Entry will be £2 for members, £4 for guests and £1 for a raffle ticket and refreshments will be available at Sandra’s Garden together with the draw for the raffle so we suggest that you visit Sarah’s garden first and this will be open from 6.30. We are grateful to both Sarah and Sandra for opening their gardens for us to view. Looking ahead into July, garden designer Maxine Nelson will be opening her garden on July 7 at 7 Tinshill Grove. Entry will be free but there will be a charge of £3 for tea/coffee and cakes. There will also be the opportunity to buy perennial plants.

ANOTHER JUNE EVENT will take place on Saturday the 20th when PAXTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY SUMMER SHOW will take place at THE OPAL CENTRE, BEDFORD DRIVE. Staging will be between 8.30 and 11.45, judging will take place at noon, and it will be open for the public between 1.30 and 3.30 pm. Further information about the society and its show can be found by Googling’ Paxton Horticultural Society.’

ELDWICK AND GILSTEAD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY will be holding their ANNUAL SHOW on Saturday August 29 at 2.30 and their show schedule was attached to the newsletter.

Schedules for OUR OWN ANNUAL SHOW ON SEPT. 5 are now available, both in print and on this website at www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk Any further enquiries can be made at cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com

PLEASE NOTE THAT COPIES OF THE SHOW SCHEDULE WHICH WERE COLLECTED AT OUR MEETING ON MAY 19 CONTAIN AN ERROR IN RELATION TO THE RECIPE FOR THE RED VELVET CAKE. ( An attachment was included to the emailed newsletter and the correct recipe can also be found on this club’s website. Future copies of the schedule will contain the corrected recipe.            

            

MAY 2026

Dear members,

                Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s May newsletter. We hope that you are enjoying the present warm April sunshine and are able to take full advantage of its opportunities for your gardens. Once again, thank you to those of you who have renewed your membership for 2026 or have joined for the first time. (Renewal forms were attached to the email version of this newsletter for those who still wish to renew).Please note that after the end of May the newsletter will only be sent to members who have paid their 2026 subscriptions.

                Our May meeting will be on the 19^th, as usual at Cookridge Village Hall with doors opening at 7 pm. The subject will be ‘Special Plants for Small Gardens’ and the presenter will be Peter Williams. Also on May 19 Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will present ‘My Ten Favourite Yorkshire Gardens’ by Helen Glassup.

                The May meeting will also provide an opportunity for members to collect copies of the SCHEDULE FOR OUR ANNUAL SHOW in September. If you are unable to attend the May meeting you could either ask a friend to collect a copy for you or the schedule can be viewed on the website in the near future, at www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

                A reminder that two events under the National Open Garden Scheme will be taking place locally: On Sunday May 31 Mr. and Mrs. Geoff King will be opening their garden at 9 Bedford View, Tinshill, LS16 6DL, between I.00 and 4.30 and on Sunday May 3 Carol and Michael Abbott will open their garden at 4a Blackwood Rise, LS16 7BG [off Tinshill Lane almost opposite Tinshill Free Church on Holly Avenue] between 12.30 and 4.30. Further details can be found on ngs.org.uk or in the brochure ‘Gardens Open for Charity Yorkshire 2026’.

                As usual our May meeting will be our last indoor meeting until October but we still have a programme of events taking place during the summer months so please note the dates straightaway. On Tuesday June 23^rd we will be holding our Members’ Open Gardens Evening at the homes of Sandra Pearson and Sandra Edwards for which further details will follow later, as will a request for us to be able to gauge likely numbers for the visit to the garden of garden designer Maxine Nelson on the evening of Tuesday July 7^th. As well as providing tea and cakes Maxine will also have plants for sale.

                A reminder also that the former ‘High Trees Garden Centre’ is now under new ownership and under the name of ‘The Bramhope Garden Centre’ at 9 Otley Old Road, LS18 5HZ. Favourable reports have already come in and the manager, Julie, has agreed to sponsor several classes at our Annual Show in September so do try and give the new venture some support.

APRIL 2026

                Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s April Newsletter. As spring progresses there are several events taking place both locally around Cookridge and further afield in Yorkshire and there is also lots of advice as the new growing season gathers pace.

First, however, I think it’s timely to remind ourselves of our club’s raised bed which was installed outside the old Cookridge Post Office in 2022 to commemorate the Platinum Anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  The bed is always a pleasure to see and a fine testimony to the presence of our club in Cookridge life. Our thanks clearly go to those members who endeavour to maintain it.

Club member and former Club Secretary Katherine Hill writes:-

“I can’t  believe it was May 2022 when we created the raised bed outside Cookridge  old post office”. ( Initially to mark the Platinum Anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and later to commemorate His Majesty King Charles III accession to the throne, in September 2022, and his coronation in May 2023 ). “It was good fun making it

Happy to say it’s still standing, thanks to Martin Tyas’s timber handiwork and James Fonquernie’s  beautifully crafted crown.

Thanks to the Gardening Club members who still care for it keeping it looking good all year round.

Best wishes 

Katherine “

Our APRIL MEETING will be held on Tuesday 21st and we will be looking forward to our Annual Show with a presentation entitled ‘ Winning Exhibits for the Club Show 2026: Guidance and advice for successful showing.’ The speakers will be Jodie Beer of ‘Jodie Bakes’ and Sharan Packer, Chair of the Northern Fruit Group Association.

Our April meeting is also when we hold our Mini Daffodil Show when we ask members to bring the flowerings of the bulbs which were given out last autumn.

Our MAY MEETING takes place on Tuesday 19th when Peter Williams will talk about ‘ Special Plants for Small Gardens.’

Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will be holding their April meeting on the 21st when Paul Cook, ex-curator of Harlow Carr Garden will talk about ‘RHS Garden Harlow Carr.’

The HORSFORTH GARDEN SHOP is open each Friday evening between 7.00 and 8.00 at its usual location by the junction of the Ring Road and Featherbank Lane. [There is a poster by the Ring Road indicating the location]. They stock a wide range of composts, fertilisers and other gardening equipment and staff are always very happy to welcome visitors and assist them in whatever way.

The NATIONAL OPEN GARDEN SCHEME, in which private gardens are open to the public for charity, will soon be getting underway and Cookridge residents may well be interested in two events in our own locality. On Sundays Apr. 12 and May 31st  between 1 and 4.30 Mr. and Mrs. Geoff and Clare King will open their garden at 9 BEDFORD VIEW, TINSHILL, LS16 6DL. [parking at the ‘Welcome In’ centre]. Admission will be £5 and free for children, with proceeds going to OPAL [Older People’s Action in the Locality]. Tea, coffee and cakes will be available.  ‘A suburban garden … on dry sandy soil, open to the south and west, sheltered from northerly winds. Courtyard to the front and three mixed borders to the rear [one predominantly spring interest]. Wide range of shrubs, herbaceous and bedding plants. Wildlife pond and vegetable plot, fruit trees, and greenhouse with frames.’

On Sunday May 3rd, between 12.30 and 4.30, Carol and Michael Abbott will open their garden at 4A Blackwood Rise, LS16 7BG [off Tinshill Lane almost opposite the junction with Holly Avenue]. Admission will be £5 but free for children. Tea, coffee and cakes will be available.

Further information about all this year’s events in the National Open Garden Scheme can be found in their booklet ‘Gardens open for charity: Yorkshire 2026’ or visit ngs.org.uk

Our visit to Maxine Nelson’s garden will take place on July 7th and further details will follow in a later newsletter.

Our TOP TEN TIPS for APRIL ( which can be found under the usual “Top Ten Tips” page on this website ) include some advice on planting lily bulbs but we are grateful to Paul Blom of Blom’s Bulbs [Blomsbulbs.com] for permission to reproduce his advice on the topic and to member Katherine Hill for forwarding the article to us. Paul writes:’ Lilium Fusion . . . an extra-large bulb . . . offers unparalleled vigour, producing a spectacular and reliable display that justifies the initial outlay many times over. Think of your bulbs as an underground storage structure, good bulbs being essential for producing good, strong, healthy plants. If you have not already done so try and make sure that you plants your lilies by the end of this month.

More generally many of the spring bulbs, especially where they have been undisturbed for four or five years, will benefit from lifting and division. Large clumps competing for water and nutrients can lead to a lack of flowers and bulbs coming up ‘blind.’ As a bonus to lifting and dividing you get to increase your stocks. For the smaller bulbs this should be done while they are in ‘ the green.’ Many are hard to find if the job is left until the autumn. The main considerations to bear in mind are:

Only divide the clumps when the bulbs have finished flowering;

This is a job for when the ground is damp. As far as possible try and lift the bulbs as one clump, avoiding damage to the roots;

Carefully tease the clumps of bulbs apart by hand, keeping as much soil and root structure as possible;

Prepare the ground thoroughly, working in any additional compost as required;

Ideally replant singly, spacing them at least two bulbs’ widths apart. Where large clumps include small seedlings, replant the bulbs in small clusters;

Plant to the same depth as before, indicated by a change in stem colour from green to white;

Water in thoroughly to settle the roots.’

A gentle reminder that our normal April Top Ten Tips can be found on the usual Top Ten Tips page of this website.

MARCH 2026

Dear members,

                Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s March newsletter. After a wet and dreary February let us hope for some fresher and more favourable gardening conditions during the coming month.

Our March meeting will take place on the 17th, as usual at Cookridge Village Hall, 7 pm for a 7.30 pm start. Our topic will be ‘Spring Flowers’  with Nigel Eaton who currently works at ‘Moss and Moor’ Garden centre near Ilkley and has had over forty years of experience in horticulture, including twenty years with the RHS.

 Our April meeting will be on the 21st and its title will be ‘ ‘Winning Exhibits for the Club Show 2026. Guidance and Advice for Successful Showing.’ The speaker is yet to be announced. Our friends at Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will also be holding their March meeting on the 17th when Jonathan Moseley’s talk will be ‘Grow, Cut, Arrange.’

We have at least one summer event to look forward to: members Sandra Edwards and Sarah Pickersgill have kindly agreed to open their gardens for members to view on Tuesday June 23rd as part of our MEMBERS’ OPEN GARDENS EVENING which we organise each year. Further details will follow nearer the time but please put the date into your diaries straightaway.

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FEBRUARY 2026

Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s February newsletter. First of all, on behalf of the committee, I would like to thank those of you who have renewed your membership [or joined for the first time] for 2026. We have, so far, fifty one current members for this year. ( Membership forms were attached to the e-mailed version of this Newssletter if you haven’t yet renewed but intend to do so).

Our February meeting will take place on the 24^th when local garden designer and author Maxine Nelson’s talk will be entitled [Garden Design – how to update and refresh your garden.’ She has kindly donated to us a copy of her book ‘MAXimising the Power of your Garden’ and there will be a chance to win this copy in the raffle which will be held during the meeting so don’t forget to have some small change handy.

Our March meeting will take place on the 17^th with a talk entitled ‘Spring Flowers’ by Nigel Eaton. Nigel has over forty years of professional experience including twenty years with the RHS, and is currently at Moss and Moor Garden Centre near Ilkley. He will cover spring container gardening, planting for summer colour and will advise on how to make the most of your outside space. As usual we will be meeting at Cookridge Village Hall on Moseley Wood Lane, LS16 7ER with doors opening at 7 pm.

On Tuesday Feb. 17 our friends at Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will present a talk by John Smiles entitled ‘Veg growing for everyone.’

JANUARY 2026

 Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s first newsletter of 2026 and with it the best wishes from the club committee for the new year and for a rewarding year in your gardens. We hope that you have had a happy festive season and that as many of you as possible will renew your membership and help to keep the club thriving. ( Membership renewal forms were attached to the e-mailed Newsletter sent out to Members ) Please try to complete them before you come to one of the indoor meetings since this will help to relieve congestion at the door although blank forms will be available at the entry desk.

Our January meeting will take place on Tuesday the 13th at our now-regular home at Cookridge Village Hall with the doors opening at 7 pm for a 7.30 start. Sarah Owen Hughes will give a lively and fact-filled talk about garden pests and diseases under the title ‘What a Pest! Confessions of a Darwinian Gardener.’ She will share ways in which commercial growers monitor and control the pests in their nurseries so that we can support our own plants in as green-a-way as possible.

If you are unable to attend in January then do make a note of our February meeting on Tuesday 24th when local garden designer and author Maxine Nelson will endeavour to inspire you with ideas under the title of ‘Garden Design – How to Update and Refresh Your Garden.’ Maxine has kindly donated a copy of her book MAXimising the Power of your Garden’ so that we can raffle it at the meeting. Do remember to bring some small change with you for  a chance to bag the prize

DECEMBER 2025

Dear members,

Welcome to December’s Cookridge Gardening Club newsletter. The club committee send our best wishes to you all for a happy Christmas season and our thanks to you for your support during 2025. At our AGM on Nov. 18 it was agreed that the subscription for membership during 2026 should remain at £12. However, as from Jan. 2026 there will be an increase in the admission charge to our indoor meetings: the charge for members will go from £1 to £2 and for visitors from £3 to £4. Membership renewal forms are attached to this newsletter so they can be brought to any indoor meeting from now on or posted to me at the address given on the form.

Our December meeting will be held on the 9th and will take the form of a ‘fuddle’ which will include a quiz [questions will range through pictures, dingbats, Christmas topics and questions connected with each of our speakers from 2025], a raffle and refreshments with mince pies so don your Christmas jumpers and Santa hats and come prepared for the fun. IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDE ENOUGH REFRESHMENTS FOR EVERYONE, IF YOU INTEND TO COME AND WERE NOT AT THE NOVEMBER MEETING THEN PLEASE INFORM JOAN WAITE OUR SECRETARY AND ALSO LET HER KNOW IF YOU WILL BE BRINGING FRIENDS/FAMILY WITH YOU. JOAN CAN BE CONTACTED ON cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com OR BY ‘PHONE 0113 267 6185.

Are you wondering what to buy friends/family for Christmas presents? How about buying them a year’s membership of Cookridge Gardening Club? Joan is willing to print gift cards for anyone who might be interested in this idea.

Looking ahead to 2026 our January meeting will take place on the 20th when we will welcome the return of Sarah Owen-Hughes for a talk entitled ‘Confessions of a Darwinian Gardener’ on the subject of pests and diseases. As usual this promises to be fact-filled and lively since she will describe ways in which commercial growers monitor and control the pests in their nurseries so that we can support our own plants in as green-a-way as possible.

NOVEMBER 2025

Dear members,

 Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s November newsletter We begin with our NOVEMBER MEETING which will take place on the 18th at our now regular venue of Cookridge Village Hall with a talk by Sharon Packer entitled ‘Close Encounters of the Fruity Kind.’ Sharon’s interest in horticulture goes back to her early childhood and has led to the setting up of the Northern Fruit Group and the study of the propagation of fruit trees and bushes. She is currently training to qualify as a judge of fruit classes in horticultural shows and her talk will focus on general fruit cultivation and maintenance. Remember also that our November meeting always includes our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING so we hope that as many members as possible will turn up in order to keep up with developments in the way affairs are being run and even to offer service to the club in some form or other, either within or outside the committee.

We will finish our 2025 activities on December 9 when our DECEMBER MEETING will take the form of a members’ only Christmas fuddle and quiz. There will be a raffle and, as usual, we would be very grateful for the donations of prizes. Remember also that we always welcome SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE MEETING TOPICS so if you have any ideas for presentations which would be of interest then contact committee member MARION LAWSON or any other committee member who will then pass on the recommendation to Marion. We always have a suggestion box on hand at our meetings so drop us a note if you have views about any aspect of our club’s activities. Also, please remember to take advantage of our SHOW AND TELL TABLE, in other words if you have been cultivating something which you feel will be of interest to those attending the indoor meeting then please bring it/them along so that you can show us your results and give a brief description. Alternatively you might have something which has not been successful but showing it to others may encourage discussion about what went wrong and where a solution might lie. We all experience failure at some point or other so don’t feel embarrassed to step forward.

While on the subject of indoor meetings Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will be holding their November meeting on the 18th and this will also take the form of the AGM.  

The trustees of Cookridge Village Hall are planning to install 24 hour Closed Circuit TV ( CCTV ) in the hall in the interests of security. This means that all activities which will take place inside the hall, including ours, will be recorded. The recordings will then be kept secure in a locked room and will only be available for viewing by the trustees and, if necessary, by the police. If anyone wishes to comment on any implications of this proposal then please contact our Chairwoman, Ruth Straw.  

SEAWARD’S COACHES of Harrogate offer day excursions and holidays at a wide variety of venues. Their day trips include visits to garden centres in the north of England. Their pick-up points include Holt Park centre and the top and bottom of Green Lane in Cookridge. More details can be found on their website www.seawardscoaches.co.uk or they can be contacted via email at office@seawardscoaches.co.uk or by ‘phone 01423 881414. PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR CLUB HAS NO INVOLVEMENT WITH SEAWARDS’ VISITS. Members who are interested in going on one of their excursions must make their own arrangements.

So, we warmly invite you to our final two 2025 monthly meetings:-

TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER

‘Close encounters of the fruity kind’

The talk by Sharon Packer will also cover general fruit cultivation and maintenance

TUESDAY 9 DECEMBER

Christmas Fuddle & Quiz

A members only seasonal celebration of the year’s activities, including a question set by each of our speakers and a fun quiz

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OCTOBER 2025

We warmly invite you to our final three 2025 monthly meetings:-

TUESDAY 21 OCTOBER

Cold Hardy Succulents

Our own indoor meetings resume on TUESDAY OCT. 21 at Cookridge Village Hall, starting at 7.30 pm with the doors opening 30 mins earlier. Ray Stephenson of the North East Hardy Plants Society will talk about ‘Cold Hardy Succulents’  which will cover all such families which are found in South East Northumberland. Ray has kindly offered to help if you have difficulty identifying actual plants or photos of them so do bring along whatever you might have.

An illustrated talk by Ray Stephenson of all succulent plants hardy in SE Northumberland

TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER

‘Close encounters of the fruity kind’

The talk by Sharon Packer will also cover general fruit cultivation and maintenance

TUESDAY 9 DECEMBER

Christmas Fuddle & Quiz

A members only seasonal celebration of the year’s activities, including a question set by each of our speakers and a fun quiz

OCTOBER 2025 NEWSLETTER

Dear members,

Welcome to our October newsletter. Just as we must have been wondering if we would ever see rain again we receive a deluge on the weeken of 20th / 21st September. I hope that you all had water butts at the ready.

Our first Annual Show in our new venue at Cookridge Village Hall was generally very successful although there were unusual drops in the entries to the photography, craft and cookery classes. Nevertheless attendance was good with some new members joining us. Thank you to all those who supported in whatever way.

Our new season of indoor meetings gets underway on TUESDAY Oct 21st  at Cookridge Village Hall when Ray Stephenson of the Hardy Plant Society North East will talk about ‘Cold, Hardy Succulents.’ Ray is well-known internationally for his work with sedum and succulents and has been the National Collection Holder for sedum and several related genera. His talk will be about ‘All families of succulent plants that are hardy in S.E. Northumberland’ and will also be willing to identify any plants which members may wish to bring with them.

Our NOVEMBER MEETING, which will also feature our A.G.M., will take place on the 18th when Sharon Packer of the Northern Fruit Group will describe ‘Close Encounters of the Fruity Kind.’ More information about this event will follow in November’s newsletter.

An unfortunate clash occurs on Oct. 21st when our own meeting will coincide with Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society’s meeting at which Martin and Jill Fish will talk about ‘Creating Our Lincolnshire Garden From Scratch.’

SEPTEMBER 2025

IT’S SHOWTIME !

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s September newsletter. With our Annual Show only a few days away we begin with an appeal:

CALLING PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS OF CHILDREN FROM AGES 3 TO 11 YEARS. Let’s have a bumper number of entries for the Children’s Classes in this year’s Annual Show on Saturday 13th of September.

TO ENTER IS FREE. First prize winners will receive £5.00 and every child who submits an entry will be awarded a novelty bag.

The details are:

Class 58. For ages 3 to 4:   A Fruit or Vegetable Creature

Class 59. For ages 5 to 7:   A Painted/Decorated Pebble

Class 60. For ages 8 to 11: A Fantasy Garden

To view our Show Schedule online visit our website www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk and after clicking on the home page click on ‘ Show 2025.’

Members may be interested in other gardening activities in our area:

Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society resume their indoor meetings on September 16 with a presentation by Jill and Martin Fish – ‘Creating our Lincolnshire Garden from Scratch.’

Our own indoor meetings resume on TUESDAY OCT. 21 at Cookridge Village Hall, starting at 7.30 pm with the doors opening 30 mins earlier. Ray Stephenson of the North East Hardy Plants Society will talk about ‘Cold Hardy Succulents’  which will cover all such families which are found in South East Northumberland. Ray has kindly offered to help if you have difficulty identifying actual plants or photos of them so do bring along whatever you might have.

The continuing dry weather has brought the following advice from Paul Blom of Blom’s Bulbs:

     ‘Apart from deadheading and running the hoe through the borders there is little that needs to be done. On the horizon is hedge trimming, the nesting season is just about over. If you can see birds frequently flying in and out of your hedge you still have nesting birds. Just because you see a nest does not mean that it is still active.

     A consistent watering routine is going to be important. Many plants are remarkably resilient but there are those that, once lost due to a lack of water, will not recover, much the same as taller daffodils in pots, once they dry out and lean over no amount of resuscitating water will save them.

     The next few weeks are a good time to ensure that you have all the necessary supplies ready and on hand for when bulb-planting starts. This is what you need:

          Nutrient-enriched topsoil;

          Compost;

           Horticultural grit;

           Sharp sand;

           Perlite;

           Bulb fibre

Adding organic matter to the border is always beneficial. Lightly fork-in supplies from your compost heap a few weeks before planting. Most important – don’t forget to order your bulbs!’

Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ .

01234 709099 email: help@blomsbulbs.com

AUGUST 2025.

 Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s newsletter for August. We hope that the recent rain has benefitted your gardens after the hot and dry spell. As you know, some of our members visited RHS Bridgewater  around mid-July and images of the visit can be found on this website.

The show season is getting underway in various districts and our friends at Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will be holding their 107th show on Saturday August 30th at The Memorial Hall and The Eldwick Church Hall. Doors will open at 2.30 pm and the opening ceremony will be at 2.45. Further details can be found on the Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society website.

The countdown is clearly in progress for our own Annual Show on September 13th. We hope that as many of you will be able to exhibit in as many classes as possible [you will recall that we had a particularly successful response in this respect last year] and that you might be able to encourage friends, relatives and even children to exhibit as well. The Show Schedule is available on our website http://www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk As always we will be grateful for prizes for tombola and the raffle. If you would like to contribute then please contact our club secretary Joan Waite cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com or 0113 267185 to arrange for us to collect or for you to deliver.

Last year we were very grateful for the assistance given by estate agents Manning and Stainton who very kindly put up advertising posts for our show in peoples’ gardens. Show Secretary Maxine Asso is arranging for the same to happen this year. Already several members have signed up for this but we would be grateful for more to do so therefore if you feel able to display a post then please contact General Secretary Joan on one of the above contact details.

JULY 2025.

JULY 2025 NEWSLETTER

Welcome to our July newsletter. Needless to say that with such an unusually dry and warm spell as we are experiencing and which shows no immediate sign of letting up, the Top Ten Tips for this month have a particular focus on dealing with potential problems caused by such conditions. First of all, however, news connected with our club’s events.

We are just over two months away from our Annual Show so do be considering what you might be preparing as exhibits. The Show Schedule is now on the website at http://www.cokridgegardenclub.co.uk and paper copies are available from our Club Secretary Joan Waite joanw8@icloud.com and can also be obtained at the outing to RHS Bridgewater on July 13. If you would like to go on the trip to RHS Bridgewater but have not yet booked then please contact Joan without delay.

We are always grateful for raffle and tombola prizes for the Show in September so please also give consideration to contributing something.

JUNE 2025.

Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s June newsletter. After the remarkably dry period of April and most of May no doubt we are all grateful for the present spell of wet weather.

Our indoor meetings are now suspended until October but there are summer activities to which we can look forward, beginning with our CLUB OUTING TO RHS BRIDGEWATER ON JULY 13TH. If you would like to go on this visit then please contact Joan Waite, our club secretary, in order to book a place in the group. We intend to meet at reception at 11am prior to admission. In order to keep costs down we will be travelling by car. Members who do not have transport will be able to arrange a lift by contacting Joan either by email cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com or telephone 0113 267 6185. A private group tour of the venue can be arranged for £5 per head and payment for this will be required in advance. For those who wish to explore by themselves we will all meet at the café at 2pm for tea and cake.

You may wish to make the most of a pleasant summer’s evening of long daylight hours by visiting the HORSFORTH GARDEN SHOP. It is located at the top of Featherbank Lane by the junction with the Ring Road and there is a large poster on the Ring Road side of the building to indicate where it is. It is open on Friday evenings between 7 and 8 until October and you will find a large stock of gardening equipment along with a warm welcome and friendly advice on gardening matters.

 July 2nd at 6.30 pm  will present another opportunity for a garden visit when member Carol Abbott will kindly be opening her garden at 4A Blackwood Rise, LS16 7BG [off Tinshill Lane, almost opposite Tinshill Free Church]. Many of you will already know that Carol’s garden is always a delight and always worth returning to. The event will be for members only and there will be an entry charge of £2 to be divided equally between our club and the National Garden Scheme.

Our fellow gardening enthusiasts at ELDWICK AND GILSTEAD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY have also finished their season of indoor meetings this side of summer. Their next event will be their ANNUAL SHOW on August 30th followed by a resumption of indoor talks on Sept. 16th. Further details will follow nearer the time.

MAY 2025.

Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s May newsletter and we hope that you were able to take good advantage of the delightful sunshine early in April.

It is with regret that we open our newsletter by recording the passing,  on Thursday  April 10th, of Martin Straw, the husband of our Chair Ruth Straw. We offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Ruth and her family at this very sad time.

Our May indoor meeting will take place on the 20th with a talk entitled ‘Wildflowers’ by Georgia Gilbert of John Chambers Wildflower Seeds. Georgia will talk for about 45 minutes and then take questions. Aspects to be covered in her talk could include: the wildflower industry; seed mixture choice; designing seed mixtures; area preparation; sowing and maintenance of areas; benefits to wildlife. Georgia will also be bringing wildflower seeds for purchase by whoever might wish to do so.

As usual, our indoor meeting will provide the opportunity to renew your membership if you haven’t already done so ( and renewal forms were attached to this newsletter for those of you who receive it via e-mail ). Alternatively you can post the renewal form together with your subscription to my address which is included on the form. PLEASE NOTE THAT, AFTER THE END OF MAY, THE NEWSLETTER WILL ONLY BE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE PAID THE 2025 SUBSCRIPTION.

Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will be holding their May meeting also on the 20th when Nigel Eaton will give a talk entitled ‘All About Orchids’.

Our May meeting will, of course, be the last indoor meeting until the autumn as in June/July we move to our outdoor visits season. If you feel that your garden could be included in our summer openings for members then please get in touch with our secretary Joan Waite on cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com or 0113 267 6185 [A message can be left on the answering machine and Joan will ring you back]. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TELEPHONE NO. WHICH IS GIVEN FOR JOAN ON OUR CLUB MEMBERSHIP CARD IS INCORRECT.

Joan also sends the following message in connection with OUR PROPOSED VISIT TO RHS BRIDGEWATER IN JULY. ‘ Entry will be free but we will meet members and their guests at reception. You will need to get there under your own steam but for those who do not drive a lift can be arranged. We will have all details to hand out at the May meeting and will send out an email once all details are complete.’

Member and former club secretary Katherine Hill has informed me that one of our former chairmen, Eric Wells, has had to be treated in hospital but is now back at home. We send our best wishes to Eric and his wife Joan for a full recovery.

May’s Top Ten Tips ( which are published elsewhere on the website ) are supplemented with some advice from Bloms Bulbs [www.blomsbulbs.com] . Our thanks to Bloms for allowing us to print this information and to member Katherine Hill for drawing our attention to it:

 ”The patio is perhaps the most important area to get right. It is the area where we will spend most of our recreational time. Summer-flowering bulbs are ideal for this area, being the most exotic and colourful of all our summer plantings. They are exceptional in containers, producing strong, vibrant colours whatever the weather.

A point to remember when using planters: the bigger the container, the easier the bulbs are to grow. More compost holds more nutrients and, importantly, the easier watering will be. The addition of a little grit will help. Large planters are also more stable, something to consider when growing taller plants in gusty conditions.

Open, well-drained soil is essential. We are always taught that the ideal soil is rich in humus, leaf-mould and good compost. As these terms are widely used, sometimes interchangeably, it is useful to remind ourselves what each brings to the garden.

COMPOST. Known as ‘black gold’ by gardeners it is created by decomposition of organic matter. A lot of microscopic action will still be taking place, the bugs, bacteria, fungi and microbes are still devouring the organic matter. Compost continually releases nutrients to the soil to help plant growth.

HUMUS   Humus is what is left once all the usable chemicals in compost have been extracted. It is spongy  in nature and especially moisture retentive, very important for gardeners. It will also store nutrients, notably calcium, phosphorous and magnesium that plants then absorb through their roots. Humus gives the soil its crumbly texture.

LEAF MOULD. Leaf mould is composting fallen leaves for future use in the garden, either as a mulch or worked into the soil. It benefits the garden by absorbing water and, as a soil conditioner, attracting earthworms and good bacteria. Its nutrient levels are low so make sure that you carry on with the compost and humus.’

APRIL 2025.

Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s April newsletter. The first event to which we need to draw your attention is the DELPHINIUM PROPAGATION VISIT which takes place on Wednesday April 2nd and is open to all members. Meet at 2 pm at 51 Newmarket Lane, Methley, LS26 9DN. If you need a lift then please email our secretary Joan Waite on cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com or ‘phone her 0113 267 6185.

Our April meeting will follow hard on the heels of Easter on Tuesday April 22nd with a talk by Ben Preston on his new venture ‘Cliff Bank Nursery – A New Chapter.’  Ben visited us a few years ago when he described his work at York Gate. We’re sure that you will be keen to hear of his progress at his new base at Huby between Pool-in Wharfedale and Harrogate. April is also the time when we hold our MINI-SHOW when we invite you to bring the flowers of the bulbs which were given out last year for cultivation. There will be three classes with a prize for the best entry in each class:

i.                    One pot of five donated tulips

ii.                   One pot of other spring bulbs

iii.                 One pot of ten bulbs

On the 20th of  May we will welcome Georgia Gilbert of John Chambers for a talk entitled ‘Wildflowers’ and further details about what promises to be a fascinating evening will be presented in our May newsletter.

Our fellow gardeners at ELDWICK AND GILSTEAD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY will be holding their April meeting on the 15th with a talk by Steve Warrillow of Denso Nature Reserve entitled ‘It’s Not All About Trees.’

The numbers of attenders to meetings at our new venue of Cookridge Village Hall have been very encouraging and we have been fortunate this year in avoiding disruption or cancellation due to winter weather. A suggestion has been made, however, that in January and February in particular, members might prefer our meetings to be held during the afternoon since this might be a less hazardous time for travelling. Please let us know what you think.

May we remind you that our club has a RHS membership card which can be loaned to members and which will enable half-price admission for two visitors to any RHS garden. Committee member Marion Lawson will be pleased to provide further details.

Although our Annual Show is still just less than six months away our Show Committee have been busy with preparations. As usual we will be grateful for prizes for tombola and the raffle and we ask therefore if these could be contributed early so that we have a clear idea in advance of what we can offer. The Show Schedule will be available at our May meeting while the classes for Floral Art and Photography have already been announced and are as follows:

FLORAL ART

i.                    Fresh Flowers and Greenery in a Teapot

ii.                   A Child’s Nursery Rhyme with Fresh and Dried Flowers and Accessories

iii.                 An Arrangement of Five Flowers with Fresh Greenery

iv.                 A Miniature Arrangement in an Egg Cup

PHOTOGRAPHY

I.                 Gardeners’ Delight

II.                Yorkshire Water [N.B. NOT the company!]

III.                A Portrait that Tells a Story

IV.                Leeds Past

The President, Chair and all Committee Members of the Cookridge Garden Club wish you a very Happy and Healthy Easter 2025.

MARCH 2025.

Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s March newsletter. Let’s hope that we can all make good use of the fine spell which seems to be in prospect for the beginning of the new month.

As always, we are grateful for those of you who have renewed your membership of our club as well as to those newcomers who are with us for the first time. Our number for 2025 presently stands at 60. A renewal form was attached to the e-mailed version of the newsletter for those who still intend to be with us for another year.

We seem to be settling down well at our new venue of Cookridge Village Hall. Attendance at our February meeting was around the 40 mark and we look forward to our March meeting on the 18th with a talk by David Matthewman about ‘Dahlias.’ Unfortunately the March meeting coincides with that  of our neighbours at Eldwick and Gilstead whose meeting is entitled ‘The Private Plants and Gardens of Cheshire,’ to be given by Kevin Pratt.

Our April meeting will take place on the 22nd with a visit from Ben Preston whose session is entitled ‘Cliff Bank Nursery – A New Chapter.’

.Our club secretary Joan Waite sends the following message:

“ We will be inviting members to join us at Colin Parton’s Delphinium Garden to learn how to propagate the flowers to encourage good strong plants for future seasons.

  The visit will take place on WEDNESDAY 2ND OF APRIL AT 2 PM at 51 Newmarket Lane, Methley, LS26 9DN. Those who saw these spectacular plants in the summer will know we will be well looked-after with a cup of tea and possibly a slice of cake so we are suggesting a donation of £3 per person but this is voluntary. All funds after costs will go to charity. It will be helpful if I could let Colin know how many will be there so please send me a message on Cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com or leave a message on the answer machine at 0113 267 6185.”

Our summer Open Gardens Evening is always a popular event and we are now seeking volunteers who would be willing to open their gardens to members and their friends during the July/August period. If you feel that you could open your garden then please get in touch with our chairperson Ruth Straw  – ruth.straw@ntlworld.com – who will be pleased to offer further advice if required.

FEBRUARY 2025

Our Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt finished preparing the February Newsletter towards the end of January. It is reproduced below in its entirety. The full January Newsletter is of course still available further down this page.

“Dear members,

 Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s newsletter for February and thank you to all those who have subscribed for 2025. Our number is presently an encouraging forty-eight so please consider renewing if you haven’t already done so and do spread the word to anyone whom you think might be interested enough to join us for the first time, or even to renew after a period of lapse.

Our FEBRUARY MEETING will take place on the 25th. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS SLIGHTLY LATER IN THE MONTH THAN HAS BEEN NORMAL due to half-term activities at Cookridge Village Hall. The title of the meeting is a very topical ‘ When will it flower? Plants and Climate Change’ and our speaker will be Professor Alastair Fitter of the University of York. Prof. Fitter is also active with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. He is a distinguished botanist and you can find out more about him via Google and Wikipedia.

Our March meeting will be on the 18th with a talk about ‘Dahlias’ by David Matthewman. The content of David’s talk will be the “History, Diversification, Growing and Showing” of Dahlias. Should be a good one

Feedback concerning our new meetings venue at Cookridge Village Hall has been positive with a good attendance at our January meeting so we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the coming months.

Our neighbours at Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society will be holding their February meeting on the 18th with a talk entitled ‘Foliage and Fillers’ by Cathy Kitchingman.

Committee member Marion Lawson wishes to remind everyone that we shall be featuring our ‘Suggestions’ box at our meetings and will therefore welcome feedback about what you have attended together with suggestions for future speakers, topics or activities. A pen and paper will be provided at the box so that no-one need worry if they have left a pen or pencil at home. If making a suggestion it would be appreciated if you would also leave your name and a contact no. or email address so that we can discuss your ideas with you if necessary.

Although we are still very early into the new year we need to think ahead to our summer activities, in particular our Open Gardens Evening. Please consider opening your garden sometime during the high summer period for members and friends to visit. Further details will be given at our February meeting.

Former club chairman Eric Wells would like to remind everyone that, as from the FIRST FRIDAY IN FEBRUARY, HORSFORTH GARDEN SHOP will be open each Friday evening between 7.00 and 8.00. The shop is located on Featherbank Lane, close to the junction with the Ring Road and membership is £1 for the whole year. There is a wide range of items on sale including composts, fertilisers, tools, canes, pots and much more. Visitors are welcome to have a conducted tour to help them to decide on requirements “.

JANUARY 2025

As the New Year dawns Newsletter editor Bill Hunt has produced the following, our first newsletter of 2025:-

Dear members,

   Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s first newsletter of 2025 and with it the warmest wishes of the committee for a happy and successful 2025 in all matters but in particular with your gardening. We hope that your Christmas celebrations and decorations will have been enhanced by the willow-woven wreaths which many of us took away after December’s fascinating meeting. We also hope that we can count on your membership again for the next 12 months (and a renewal form was attached to the e-mailed version of the newsletter). If you can, please print it off and bring it to the next meeting which you are able to attend together with your membership fee [you can also post it to my address as given on the form]. Spare forms will be available at the reception desk as usual but bringing the completed form with you will help to reduce congestion at the door as people queue to enter.

I don’t need to remind you that the new year sees us in a new venue, namely Cookridge Village Hall. Most of you will know how to find it but for anyone living outside Cookridge and less familiar with the district it is located on Moseley Wood Lane next to the junction with Green Lane, LS16 7ER. The hall has a sizeable car park entered from Moseley Wood Lane and there is good level access. However, if anyone anticipates mobility problems please don’t hesitate to inform a member of our committee so that we can provide whatever assistance might be necessary.

Our meetings will now take place on Tuesday evenings with our January meeting being on the 14th. Member Doreen Illingworth will draw on her experience of research at the University of Leeds for a  presentation with the intriguing title ‘ A Wander through a Few Byways of History and Horticulture.’ There will also be a light-hearted quiz but don’t be worried if, like me, your powers of information retention are not of the highest order!

Our FEBRUARY MEETING will take place on the 25th. PLEASE CAREFULLY NOTE THIS DATE. It is later in the month than would usually be the case due to the village hall’s involvement with the schools’ half-term period. Professor Alastair Fitter CBE, FRS, an ecologist at the University of York and a member of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, will consider the vital question ‘When Will It Flower? Plants and Climate Change.’

Former club chairman Eric Wells would like to remind everyone that, as from the FIRST FRIDAY IN FEBRUARY, HORSFORTH GARDEN SHOP will be open each Friday evening between 7.00 and 8.00. The shop is located on Featherbank Lane, close to the junction with the Ring Road and membership is £1 for the whole year. There is a wide range of items on sale including composts, fertilisers, tools, canes, pots and much more. Visitors are welcome to have a conducted tour to help them to decide on requirements. Eric is successfully recuperating after having been fitted with a pacemaker. We all send our best wishes to him and his wife Joan for 2025 and hope to see them both at our activities.

DECEMBER 2024

WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WISH ALL OUR MEMBERS, GUESTS and READERS A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PEACEFUL, PROSPEROUS and HEALTHY 2025.

The December Newsletter is now replicated below :-

” Dear members,

                Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s December newsletter and let me begin, on behalf of the committee, by offering our best wishes for a happy and peaceful Christmas season. Thank you for your support during another successful year. We hope that you will continue to support us in 2025. The membership fee remains at £12 and a renewal form was attached to the e-mailed version of the newsletter [ please don’t be put off by 2024 on the ‘Word’ attachment; the form itself has been updated, wrote Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt ]. We will be happy to take renewals from now onwards, either at meetings or by post, whichever is more convenient for you. If you decide to renew at a meeting then please print off the form, if possible, and bring it with you duly completed so that it avoids congestion at the entry door. For readers who don’t have printing facilities forms will be available at the meetings.

                Our December meeting will take place on the 11th, i.e. the SECOND Wednesday of the month as opposed to the third which is our practice for the rest of the year. Sue Degnan will give a ‘Willow-Weaving Demonstration’ in which she will show us how to make a wreath to take home to decorate. If members would like to decorate during the meeting then please bring your own decorative materials with you. Sue will also bring some baskets which will be available to buy. The meeting will also include a RAFFLE so donations of prizes will be much appreciated.  DO REMEMBER THAT THERE IS A LIFT AT THE METHODIST CHURCH FOR ANYONE WHO HAS PROBLEMS WITH STAIRS. SIMPLY INFORM A COMMITTEE MEMBER BEFOREHAND SO THAT THE LIFT DOOR CAN BE OPENED FOR YOU.

                Our JANUARY MEETING will take place on TUESDAY JANUARY 14TH  , 7.30 pm as usual, at our new venue of COOKRIDGE VILLAGE HALL.  Please remember that Tuesdays have now become our normal monthly meeting day from January onwards. We are particularly pleased that member Doreen Illingworth has agreed to give a talk entitled ‘Herbs: a Wander through a few Byways of History and Horticulture.’ Doreen will share her knowledge of herbs which arises from her researches when she worked at the University of Leeds. It promises to be an idiosyncratic meander through some lesser known but hopefully intriguing byways of an immense subject. Plus there will be a light hearted quiz . Sounds like it will be a very enjoyable evening and certainly one not to be missed.

On the theme of Christmas ‘Moss and Moor’ are hosting an exclusive shopping evening for local club members on TUESDAY 10TH OF DECEMBER from 6.00 to 9.00 with talks and demonstrations on winter colour, Christmas plants, and making wreaths and  table centres. There will be tea and coffee on arrival and seasonal tastings. Also, exclusive discounts on selected lines throughout the store on the night. It seems like an evening not to be missed so please come along if you are able.

NOVEMBER 2024

The November Newsletter put together by editor Bill Hunt was quite a bumper edition and given below is a copy of that newsletter in its entirety:-

Dear members,

 Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s November newsletter. At the moment there appears to be the encouraging prospect of settled, mild weather to help us with those end-of-year gardening tasks which will be pressing around this time. If you’re planning on having a Guy Fawkes bonfire or simply burning up garden rubbish then do please first make sure that your bonfire material is not being used by hedgehogs or any other wildlife as a hibernation refuge. Also please remember the birds which visit our gardens and give us much delight; make sure that they have adequate food and water and that containers used for these are regularly cleaned to avoid disease.

Many friends gathered at Rawdon Crematorium recently to pay tribute to former member Margaret Fayle and webmaster Geoff Lawson has provided some images in the “Headlines” section of our website.

Your committee has been busy planning for 2025 with our change of venue to Cookridge Village Hall AND CHANGE OF MEETINGS EVENINGS TO TUESDAYS. A full list of topics and speakers for our evening meetings is being finalized by our new speaker secretary Marion Lawson and we will keep you closely in touch as things progress. Our NOVEMBER EVENING MEETING will take place on the 20th when Nigel Eaton will talk about ‘Christmas Plants and Orchids.’ Marion has provided the following information in connection with Nigel’s talk:

‘As part of their charitable commitment to bringing horticulture to local groups we are most grateful to Moss and Moor Garden Centre, Ben Rhydding, for providing the horticultural expert Nigel Eaton to give his talk on 20 November on ‘Orchids and Christmas Plants.’ He will discuss how to care for Christmas houseplants such as poinsettia, orchids and Christmas cacti, and festive displays like wreaths and real Christmas trees so that members, their friends and family get the most out of plants given at Christmas time. Nigel will also be bringing plants and other items along for sale so we are encouraging members to buy and in so doing support this charitable service and perhaps solve what to get someone for Christmas. So do remember to bring money if you are interested.

On this theme of Christmas ‘Moss and Moor’ are hosting an exclusive shopping evening for local clubs on TUESDAY 10TH OF DECEMBER from 6.00 to 9.00 with talks and demonstrations on winter colour, Christmas plants, and making wreaths and  table centres. There will be tea and coffee on arrival and seasonal tastings. Also, exclusive discounts on selected lines throughout the store on the night. So if members are interested we will ask for an idea of numbers at our November meeting to make sure everyone is catered for.’

N.B. DON’T FORGET THAT OUR NOVEMBER MEETING WILL INCLUDE, AS ALWAYS, OUR Annual General Meeting SO WE HOPE THAT AS MANY MEMBERS AS POSSIBLE WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND.

Our DECEMBER MEETING will take place on the 11th when Sue Degnan will provide a ‘WILLOW -WEAVING DEMONSTRATION.’ Marion again provides us with the following further information:

For this session Sue Degnan will be demonstrating willow weaving and how to make a frame for a wreath to take home and decorate. If members want to decorate them on the evening it is suggested that they bring along their own greenery such as ivy, holly, and any other item they may consider such as cones, ribbon etc. Alternatively they can decorate them at home later. She will also bring some baskets for purchase.’

 Although the end of 2024 is still some time away we need to consider our summer activities for 2025. Members on email will already have received a message in connection with our whole-day Sunday outings ( but a repeat was attached to the e-mailed version of this Newsletter just as a reminder ). We are also looking for members who would be willing to open their gardens for our annual Members’ Open Gardens Evening envisaged during June or July so do please give some thought as to whether you can help here, either by opening up your own garden or teaming up with friends/neighbours in your street or near locality.

As often, our Top Ten Tips are preceded by advice from Paul Blom  paul.blom@blomsbulbs.com who writes about a topic particularly important in November, namely the planting of tulip bulbs:

‘Pundits are still harping on about planting tulips deeply. A Cornell University study found that bulbs that were covered with 2 to 4 inches of soil [ a hole of 4 to 6 inches deep] yield the most flowers. Those planted deeper did less well. Tulips, like most bulbs, have a contractile root system, a thick root that grows down vertically, attaches to the soil, and pulls the bulb down to its required depth. Hence the nickname ‘burrowers.’ This obviously requires friable soil so make sure you lightly fork the border before planting. It will also make planting far easier.

Tulips are the highlight of our spring show. Their vibrating colours create a magnificent effect after the dark winter days. Even a few groups dotted around transform our gardens. Most of us plant tulips in mixed borders where all different types of plants are brought together to provide structure and year-round interest. Planting can be formal or informal but planting lumps with complimentary trees and shrubs allow us to appreciate the tulips’ inherent beaty and grace. Tulips will be a focal point wherever planted; use them to draw the eye and lead you on the journey around your garden.

Remember the colours we choose help to determine the mood of our garden. Colour schemes are key to the look and feel of the garden whether we use hot colours or more welcoming and tranquil softer tones. We do not have to be conservative, flamboyant or fashionable, the choice is entirely our own. Be bold and always plan to plant more bulbs than you may need. Remember ‘’ To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow’’ – [Audrey Hepburn]’ 

Our thanks to Katherine Hill for passing on this article to us.

OCTOBER 2024

The following Newsletter produced by Bill Hunt was sent to members towards the end of September 2024 and is replicated below:-

Dear members,

Welcome to our October newsletter. I must begin with a reference to our Annual Show a few weeks ago. I think that all who attended would agree that it was a particularly memorable occasion with high praise coming from experienced gardeners who have exhibited at several shows in the locality during the show season. Top credit must go to our Show Secretary Denise Watson for her immense work in co-ordinating all the necessary strands, and to our Show Committee for their work during the preceding months. Denise in turn wishes to thank all those who entered the show and encouraged others to do so, thereby contributing to its success. She is also grateful to those who agreed to display a Manning Stainton sign promoting our show and we in turn must thank Manning Stainton for their support.

Our webmaster Geoff Lawson has put onto our website a selection of photos of the show taken by Tim Balls who judged our photography entries. These can be viewed by going to our home page and clicking on the ‘Gallery.’ heading. Just click on ‘Read More’ to view the selection. Our thanks to Tim and Geoff for these additions to our website.

We now enter our new season of indoor meetings beginning with, on October 16th,  ‘Secrets of the Soil’ presented by Sarah Owen-Hughes. This is the talk which, unfortunately, had to be postponed from last January due to wintry conditions so we thank Sarah for being able to fit us in at this later date. Sarah’s talk will cover the component parts of the soil and how to boost your own soil to get better gardens [with less work!]. If you would like Sarah to test a sample of the soil from your garden then please bring a margarine tubful taken from about 20-30 cms depth so that the soil is free from additional organic matter which may have been added over the years. Please also make sure the tub has no margerine left in it !!

Our October meeting will also be the occasion when we distribute the spring bulbs to be grown for next year so make sure that you collect yours at some point.

Our NOVEMBER MEETING takes place on the 20th when Nigel Eaton will talk about ‘Christmas Plants and Orchids.’ PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2024 OUR INDOOR MEETINGS WILL STILL TAKE PLACE AT COOKRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH HALL, STARTING AT THE USUAL TIME OF 7.30 PM WITH THE DOORS OPENING AT 7 PM.

We are fortunate in having in this newsletter not just one but two contributions from Paul Blom of Bloms Bulbs [blomsbulbs.com]. As well as thanking member Katherine Hill for drawing our attention to these articles we are also grateful to Chris Blom for permission to reproduce the advice in our newsletter.

First, on the subject of patio displays Paul writes: ‘ … consider the pots and containers you already have and decide on bulbs that will complement their size, shape and colouring. If you need new ones, keep in mind the bulbs you will be planting when deciding which ones to buy.

Choosing your bulbs is when you can get creative. Contrasting colours or subtle shade combinations? Single colours can make a dramatic impact, especially the ‘hotter’  colours, immediately drawing the eye to wherever they are situated. A relatively new idea is to use different shaped tulips within the same pot. Try some of the paeony tulips with their taller-flowering cousins. I am going to use’ Black Hero’ and ‘Queen of the Night’ underplanted with forget-me-nots for contrast.

Among the most outstanding tulips for pots are the early singles and doubles. One of the best displays I have seen are the ‘Prince’ tulips planted at Pashley Manor. Planted in large terracotta pots they are truly show-stopping. They are equally effective planted as single colours or as a mixture. The early single tulips are one of the first to flower, offering vibrant colours and classical tulip shapes. Their shorter stems make them ideal for pots and exposed locations in the garden.

Whatever bulbs you are planting this autumn do pay attention to the natural habitat. We know where they come from but often spend insufficient time considering the climate which they enjoy. Bulbs have evolved to contain a storage system so they can remain dormant until suitable conditions arise for them to restart their growth cycle, generally when temperatures start to cool. In many cases the bud production is dependent not only on the healthy growth of the plant in the previous season but also on the temperate during its dormant period. Many of the bulbs native to the Mediterranean and Asia do need minimum temperatures during the summer months to sufficiently ripen for the following year’s flowering.’

In a later article Paul Blom offers the following advice on planting: ’Do not plant them 20 cms [8”] deep and do not plant them yet. Most of the bulbs we plant prefer cooler temperatures and moisture in the soil at planting time to trigger the new growing cycle.’

Paul also offers advice on planting bulbs for Christmas flowering: ‘Going back to the 1970s a big feature in our catalogues were ‘bulbs to flower on Christmas Day without the aid of a greenhouse.’ Sadly less popular now since there are so many retail outlets selling them at Christmas, growing your own bulbs is rewarding and the quality far superior.

It was at the beginning of the last century that we introduced the first specially-treated hyacinth bulbs. Ever since, we have been developing and perfecting our method and today you can buy our bulbs in the certainty that they will yield outstanding blooms in time to brighten your home at Christmas.

Unlike regular forcing hyacinths, young bulbs of selected stocks are lifted early and placed in protective chambers where they receive continuous treatment from heated and humidity-controlled fresh air. Under these conditions the embryo flower develops early and easily inside the bulb. This process is not completed until early September and bulbs offered before then should be avoided. The bulbs should be potted by early October.

Follow these simple instructions and hyacinths will be flowering in your home this Christmas:

• Use bulb fibre for potting. The top quarter of the bulb should be visible above the soil line. Potting should not be too firm otherwise there is a tendency for bulbs to push themselves out of the compost as they form their roots.
• The bowls should be moved into a cold frame or against a north-facing sheltered wall and covered with soil. We need to encourage good root growth which is necessary before any attempt at forcing is made. Alternatively, they can be placed in a cool dark place such as a cellar or cupboard but make sure they do not dry out.
• On or around December 1 it is time to begin the slow forcing process. The hyacinths should be moved and placed in a dark room with a temperature of approx.. 20C. They should be left like this until the flower bud is well out of the neck of the bulb, approx.. 6-8 cms.
• The bulbs can then be moved to a sunny position and allowed to flower normally. During this time it is important to ensure that the bulbs receive plenty of moisture. Keep them away from radiators to ensure healthy growth and a longer flowering time.

Other bulbs for Christmas? Daffodils and bunched narcissi always bring welcome cheer at this time of the year and particularly enjoyable and easy to grow on pebbles are the ‘Paperwhites.’ The pebbles should be nearly up to the neck of the bulb to make sure they are sufficiently anchored.

The dramatic Amaryllis are always stunning at this time of the year. Our bulbs, sized 30-32 cms, are guaranteed to give a stunning display far superior to those bought elsewhere.’

Please remember that previous Top Ten Tips and previous Newsletters going back many months can also be found under the “News” tab on the website.

SEPTEMBER 2024

Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt has now completed the September edition of our monthly newsletter. It is replicated below in its entirety :-

” Dear members,

Welcome to September’s newsletter. Needless to say it leads with information about our Annual Show on Saturday afternoon Sept. 14  between 2.00 and 4.15 at Cookridge Methodist Church hall. Admission will be £1 or by club membership card and for children under 16 it will be free. Refreshments will be available until 3 pm.

Copies of the Show Schedule with an entry form are available from our Show Secretary Mrs. Denise Watson [denise.watson93@ntlworld.com or 0113 250 2899] and the schedule can also be viewed on this website at www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

Entry forms will also be available during the times when entries and fees can be brought to the hall in preparation for display. The times will be 7.30 pm to 9 pm on Friday Sept. 13 and 8.45 am to 10.45 am on the day of the show. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL ENTRIES MUST BE IN PLACE BY 11.15, AT WHICH TIME JUDGING WILL BEGIN.

 In our newsletter for August we appealed for people to bake or provide cakes for show refreshments. So far we have had no offers; perhaps everyone has been preoccupied with August holidays. However, we would be very grateful for such offers so if you feel that you can respond then please contact our Show Secretary Denise Watson, whose contact details are above, or our General Secretary Joan Waite [joanw8@icloud.com or 07904 296209]. Joan would also like to hear from you if you can donate prizes for the show’s tombola or raffle. Alternatively, if you can offer something, please contact committee member Maxine Asso [maxasso@live.co.uk or 07816 564437]

October will see the resumption of our monthly indoor meetings. The first of these will be on the 16th , still at Cookridge Methodist Church Hall, beginning at 7.30 pm with the doors opening at 7 pm. Please note that there will be a change from the advertised talk. Instead of ‘Bonsai Growing’ with Duncan Neaber we shall be presenting ‘Secrets of the Soil’ with Sarah Owen-Hughes which, you will remember, had to be postponed from last January due to hazardous winter condition. Our NOVEMBER MEETING will take place on the 20th with a presentation by Nigel Eaton entitled ‘Christmas Plants and Orchids.’

You may be interested to know that Adel & District Horticultural Society aka Adel Gardeners Club will be holding their Annual Show on Saturday August 31st between 2 pm and 4.15 pm at the Methodist Church, Holt Lane, LS16 7NX. Further details can be found by googling ‘Adel & District Horticultural Society’ or ‘Adel Gardeners Club.’

At this time of the year many of us will be preparing to plant our bulbs for next spring. Paul Blom of Bloms Bulbs is again offering us some important advice:

‘In preparing pots and containers it is important to use the right soil mix. What we are striving for is a friable well-drained soil. You need to incorporate fine and coarse particles in your mix to create a balanced growing medium that hold enough water and air, the essentials for good root development.

Most general-purpose composts will suffice but the mix should include garden soil, leaf mould and a small amount of horticultural grit. The risk with many all-purpose composts is that they will continue to decompose when exposed to oxygen and moisture, causing the soil to compress around the roots, stunting development and causing damage if too wet. I always mix the compost with a bag of topsoil which I know is going to be weed free. If you are buying compost choose a soil-based mix such as John Innes No.2.

Here is what you need to keep in the shed. This will give you the ingredients for the perfect mix, no matter what bulbs or plants you are potting:

•                 Bulb fibre [a more open and free draining structure than multi-purpose compost, ideal for bulbs];
•                 Nutrient-enriched topsoil;
•                 Multipurpose compost;
•                 Horticultural grit;
•                 Sharp sand;
•                 Perlite.

All of the above principals apply equally to your borders. We are always taught that a soil rich in humus, leaf mould and good compost is ideal. These terms are widely used, sometimes interchangeably; below is what they are and what they do.

COMPOST – known as black gold by gardeners. It is created by the decomposition of organic matter. A lot of microscopic action will still be taking place with the bugs, bacteria, fungi and microbes still devouring the organic matter. Compost continually releases nutrients into the soil to help plant growth.

HUMUS – is what is left once all of the usable chemicals in compost have been extracted. It is spongy in nature and especially moisture-retentive, very important for gardeners. It will also store nutrients, notable calcium, phosphorous and magnesium, that plants can then absorb through their roots. Humus gives soil its crumbly texture.

LEAF MOULD – is composting fallen leaves for future use in the garden either as a mulch or worked into the soil. It benefits the garden by absorbing water and as a soil conditioner, attracting earthworms and good bacteria. Its nutrient levels are low so make sure that you carry on with the compost and humus.

On a related matter, we are already starting to see tulips in garden centres, no doubt the colourful packaging can be tempting. Under no circumstances should these bulbs be planted until mid-October when soil temperatures are considerably cooler. Planting any earlier just invites problems with disease and inevitably poor plants in the spring. Pass this message to anyone you know who may have fallen into this trap or, if you are competitive, keep it to yourself!’

[Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ. paul.blom@blomsbulbs.com] “

AUGUST 2024

“Dear members,

Welcome to our August newsletter. We hope that you are enjoying the present spell of hot weather although do make sure that fruit and vegetables in particular are well watered.

With our Annual Show just over a month away we begin with two important announcements:

We will be grateful for plants to sell at the show. If you have any to spare then please bring them on the morning of the Show, making sure that they are clearly labelled.

We would also be grateful for cakes to include among our refreshments and for prizes for our raffle and tombola. If you wish to contribute prizes then these can either be delivered to our secretary Joan Waite at 18 Holly Ave., LS16 6PN, 07904 296209, joanw8@icloud.com or to committee member Maxine Asso at 16 Holly Ave., LS16 6PN, 07816 564437, maxasso@live.co.uk

Please contact Joan or Max beforehand to arrange a convenient delivery time. Alternatively Joan and Max are willing to call and collect if this is more convenient for you. N.B. if you are willing to buy or make cakes for the club please let Joan know using the above contact details.

 A reminder that our indoor meetings will resume in October [16^th] when Duncan Neaber will talk about ‘Bonsai Growing.’ “

The July Top Ten Tips can still be found in their usual location on the website. Please also remember that previous Top Ten Tips and previous Newsletters going back many months can also be found under the “News” tab on the website.

JULY 2024

Dear members,

                Welcome to our July newsletter. PLEASE BEGIN BY READING THE LETTER REPLICATED BELOW FROM OUR CHAIR, RUTH STRAW, IN CONNECTION WITH OUR MOVE FROM COOKRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH TO COOKRIDGE VILLAGE HALL AT THE BEGINNING OF 2025. Some members will receive the letter via e-mail and members who receive the printed version of the newsletter should find a printed copy of Ruth’s message included with the rest of the information.

“Dear Members,

Regarding the change of venue for our club meetings, I am writing to let you know that following our visits to other venues, a vote by the membership and discussions with members, the committee have decided that the best option will be a move to Cookridge Village Hall.

The Village Hall offers similar space and facilities as the Methodist Church at a similar cost. The access to the building is better as there are no steps and stairs. There are a similar number of parking spaces and there is plenty of on street parking nearby. There is currently no screen for presentations at the Village Hall. Chris Wood, a club member, has kindly offered us a screen that they no longer need. We will assess if this will be suitable. If it isn’t we have some other options we are looking into.

We will continue to have our meetings, and the Annual Show, at the Methodist Church until the end of the year. Our first meeting at the Village Hall will be in January2025.

The move to the Village Hall will mean that we have to move the club night from a Wednesday night to a Tuesday night. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience that this is going to cause members especially if you will no longer be able to attend.

Please get in touch if there is anything you would like to discuss regarding the change.

Best wishes,

Ruth Straw and the Committee.”

The Newsletter continued:-

We hope that the present spell of warm weather is enabling you to keep on top of all the necessary jobs as well as giving you the opportunity to go out and enjoy gardens which are on view to the public.

My last sentence links up appropriately with a reminder of our outing on July 14 to Harlow Carr. We will be meeting at the main entrance to the gardens at 12.30 prompt. Please note that late entrants without individual RHS membership may not be admitted. Our secretary Joan Waite points out that Harlow Carr need to know how many members of the club will be visiting so, if you haven’t already done so, please give your name to Joan either by email – cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com – or by ‘phone – 0113 267 6185. Joan will also need to know if you wish to include friends or relatives in the group.

We had a very successful Open Gardens Evening a few weeks ago and our thanks to Joan and Maxine for allowing us to visit their gardens. Our webmaster, Geoff Lawson, has uploaded onto our website 6 pictures taken on the occasion and these can be found under the ‘News’ tab. Look down the left hand menu on that page and just click on ‘Headlines.’

Our congratulations and thanks go to committee member Marion Lawson following the generous award of £50 from the Leeds Modernians Sports Club for her contribution of ‘Digger’ to the club’s Scarecrow Festival. Pictures of ‘Digger’ can now be viewed on the ‘Headlines’ page of our website showing ‘Digger’ participating in the festival and then recovering at Marion’s home! Simply click on the ‘News’ page and then go down the left side to the sub-heading ‘Headlines.’ Our thanks to Leeds Modernians for their generous award.

Our Annual Show looms ever nearer. We have already gratefully received advice on showing from members Peter Smith and Eric Wells and now webmaster Geoff Lawson has added some further advice in an item entitled ‘Annual Show 2024 – Hints for Showing’ [advice/tips on how to present entries etc] which can be found by clicking the link on the bottom left of the ‘Home’ page. In addition, the entries for the ‘Show Schedule 2024 – A Work in Progress’ have also been updated and these can be found under the ‘News’ tab. As this is now the final version the title has been amended to just “Show Schedule 2024 “ We still need more tombola prizes so if you can help then please give donations to committee member Maxine Asso either at her home – 16 Holly Avenue, LS16 6PN, maxasso@live.co.uk or 07816 564437 – or at the visit to Harlow Carr. We will be very grateful for any contributions.

Former Club Secretary Katherine Hill has kindly forwarded advice from Paul Blom of Bloms Bulbs [Blomsbulbs.com] concerning tulip bulbs. Paul reminds us that this is the time by which tulip bulbs should have been lifted, if it is indeed our intention to do so rather than leave them in the ground. Paul reminds us that although the bulbs may appear dormant there is, in fact, much going on inside them as the new flower embryo develops, a process which occupies 3 stages, namely the petals, then the stamens, and finally the pistil. In their native habitat tulips enjoy long, hot and dry summers so we need to replicate those conditions as best as possible for the best displays. The bulbs will need temperatures of at least 24C to allow the cell division within the bulb. After about 3 weeks the initial formation of the flower begins and is usually completed by late August. If this stage is not completed the plants will be very short when flowering and will have misshapen flower parts or petal tips that are dried out and not fully formed. It is for this reason that if bulbs are left in the border they will perform far better if they are planted in a sunny position.”

The July Top Ten Tips can be found in their usual location on the website. Please also remember that previous Top Ten Tips and previous Newsletters can also be found under the “News” tab on the website.

JUNE 2024

The June 2024 newsletter sent to members at the end of May is replicated below:-

“Dear Members,

 Welcome to our June newsletter. We hope that your gardens are not too waterlogged and that you are managing to keep the weeds under control.

We are just a few days away from our Open Gardens Evening on Wednesday June 5th for which those of you on email should already have received details while those of you who receive the printed newsletter should find the necessary information included with it. If you need further information then please contact our secretary Joan Waite on cookridgegardenclub@icloud.com or 0113 267 6185

Our thanks to Joan and David, and to committee member Maxine for opening their gardens for us.

Although, as I have just said, members should have received full details of our June visits, either by email or in print, here is a quick reminder:

• Wednesday June 19 at 2pm: Delphinium Gardens visit
• Wed. June 26 at 7 pm: Allotment visit to Meanwood

The Gardening Club was represented at the Three in One Flower Festival held at Holy Trinity Church during the Spring Bank Holiday weekend. We are grateful to Chair Ruth Straw and committee member Marion Lawson for the very attractive displays which they prepared on our behalf. Pictures can be found on our website www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk under NEWS/Headlines. Our thanks to our webmaster Geoff Lawson for putting the photo display together and for his words of appreciation. We understand that it is intended to make the Three in One Flower Festival an annual event so we look forward to further participation.

Member Kate van Heel has drawn our attention to THE PAXTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S SUMMER SHOW which will take place on Saturday June 22nd from 2 pm to 3.30 at Paxton Hall, 186 Kirkstall Lane, LS5 2AB. Classes will include: Roses, Cut Flowers, Pelargoniums, Pot Plants, and Vegetables. There will also be a plant sale, refreshments, and a display of Bonsai plants.”

MAY 2024

The May 2024 newsletter produced by Editor Bill Hunt, a real bumper edition, is reproduced below in its entirety.

“Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Gardening Club’s May newsletter. We hope that an unusually wet April isn’t causing too many gardening problems for you. Thank you to those of you who have renewed your membership of our club for 2024. Our numbers presently stand at sixty-eight; if you have not yet renewed for 2024 then please consider doing so since our strength can only be in our numbers. If you have renewed and you know someone who you think is sufficiently interested in gardening that they could be persuaded to join us then do encourage them; for instance, by suggesting that they attend one of our events. Perhaps the most likely possibility could be OUR MAY WEDNESDAY INDOOR MEETING which will take place on the 15th with a talk about the HEPWORTH GALLERY GARDEN by KATY MERRINGTON. In 2023 Katy was awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition of her services to the Arts and community in Wakefield following the creation of the Hepworth Wakefield Garden in 2019.

During the May Bank Holiday weekend of May 3 – 5 we will be promoting Cookridge Garden Club in the local Scarecrow Festival. We will be putting our entry by our planter on Green Lane and committee member Marion Lawson, who is co-ordinating our club’s contribution, is appealing for the loan of an old rake, fork, or spade, even if it’s rusty, bent or broken, and which you might not miss if it gets taken! If you can help then please contact Marion either on 07946 603896 or via marionlawson1@aol.com “

Please note that May 15 WILL BE THE FINAL DATE FOR APPLICATIONS FOR OUR SUMMER COACH OUTING [details were attached to the emailed newsletter]. We still need another twenty-eight names for the event to go ahead. Even if you can’t come yourself might you have a friend or acquaintance who is sufficiently interested in gardening that they would like to join us? THEY NEED NOT BE A CLUB MEMBER.

Our May meeting will also be an opportunity for members to collect a geranium plug for growing-on and entering in our Annual Show in September if they have not already collected one. Still with the Annual Show in mind please consider donating a prize for our raffle or tombola. Please contact any member of the committee if you can help.

Please also note that after the end of May the monthly newsletter will only be sent to those who have paid their 2024 subscription.

On Saturday May 18th Cookridge Gardening Club will be organising a plant sale. Once again we are grateful to member and former chairman Eric Wells for allowing us to use his front drive at 55 Holt Park Road, LS16 7QS. Please consider if you can contribute plants or unwanted but intact gardening equipment to be sold for our club’s funds. Setting up time will be at 10 am ready for the sale to open between 10.30 and 12.30. Alternatively items can be left with Eric during the evening of Friday May 17th. Please contact Eric on 0113 225 4528 if you wish to do this.

If you are sufficiently quick off the mark you may also be able to support the Plant Sale and Coffee Morning which is being organised at Rawdon Community Library between 10 am and 1 pm, also on May 18th. Further details of this event can be found on the Cookridge Gardening Club website at www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk under the ‘News’ tab.  

Once again the month’s Top Ten Tips ( which are shown elsewhere on the website ) are supplemented by advice from Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs [chris.blom@blomsbulbs.com] and our thanks to Katherine Hill for forwarding this information. Writing about summer-flowering bulbs Chris says:

                ‘ Your lilies should already be planted, if not, hurry up! Dahlias have very much become the kings of the summer border. There are few plants more rewarding and easier to grow than dahlias . . .The taller varieties require a little more work than the shorter bedding varieties but you will be well rewarded. Dahlias perform at their best in full or partial sun. Avoid a shady position as they require high light levels. For the border choose varieties that will be tall enough not to be in the shade of other plants. The shorter bedding dahlias will do best at the front of the border.

                Dahlias are heavy feeders and require rich, well-drained soil. Add plenty of garden compost a week or so before planting, or well-rotted manure when digging in the autumn. Give them plenty of room from competing plants, about 30 cms apart. When planting, lightly fork the soil and rake in a top dressing of bone meal. Plant the tubers 10 -15 cms deep; this will help protect against late frosts and ensure the plant has sufficient moisture. If the tubers have started to sprout, delay planting until any chance of frosts has passed. If we do get a late frost, always likely, give them some protection. I find old boxes or upturned pots work well.

                For the taller dahlias the following additional steps should be taken [these are not necessary for the shorter bedding varieties]: they should be staked at the time of planting to avoid any damage to the tubers. The canes should be about 30 cms shorter than the expected height of the plant. To encourage a bushy plant remove the top of the growing stem about a month after planting. Debudding: remove the two outer buds from the three that form at the end of the flowering stem. This gives the flower a better show. If all the buds are left the flowers tend to be covered-up and lost in the plant. Be careful not to overwater, especially when the plants are young. A liquid nitrogen fertiliser feed in mid-summer is beneficial to all dahlias but remember, over-fertilising will encourage foliage growth at the expense of flowers.’

 Another floral event taking place in Cookridge will be ‘THE 3 IN 1 FLOWER FESTIVAL 2024’ running from Friday May 24 through to Sunday May 26. On these dates ‘Holy Trinity Church will be holding a Festival of Flowers as we invite our community to create displays which represent the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If you are a member of an organisation or run a local business, we would like to hear from you if you would like to join in and support your Church. You can do this in two ways, either by sponsoring the flowers needed for the displays or why not, which we would prefer, create a display?

If you would like to know more details or receive a form for application or sponsorship, please email us or simply ask in Church: holytrinitychurchwardens@gmail.com “

     

APRIL 2024

Newsletter editor Bill Hunt produced the following bumper edition of our monthly newsletter for April of 2024.. It is reproduced below in its entirety:-

” Dear members,

Welcome to Cookridge Garden Club’s April newsletter. There is much to report both regarding gardening activities and gardening advice so we hope that you will enjoy what follows.

Our APRIL MEETING takes place on the 17th with a talk entitled ‘Growing Exotic Plants’ to be given by Peter Sutton who is the treasurer of Nidderdale Hardy Plants.

This will also be the occasion of our MINI SPRING SHOW where we invite you to display the daffodils grown from the bulbs which were given out last autumn. There will be 3 classes of entry:

i.                   One pot of 5 daffodils;

ii.                  One pot of 10 daffodils;

iii.                 One pot grown from any other type of Spring bulb.

Our MAY MEETING will be on the 15th; Katy Merrington will talk about the creation and development of the HEPWORTH GALLERY GARDEN with ideas for perennial plantings to create all-year-round interest.

Members may be interested in an event being organized by Palmer Plants at Calverley Lane, LS28 5QQ. On April 18th between 6pm and 8pm Mark Smith of Classiflora Imports will be leading a horticultural talk night. Mark has many years’ experience working in horticulture and will be offering advice and support for your own gardening. He will show you a range of stock most suited for UK gardening and this should be a useful session for gardeners at any level. It is believed that there will be an admission charge of £5 to this event.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, COOKRIDGE are presenting ‘ THE 3 IN ONE FLOWER FESTIVAL 2024’ from Friday May 24 to Sunday May 26. They are inviting the community to create displays which represent the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If you are a member of a local organization/business and would like to support this event you are invited to either sponsor flowers needed for the display or to create a display of your own. Further details can be obtained from Holy Trinity Church at; holytrinitychurchwardens@gmail.com or by enquiring at the church.

Many of us, over time, accumulate a collection of flower pots and plastic trays and wonder how we can best dispose of what we consider to be surplus. ‘Caring for Life’ have a collection point next to their sales desk where they are happy to receive such items which they can then use for potting their own stock or for passing on to an organization which then arranges for recycling.

This month’s Top Ten Tips ( which were given elsewhere on the website ) are again supplemented by advice from Chris Blom [chris.blom@blomsbulbs.com] on a variety of gardening topics. Concerning spring bulbs he advises lifting and division, especially where clusters have been undisturbed for 4 or 5 years and the competition for water and nutrients leads to ‘blindness’ i.e. lack of flowers. Spring is the best time to tackle this task since, if left until autumn, bulbs can be hard to find. Chris offers the following guidelines:

• Only divide the clumps when flowering has finished and do so when the ground is damp.
• As far as possible try to lift bulbs in one clump. Gently break the soil apart into clusters of half-a-dozen bulbs if they are small and immature, or single bulbs if they are bigger.
• Prepare the ground thoroughly, working in additional compost as required, and replant the bulbs to the same depth from which they were lifted. Try to plant lilies by the end of April.

On the subject of BEGONIAS Chris emphasizes their longevity of flowering and their tolerance of rain and rates them as . . .’one of our most valuable if underutilized flowers. These exotic plants provide a cascade of colour throughout the summer and will flourish in partial shade and cool, moist conditions. The flowering season is extended by a weekly inspection to remove all dead blooms and seed pods.’ Tubers should be started from the end of March or early April. At this stage they should be encouraged to form a heavy rooting system instead of excessive growth. It may take up to 6 weeks before growth become evident. Since begonias root horizontally they should not be moved to larger pots too early. The heaviest rooting takes place in the upper part of the compost. Beware that saturated compost can cause roots to decay. By mid-May the tubers should have made enough growth for hardening-off. Blomsbulbs.com website features a step-by-step pictorial guide to help your cultivation.

Chris praises DAHLIAS for their ability to fill any available space, whether singly or in groups, and for their variety of colour which enables them to fit in with any planting scheme. In a herbaceous border in particular they can provide focus and maintain colour throughout summer and into autumn. He encourages gardeners to visit Bloms dahlia show at Pashley Manor in September for inspiration and new ideas. Meanwhile he recommends ‘Blue Bayou’ for its strength and sturdiness in addition to its appearance, and ‘Viking’ which is also sturdy and a source of abundant flowers throughout summer.

[Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ]

Please consider supporting our club’s summer outings this year. In particular there is plenty of room for our JULY COACH OUTING [ details are given in the Calendar of Events on the website ]. Our thanks to all those members who have paid their subscriptions for 2024. If you haven’t yet renewed then please consider doing so and even persuading gardening-minded friends to join if they are not members. Recommendations from friends plays its part in boosting our membership “.

Finally, preparations are already underway for our Annual Show in September. We are always grateful for prizes for the tombola and the raffle so please consider what you may be able to donate towards these activities.

MARCH 2024

Newsletter editor Bill Hunt e-mailed the March Newsletter to members just as the month was beginning. Given below is a copy of that newsletter.

“Dear members,

First of all, on behalf of Cookridge Gardening Club committee, a big thank-you to all those members who have renewed for 2024: the number currently stands at fifty-nine. ( Membership forms were attached to the e-mailed version this newsletter for those still intending to renew ). If you intend renewing at our March meeting it would be appreciated if you could print-off the form and complete it before you arrive at the meeting; this will make handing in of the forms and subscriptions much easier and will help to avoid queues at the reception desk as people complete their forms.

As just mentioned, our MARCH MEETING will take place on the 20th when David Matthewman will talk about ‘Sweet Peas.’ Our APRIL MEETING will be on the 17th with a talk about ‘Growing Exotic Plants’ by Peter Sutton.

Also attached to the newsletter were details of Cookridge Gardening Club’s Summer Outings. Our secretary Joan Waite has arranged some very attractive-looking visits so please consider if you can attend any of them and inform Joan accordingly. Full details of the outings appear on the Headlines Page of the website and also in the Calendar of Events of the website.

Former club chairman Eric Wells informs me that Horsforth Garden Shop [formerly Horsforth Garden Centre] is open every Friday evening between 7 and 8. The shop is at the top of Featherbank Lane with a large poster on the Ring Road side of the building so that you can easily find it. New members will be especially welcome and Eric and his colleagues will be very happy to show you around the premises so that you can appreciate the range of stock”.

FEBRUARY 2024

Our Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt has been busy putting the finishing touches to the February edition which is replicated below:-

” Dear members,

As usual at this time of the year I must begin by thanking the several of you who have renewed your membership for 2024; the committee are very grateful for your support. ( Membership renewal forms were attached to the newsletter). And we look forward to more members renewing in the coming weeks. The new membership cards for 2024, including dates of our forthcoming meetings and  other events, will be available at our indoor meetings.

While we definitely cannot rule out further wintry conditions over the next month or so let us hope that we don’t see a recurrence of the treacherous conditions which forced us to cancel our January meeting. Our FEBRUARY MEETING will take place on the 21st with a presentation by JOHN SMILES, Chairman of the National Vegetable Society, naturally entitled ‘Kitchen Vegetables.’

Our MARCH MEETING will be on the 20th when DAVID MATTHEWMAN will talk about ‘Sweet Peas,’ a subject on which he has particular and extensive experience. David is a lifetime professional gardener whose work has included several years at Kew Gardens.

Do remember that our meetings venue, Cookridge Methodist Church Hall, has a lift which is accessible from the church car park. If you, or anyone who you know would like to come, but have

mobility difficulties then please speak to any committee member and we will arrange for the lift to be available for your use.

Our Show Secretary, Denise Watson, is very grateful for the responses to her questionnaire, sent out on January 17th, regarding involvement in our Annual Show. So far she has had ten replies so if you haven’t yet replied but would like to share any opinions with her about the Show then please contact her at denise.watson93@ntlworld.com  or speak to Denise in person at one of our indoor meetings. Just to remind you, the questions are:

1. Do you attend the Show?
2. Do you enter any of the classes? If ‘Yes’ can you say which ones? If ‘No’ see Q3.
3. Would you like to enter some of the classes but are unsure how to exhibit?
4. How could the appeal of the Show be improved?
5. Do you have any other relevant comments re. the Show?

Committee member Marion Lawson would like to remind members that the club possesses an RHS Affiliate Membership Card which is available for members’ loan and which can be used for half-price entrance for two people at any RHS property. Please see Marion if you are interested”.

JANUARY 2024

Newsletter editor Bill Hunt produced the January 2024 edition just as 2023 was drawing to a close. It is reproduced below in its entirety.

” Dear members,

The committee of Cookridge Gardening Club hope that you have had an enjoyable Christmas and we send our best wishes to you for 2024, particularly in the realm of gardening. We hope that as many of you as possible will renew your membership with the club “. ( A copy of the 2024 membership form was attached to the e-mailed version of this newsletter. Bill Hunt, membership Secretary, asked that the completed form be either mailed to him at his address together with a cheque for £12 or members may bring it with their subscription when coming to their next meeting). The Newsletter continued:-

“To begin with we have a message of thanks from our former general secretary Katherine Hill for the gifts which we presented to her at our December meeting to mark her retirement from our secretarial role:

‘A very big thank you to all members for the gifts of engraved vase, poinsettia and money you so generously gave to me at our December meeting. They are lovely. It’s been a pleasure to be Secretary over the last 14 years. I’ve made lots of friends and learnt much from being a member since the 1980’s! Thank you all and happy gardening.’

Our first indoor meeting of 2024 will take place on Wednesday, January 17th at 7.30 pm at our usual venue at Cookridge Methodist Church Hall with the doors opening just after 7pm. Sarah Owen-Hughes will talk about ‘SECRETS OF THE SOIL.’ Sarah has lectured in soil science for 15 years and invites you to delve into the secrets of your own soil by bringing a sample from your own gardens – enough for a small margarine tub and taken from about 30 cms. depth ( that’s about 12 inches in old money ) – so that she can advise you how to test the soil  and improve it in the most cost-effective and physical energy-effective ways!

Our FEBRUARY MEETING will be on Wednesday the 21st with a talk by John Smiles, Chairman of the National Vegetable Society, appropriately entitled ‘KITCHEN VEGETABLES.’

As always, lots of information about our club’s activities is available on our website so do take time to pay a visit to it.”

In addition to the Newsletter and given below are a few pictures and an allied note about the presentations which had been made at the December meeting:-

Our December meeting was a bit different to normal. We had no speaker this month but were able to enjoy an impromptu but excellent garden related quiz as well as take a look at the decorated Christmas trees in the Church Hall, including of course our own. There was also the opportunity to say a huge thank you to our stalwart tea ladies, Joan Hopper and Jean Turner who have now retired from that duty, and similarly the opportunity to say thank you to Newsletter Editor and Membership Secretary Bill Hunt and to Katherine Hill to mark her retirement from her work as Club Secretary for many years. Presentations were made to all.

Once again the President, Chairwoman, Secretary and Committee Members would like to take this opportunity to wish you a peaceful, prosperous and most of all a healthy 2024.

DECEMBER 2023

Newsletter editor Bill Hunt produced the following newsletter which was sent out to members as November drew to a close.

“Dear members,

The Committee of Cookridge Gardening Club send you their best wishes for a happy and peaceful Christmas in the company of your family, relations and friends. The email newsletter includes a picture of our Christmas Tree entry for the Cookridge Methodist Church Christmas Tree Festival. We’re sure that you will all agree that it’s a particularly beautiful entry and we are grateful to committee member Yvonne Cooper and her team for their work in setting up and decorating it. In return Yvonne thanks all those members who provided decorations. At our January meeting Yvonne will be willing to return any baubles to those who wish to keep them. We hope that you will have the opportunity to see our tree at first hand at our DECEMBER MEETING ON THE 13th, THE MAIN ITEM FOR WHICH WILL BE A TALK ON ‘BEEKEEPING’ by Darren Turnor.

The Club’s Christmas Tree , shown here, superbly decorated by Yvonne Cooper and Ruth Straw is now on display at the Methodist Church Hall.

Our Show Secretary Denise Watson would like to remind members that there are still pieces of sterling silver jewelry which will be on sale at our December meeting. Prices range from £25 to £50 and approximately 25% of the sales will go to our club. Denise is also offering her home-made strawberry and blackcurrant jam, and her spiced plum and old dowerhouse chutney for sale. Depending on size the prices will be £2 and £3. [Having bought some of Denise’s produce at our last Annual Show my only regret was that I didn’t buy more! Make sure that you get to her  table before I do!].

Also at our December 13th meeting, spring bulbs will be available at £1 for two bags. Please note that at our mini-show in April the principal entries should be pots of FIVE BULBS ONLY. A separate table will be available for other entries.

Committee member Marion Lawson would like to remind members that Cookridge Gardening Club is an affiliated society member of the RHS. We possess an RHS card which offers a 50% discount for up to 2 members at any RHS garden [ Bridgewater, Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor and Wisley] with the exception of RHS flower shows and RHS Glow events. If any members[s] would like to borrow the card then please speak to Marion.

2024 won’t be just another year; it will be Cookridge Gardening Club’s EIGTHIETH BIRTHDAY and we hope to celebrate in various ways. If any members have ideas to boost celebrations then please get in touch with us via any committee member. OUR FIRST INDOOR MEETING FOR 2024 WILL BE ON JANUARY 17th with a talk by Sarah Owen-Hughes entitled ‘Secrets of the Soil.’

January’s meeting will also be the first opportunity for membership renewal. PLEASE NOTE THAT, FOLLOWING OUR AGM IN NOVEMBER, THE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE WILL NOW BE £12. Entrance charges will be £1 for members and £3 for visitors so, to end, just a gentle reminder if you are able to attend that meeting you may wish to bring payment along with you rather than just the normal admission fee. Membership cards for 2024 should also be available at the same meeting.

Our AGM also resulted in a new committee formation:

PRESIDENT; Joan Hopper;

CHAIRWOMAN: Ruth Straw;

GENERAL SECRETARY: Joan Waite;

SHOW SECRETARY: Denise Watson

WEBMASTER: Geoff Lawson

COMMITTEE: Maxine Asso; Gina Brook; Yvonne Cooper; Bill Hunt [membership & newsletter]; Marion Lawson [schools liaison]; Geoff Lawson [website]; Anne Miller [treasurer]

VOLUNTEERS TO HELP AT CLUB EVENTS: Chris & Mary Brook; Alan Parsons [Facebook]; Tracy Watkins

SPEAKER SECRETARY [not a full committee member]: Joan Webster “

NOVEMBER 2023

Our Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt having applied the finishing touches to the November 2023 issue produced the following Newsletter:-

” Dear members,

November means our Annual General Meeting and this will take place on the 15th together with a talk by Martin and Jill Fish entitled ‘Gardening on the Menu – The Winter Table.’ The talk will feature recipes and samples of some of the recipes will be provided for members to taste. There will also be recipe sheets. Martin and Jill will be happy to answer questions at the end of their talk. They will also bring copies of their book ‘Gardening on the Menu’ for sale at the reduced price of £13.95 [rrp £15.95] along with a selection of Jill’s homemade preserves. Payment can be by either cash or card.

You will already be aware that our general secretary Katherine Hill will be standing down at this meeting so we shall be looking for a successor as well as other volunteers to fill the various roles required in running our club. We hope that as many of you as possible will attend to give your views and even be willing to offer some sort of practical service.

Sadly our AGM will be overhung by the news that worship at Cookridge Methodist Church may cease towards the end of 2024 and the Methodists will be looking to sell the buildings. The precise date has not yet been established but we are reliably informed that we will still be able to hold our 2024 Annual Show there. However, the question which we must now consider is where to meet following the closure. A number of local venues are possible and they are listed here so that you can consider them and offer your opinions either at the meeting or, if you are unable to attend, by e-mail to me so I can pass on your views to the rest of the committee. Do please let us know if you are aware of other possible venues apart from those listed below:

•                 Cookridge Village Hall
•                 Modernians Sports Club, Cookridge Lane
•                 Adel & Ireland Wood Community Centre, New Adel Lane
•                 Adel Quaker Meeting House, New Adel Lane [same site as the Adel & Ireland Wood Community Centre]
•                 OPAL, Bedford Drive, Tinshill
•                 Adel Memorial Hall, Church Lane, Adel
•                 Holy Trinity School, Green Lane
•                 Tinshill Free Church, Holly Ave.

Our DECEMBER MEETING will take place on the 13th  that is, the second Wednesday of the month, when the topic will be ‘Beekeeping’ with Darren Turnor as guest speaker and when we believe that the church will again be open for club members to view the CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL which is being held on Saturday 2^nd December and to which we have contributed regularly for several years.

Our chosen colour for the Garden Club Christmas Tree this year is blue and we would be grateful for donations of decorations of any shade of blue from pale blue to navy. This can include white or silver but should be predominately blue, and be linked, of course, to Jesus or Christmas generally. In the past it’s been amazing to see the decorations our members have made so we look forward to seeing your decorations this year, however small they may be. Please bring any decorations to our 16^th November meeting so that Yvonne Cooper and Ruth Straw, her helper, can decorate our tree on Nov. 25^th in readiness for the Festival. If you’re not up to making decorations yourself there will be potentially suitable items for sale at our November meeting which were left over from the Christmas decorations workshop which Peter Blackwell led for us last December.This could be our last Christmas Tree Festival in the Methodist Church Hall so there is an added impetus to make it one to remember !

Our December meeting will also feature the sale of eight pieces of silver jewellery, each one hand crafted, hall marked, with natural gemstones and freshwater cultured pearls. They can be seen at the November meeting prior to being offered for sale in December. Payment will be by cash and prices range from £25 to £50. Louise, the maker, is asking only for the cost of materials and anything above this will be donated to our club. The selling prices equate to a 25% donation for the club. They are original items and will make ideal Christmas or birthday presents.  Louise gave us a ‘Peas in the Pod’ necklace which raised £30 at our September Show. [Those of you who receive the newsletter by email will have had this message already but it is repeated here for the benefit of those who receive the newsletter as a printed copy].

One of the items for the Annual .General Meeting is the proposal to increase the admission charge to our meetings. Our committee feels that it is necessary to clarify the reason for the admission charge. There may be a perception amongst some members that the charge is only for refreshments but this is not the case. In addition to going towards refreshment costs the door charge also aids the general cost of the indoor meeting which includes matters such as hall hire, speaker fee, and insurance. The alternative to a meetings charge would be to raise the membership fee by an amount which could lead to a loss of members. The committee are grateful to members for their understanding of this point and for their co-operation.

This is the time of the year when we offer DAFFODIL BULBS to members to take away and cultivate with a view to display at our April meeting. Packets of the bulbs are now available for all members so, if you haven’t already done so, please remember to collect yours at our next meeting when they will be on laid out on a table.

Chris Blom offers further advice on bulb planting. He writes::-

“If you really want to draw inspiration, make sure you watch ‘Life in a Cottage Garden with Carol Klein,’ all you need to know about growing tulips in pots. Think you have enough bulbs; watch Carol and you may need to think again. Copy her and you will not go wrong.

With favourable weather bulb-planting can be done until at least mid-December. All we need are a fork, spade, trowel, a bag of bone meal and, of course, the bulbs. Here are a few tips to bear in mind:

When planting containers make sure the compost is evenly moist before you start; this is hard to achieve if you are planting into dry compost. Balance the height of the bulbs you are planting to the size of your pots; no matter how nice the pots the plants should always be the star of the show. Daffodils, hyacinths and most of the miscellaneous bulbs should be planted by the end of this month. The cooler temperatures on the way inhibit any pests and diseases which may be present in the ground. Give tulips a few more weeks. A few things to bear in mind: after planting, the ground is soon settled by the first showers of rain. Lightly rake or hoe in the weeks after planting to prevent any weeds from growing. In this respect winter is your friend. It’s coming soon.

I am still working on my stock, making sure that I keep enough bulbs back for the orders still to come in through November. The last of the bulbs from my cousin in Holland will be arriving over the course of the next two weeks , everything is then secured for this year. If you find you need a few more bulbs take advantage of our membership scheme to avoid any postage costs.’

With favourable weather bulb-planting can be done until at least mid-December. All we need are a fork, spade, trowel, a bag of bone meal and, of course, the bulbs. Here are a few tips to bear in mind:

• For planting small areas or clumps of bulbs the trowel is the ideal weapon of choice, otherwise use a spade.
• Lightly fork the soil first. This makes planting easier.
• Avoid a cone shape at the bottom of the hole. Bulbs don’t like sitting in water.
•  If you have heavy soil put in a small layer of grit to act as a cushion for the bulb. It is important that there are no air pockets between the base of the bulb and the soil.
• Don’t push the bulb too firmly into the soil as this can damage the root tips which lie just under the surface of the basal plate.
• Mix some compost with the dug-out soil before you replace it.
• Chilli powder is an excellent defence against squirrels and other rodents.
• Planting depths are a general guide only and can be adjusted depending on your soil, shallower for heavier soils, deeper for lighter, sandy soils.
• Lightly rake the area after planting. Persistent heavy rain can leave a surface crust on bare, cultivated soil, known as soil capping.
• Give a top dressing of bone meal or other slow release fertiliser.

If you have not yet ordered your bulbs now is the time to do so. At this time of the year be wary of buying bulbs from garden centres and high street outlets. Bulbs will deteriorate in warm storage environments and with repeated handling. Bargain offers from unknown and some known suppliers should be treated with caution.”

[Blomsbulbs.com, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ].

OCTOBER 2023

Given below is our October Newsletter which was sent out as September drew to a close by Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt:-

Dear members,

On behalf of the committee I’m pleased to report that our Annual Show was a success in every respect. No doubt helped by the warm weather we had plenty of visitors to see the many exhibits which were on display. Congratulations to those who won awards and ‘thank you’ to all who exhibited and/or helped in whatever way. A special word of thanks must go to Denise Watson, our new Show Secretary, who has been tireless in grasping the reins of organisation and whose calm efficiency on the day of the show was much admired and appreciated. For those of you who were unable to be there our webmaster Geoff Lawson was on hand to take pictures and these can be found on our club website www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

We now begin the season of our indoor meetings, as usual at the Cookridge Methodist Church hall starting at 7.30 pm, and on October 18th Michael Myers will talk about ‘Water in the Garden.’ Our November meeting will be on the 15th with a talk by Martin and Jill Fish entitled ‘Winter Table.’ Our November meeting is also the occasion for our AGM and we are keen to welcome new members to our General and Show Committees, either as full committee members or as helpers in various roles. Since our redoubtable general secretary Katherine Hill intends to stand down we will need a new general secretary as well as new members/helpers for other less demanding tasks such as refreshments at our Annual Show. Sadly our tea/coffee ladies at our indoor meetings, Joan Hopper and Jean Turner, have also decided to call it a day so we will need volunteers to replace them as well. PLEASE CONSIDER IF YOU CAN OFFER YOUR ASSISTANCE. If you feel that you would like to help, or if you would like more advice or information to help you make up your mind then please contact Katherine Hill katherinehill@live.co.uk or 0113 267 1858 or Show Secretary Denise Watson denise.watson93@ntlworld.com depending on the sort of help which you might feel inclined to give.

Autumn is, of course, the bulb-planting season and who better to give some advice than Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs chris.blom@blomsbulbs.com Chris writes:

‘ When planning your garden, try to reinforce its existing style. The same bulbs can appear both formal and informal depending on how they are used. For casual landscapes, group bulbs in an irregular manner to represent how they would grow in nature. A more formal look will be achieved planting the same bulbs in rows or structured shapes alongside paths or a driveway. Shrubs and hedges provide a perfect backdrop.

All of our gardens present different challenges. With the use of pots and containers we can largely replicate any conditions necessary for the bulbs to thrive. We have far more control over the compost and watering aspect and protection from bad weather.

Of all the spring flowering bulbs for containers, nothing for me has the impact of tulips. Amongst the more outstanding and earliest to bring spring colour are the early single tulips. Planted as a mixture or in single colours the ‘Prince’ tulips, planted in terracotta pots, are truly breathtaking. With a little effort container planting is both easy and rewarding. Plant the bulbs in friable soil that has not been excessively fertilised, do not overwater, and never compost any part of the plant with fallen petals. No feeding is required until after flowering as the bulbs come with their own food reserves. Excess nitrogen will lead to tall, lanky plants with no benefit to the flower size. Always use fresh compost. Use a soil-based compost such as John Innes No. 2 or add garden soil and grit to your own mix.

The bulbs do not need to be planted too deeply, 10 cm/ 4” is ample. Plant tulip bulbs with the flat side outwards, especially those around the perimeter. The first and largest leaf will grow from this side, producing a more balanced effect. During a dry autumn water as necessary until the onset of winter. Note that pots tend to dry from the outside inwards; bear this in mind, particularly in the spring. If you haven’t yet ordered your bulbs then now is the perfect time to do so.’

Chris also offers advice on compost for bulbs: ‘ Rather than focussing on the best composting recipe, here is what you need to keep in the shed. This will give you the ingredients for that perfect mix, no matter which bulbs or plants you are potting:

1.                 Bulb fibre [a more open and free-draining structure than multi-purpose compost];
2.                 Nutrient-enriched topsoil;
3.                 Multipurpose compost;
4.                 Horticultural grit;
5.                 Sharp sand;
6.                 Mushroom compost [slightly alkaline];
7.                 Perlite

Most bulbs like free-draining, moisture-retentive, friable soil. The growth of a good root system is what we are striving for; the bulbs will draw on copious amounts of water in the spring. Whenever using compost, make sure it is suitably damp; it is exceedingly difficult to add sufficient moisture once the bulbs have been planted. The amount of moisture should be enough for the compost to bind when tightly squeezed. Planting in the border follows much the same rules. If you need to add organic matter then lightly fork-in supplies from your compost heap and, if you can, leave a few weeks before planting. This is better than mulching your bulbs. Spring-flowering bulbs do need warm soil temperatures during their dormant stage in the summer months.’ We are grateful to Chris Blom for his regular advice. If you would like to contact him via mail his address is:

Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ.

Advice on home-composting comes from the RSPB, whether you are using a ready-made [wooden] compost bin or one made from pallets: ‘The ideal bin for wildlife is one made from slatted wood, which means that wildlife can clamber in and out of the heap. Choose one made with sustainable timber – look for the Forest Stewardship Council [FSC] logo. If building your own bin get hold of four wooden pallets made from sustainable timber [with the FSC logo] and erect them in a square, either by lashing the corners together with strong string or nailing them. At some stage you will want to access the contents of the heap so it’s good to make one side removable. As you fill the heap it makes it easier to get material in or out if you have a moveable side.

For quick, good quality compost feed the heap with a mix of green [nitrogen-rich] and brown [carbon-rich] materials arranged in thin, alternating layers. The green can include grass clippings, weeds and uncooked vegetable peelings while the brown can include sticks, dried grass, wood chippings, shredded paper and cardboard. Try to shred material thinly so that it rots quickly, building up a good temperature and killing off weed seeds. DO NOT INCLUDE: meat, any form of cooked food, dairy products or pet waste otherwise these can attract rats. If any rats do still appear then cut out vegetable peelings.

Keep the heap moist but not sodden. Water it, if necessary, in dry weather, and cover it with wood or woollen carpet to retain heat and moisture without too much of the latter. Uncovered heaps will rot more slowly than covered ones. Turning the contents with a fork can help to speed up decomposition but be careful not to injure or disturb slow-worms or toads. Use plastic leaf-grabbers and only turn in autumn and spring to minimise disruption.’

The RSPB also stresses the importance of creating nature ‘highways and byways’ to enable small animals to move freely between gardens. They recommend creating such corridors during winter when there are fewer leaves on trees and shrubs and such routes can take many forms:

Gaps at bases of wooden fences.[N.B. make sure that this is convenient with neighbours, that there won’t be room for pets to escape, and that wildlife will not be led onto busy roads. These being OK then create as many gaps as you like]. If you’re cutting a hole in a wooden fence at ground level then first draw the required shape with a pencil. An arch is the easiest shape to cut. Make it no more than 15 cm wide and 13 cm high for creatures like hedgehogs or as little as 8 cm by 6 cm for frogs and toads. Drill a hole inside your shape then use a jig-saw or a saw blade to widen the hole to your line. Allow long grass or herbaceous plants to grow next to the gap if possible. Voles, shrews, frogs, toads, beetles and hedgehogs like to move through long growth rather than in the open. If you have bare fences or garden walls then adding a climbing plant will provide a ‘ladder’ for some creatures.

Trees and shrubs – if you have space, a line of trees and/or shrubs against boundaries can provide aerial corridors. If you can, turn a fence into a hedge which, apart from being a safe corridor, will provide food in the form of seeds and berries and can also be used for nesting.

A reminder that our club will again be participating in Cookridge Methodist Church’s annual Christmas Tree Festival. The theme for this year is ‘Colour’ and the chosen colour for our tree is blue. Contributions of appropriate decorations from members will be most welcome.

SEPTEMBER 2023

September proved to be a busy but successful month for the Club and given below is the September newsletter sent out by editor Bill Hunt just as the month began:-

” Dear members,

September means ‘Annual Show’ so we hope that as many of you as possible will be able to exhibit/attend on Saturday September 9 at our usual venue of Cookridge Methodist Church hall. The Show Schedule can be accessed via our website www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk by clicking on Annual Show 2023 and following the links. Alternatively you can contact our Show Secretary Denise Watson denise.watson93@ntlworld.com or ‘phone 0113 250 2899. Entries for the show, together with fees, can be brought to the hall on Friday Sept. 8 between 7.30 pm and 9 pm and on the morning of the show between 8.45 am and 10.45 am.

A gentle reminder to members that there is a “Members only” class at the show which is Class 22A Begonia ‘non stop’.This is the plug plant that members have been nurturing since May and for which there is a £20 Daleside Nurseries voucher, as a prize.

We will also be grateful for raffle and tombola prizes. These can be brought in during the times when we are open for entries.

October will see the return to our evening meetings beginning with, on Oct 18, ‘Water in the Garden’ by Michael Myers. Our NOVEMBER MEETING will be on the 15th when Martin and Jill Fish will present ‘Winter Table.’ November is also the month for our A.G.M. and we are in the position that a number of committee members will be retiring from their posts. We already have a new Chair and a new Show Secretary but we will be needing a new General Secretary therefore we are inviting nominations for this post as well as for the newly created roles of Assistant General Secretary, Assistant Show Secretary, and Assistant Treasurer. The new appointees won’t necessarily have to attend committee meetings but could be available to assist at different events. We are happy to discuss the new roles so if you are interested please email our Chairperson Ruth Straw at  ruth.straw@ntlworld.com

As is often the case we are grateful to Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs [chris.blom@blomsbulbs.com] for further advice on bulb cultivation. Concerning indoor bulbs Chris writes:’ . . . most of the bulbs that we grow for indoors have been grown in water containers ever since they were first introduced into Western Europe. It certainly provides an interesting perspective on how the bulbs grow. What bulbs to use? Most of the spring-flowering bulbs are suitable; some of the best include daffodils, muscari [grape hyacinth], scilla, snowdrop, hyacinth, crocus, tulip, iris, colchicum and amaryllis. Christmas bulbs are also ideal for growing in water. Make sure you choose the right vase since without the stabilising strength of soil some of the taller varieties can tend to flop over. Use a container a least half as tall as the flowers for sufficient support. Alternatively fill the bottom of the container with pebbles or glass beads. The roots will grow into the pebble and water mixture while the bulb stays high and dry. When the stems start to emerge turn the container regularly to make sure the plants grow straight and do not lean towards the light. If you want to have a go at this here are a few pointers to bear in mind:

Use only top-size bulbs. Smaller bulbs lack the stored nutrients to provide satisfactory results.

Keep the containers in a cool, dark room until the roots have formed and the bulbs begin to shoot. A dark cupboard or cellar is ideal. Remember that:-

                Rainwater is preferable to tap water.

                The base of the bulb should be just above the water level.

                Add charcoal to the water to prevent it going sour.

                Check regularly for water evaporation.

Do not rush the bulbs into flower. Most are native to cooler mountainous regions and need cool conditions to fully develop their root systems.

Once  the flow bud is well out of the neck of the bulb gradually introduce light and warmth.

Otherwise follow the same instructions as you would for growing fibre.’

Chris also offers advice under the heading ‘Why Bulb Fibre?’: ‘ Before writing about bulb fibre a word of caution. The hot, dry June led to an abundance of small bulbs [especially in the tulips]; they simply stopped growing and not so many top-size bulbs. Be very careful where you order your bulbs this autumn. We secured our supply with the growers last year but to avoid any disappointment later in the season I would urge you to order your bulbs as soon as possible.

The questions I am most often asked, as are my colleagues on the RHS Bulb Committee, concern bulbs in pots and containers. These centre around stunted growth or even just leaves appearing. In reality there is very little to go wrong provided that you start with good bulbs and prepare a good friable soil for the plants to make their roots and take up water. Watering is of vital importance even during February and March, a time when we would not necessarily have it high on our to-do list. Containers must be kept evenly moist but not wet. If the growing plant cannot take up enough water the result will be stunted and even shrivelled flowers.

General purpose composts are the culprit. You need to incorporate coarse and fine particles in your mix to create a balanced growing medium that holds enough water and air, the essentials for good root development. Without exception we would all recommend incorporating a good bulb fibre and the use of a soil-based compost such as John Innes No.2. Bulbs for indoors need only use bulb fibre.

So what is bulb fibre? It is designed specifically for growing bulbs. Unlike multi-purpose composts it has a very open and free-draining structure. Many composts continue to decompose when exposed to oxygen and moisture causing them to compress around the roots, stunting development and causing damage if too wet. Choose a bulb fibre that has few or no nutrients since your bulbs do not require them; they will only make the plants leggy and will not improve the size of the flower. Leave any feeding until after your bulbs have flowered. The fibre will also usually contain charcoal which keeps the compost from becoming sour, very important for growing bulbs indoors. Significantly it also reduces acidity; bulbs generally do not like acidic soil. As always, keep doing whatever works for you. Reading about a subject is often helpful but doing it from experience is invaluable.’ “

AUGUST 2023

As we approached the end of July with the main holiday season beckoning, Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt sent out the following newsletter to members. It is replicated below in its entirety:-

“ Dear members,

First of all our thanks to Peter Smith and his family [including Dolly the spaniel!] for their hospitality in opening up Peter’s cacti and succulents collection for us. It was a fascinating visit and Peter’s expertise and enthusiasm are very much appreciated. Our thanks also to our secretary Katherine Hill for making the necessary arrangements for the visit. [N.B. DON’T FORGET THAT WE SHALL BE NEEDING A NEW GENERAL SECRETARY AT THE END OF THIS YEAR. PLEASE GIVE CONSIDERATION TO TAKING ON THE POST. A JOB DESCRIPTION WAS INCLUDED IN JULY’S NEWSLETTER].

When you receive this newsletter there will still be time consider visiting the garden at the Adel Quaker Meeting House on New Adel Lane [LS16 6AZ]. It is open on Sunday July 30th from 1 pm to 4pm and entry will be by donation to St. Gemma’s Hospice. Light refreshments will be available and there will be a plant stall.

Our August event will be our Annual Open Gardens Evening, taking place on Wednesday August 2 between 6 and 8 pm. This year we are grateful to members on Hillcrest Rise for opening their gardens. The tour will begin at the home of Georgina Brook at 115 Hillcrest Rise [please use the Tinshill Drive entrance]. There will be a charge of £2 for members and £3 for non-members. There will be a plant stall, a quiz [N.B. BRING A PEN/PENCIL WITH YOU], a raffle and refreshments. If you can donate any plants for the plant sale then please bring them to 16 HILLCREST RISE before 6 pm.

Former chairman Martin Tyas has kindly donated a number of gardening tools including 2 pick axes! Contact Katherine Hill if you are interested in acquiring any of these items, some of which she will be bringing to the Open Gardens Evening.

ANNUAL SHOW ON SEPT. 9: there are a number of notices in connection with this:

TOMBOLA PRIZES: please deliver these to our president Joan Hopper but telephone her beforehand – 0113 217 1992.

ADDITIONAL PRIZES:

• Class 2 – a bag of Strulch and a £5 Caring for Life voucher;
• Class 7 – £2 and a £10 Cliff Bank Nursery voucher;
• Class 14 – a bag of Strulch and a £10 Cliff Bank Nursery voucher;
• Class 41 – £2 and a £5 Caring for Life voucher

We would be grateful for some stand-by volunteers for the Show i.e. people willing to give up a short period of time during the day to help out. If you are able to do this then please contact our Show Secretary Denise Watson 0113 250 2899.

PLANTS FOR THE SHOW PLANT STALL: please bring these to the Methodist Church Hall on the morning of the Show.

An appeal for extra volunteers for the Planter watering rota might seem a bit unnecessary after such a wet period but we would be grateful for more names to help to secure the future of this attraction. Please contact Katherine Hill if you can help.

Chris Blom of Bloms Bulbs offers some advice this month concerning dahlias: ‘Now would normally be the time to give them their mid-summer feed using a liquid nitrogen fertiliser; they are heavy feeders. Be careful not to overfeed them as this will encourage too much foliage growth at the expense of flowers. I would suggest delaying feeding until some sunshine returns. They have plenty of foliage but need some sun to bring out the flowers. The shorter bedding dahlias can pretty much be left to do their own thing but the taller dahlias will need staking. The canes should be about 30 cms. shorter than the expected height of the plant and be careful not to damage the tubers. De-bud the tall dahlias; remove the two outer buds from the three that form at the end of the flowering stem. This gives a much better show. If all the buds are left the flowers tend to be covered up and root in the plant.’ Our thanks to Chris as usual.

This month’s Top Ten Tips which are given elsewhere on the website are supplemented by some advice from the RSPB for helping garden wildlife:

1. Provide a dish of water for bees and other insects. Add a few pebbles to create different levels for safer drinking.
2. Provide a water container for birds and small mammals. Always keep it clean and full and with a safe access route.
3. Use native shrubs and trees to create shade, particularly for frogs ,lizards and newts which are cold-blooded. Food and water also last longer out of strong sunshine. Dogwood, holly and guelder rose are particularly recommended and they can be pruned to maintain a small size as well  being easy to grow and resilient.
4. Facilitate movement so that hedgehogs, frogs and toads can roam between gardens. Providing a 13 cms x 13 cms gap in fences and walls in urban areas will enable transits. Trees and shrubs can provide resting places for birds which are undertaking long journeys.
5. Provide nectar-rich flowers throughout the year: blackthorn and bugle in March; red clover, aquilegia, dog rose and other throughout the summer; corn marigold, poppy and achilleas for October.
6. Feed birds all year round. Make sure that the foods are not hazardous to chicks so, for example, soak dehydrated mealworms in warm water and use feeders to make sure that food is always consumed in small quantities.
7. Try to consider wildlife in garden design e.g. a hedge in preference to a fence or a wall; pockets for planting in a new patio or path with space for absorbing rainwater. If you are doing away with grass consider gravel dotted with plants, a wild-flower patch or any low-maintenance idea BUT NOT A PLASTIC ARTIFICIAL LAWN which prevents anything from living on or under it.
8. Limit outdoor lighting since artificial light can confuse animals. Moths and amphibians are attracted to bright lights and most bats avoid them thus undermining their hunting success. User softer bulbs, downlighters rather than uplighters, movement-sensitive security lights rather than lights which are constantly on.”

Have a great Summer and if your holidays are in the offing, enjoy !

A gentle reminder – Please don’t forget to think about what you might enter in our Annual Show on Sept. 9. Further details are available on this website.

JULY 2023

Dear members,

   July’s newsletter brings plenty of gardening advice as well as notice of activities to come. Many of us enjoyed a fascinating coach visit to open gardens at Warton, Lancs. earlier this month and pictures of the visit can be seen on the website. We have been encouraging feedback from you at our indoor meetings through the use of our suggestion box and one idea was for a visit to Wassand Hall Walled Gardens & Woodlands. We’re grateful for this suggestion and it will be considered at a future committee meeting. Another suggestion was to have the refreshments before the talk at our indoor meetings. The committee discussed this but, for various reasons, did not consider it practicable. We will however act upon a suggestion that members should be reminded to switch off their mobile phones at indoor meetings.

On Wednesday July 19  between 6 pm and 8 pm  we are organising an evening visit to the garden of member Peter Smith. Peter’s address is: 16 Woodlea Close, Westfield, Yeadon, LS19 7LP. In case you get lost his phone numbers. are 0113 250 5276 or 0781 7688 110. There may be a small admission charge to help with refreshments. Peter offers the following information:

                ‘Parking may be a problem. We live in a cul-de-sac and some of the residents do not park on their driveways. I will try and ensure there are a couple of spaces outside the house and at least one on the driveway. Alternatively it might be a good practice to park up the road and walk down. Since parking is limited perhaps members could try and stagger the time at which they come. I’m happy for them to come before and after the suggested times.

                We are a small semi-detached and the garden, particularly at the front, is stepped as we are on a slope which is more obvious at the back where the greenhouses are.  The garden itself will be past its best by July but lots of larger cactus will be outside around the beds so they will be easy to see for anyone who is coming. The main highlight is the chance to go into both small greenhouses and view the collection of plants I have built up over 15 years and some, hopefully, will be in flower. Some of these plants are national award winners so I hope your members will enjoy and embrace these special plants.’

On Wednesday August 2, again between 6pm and 8 pm, members in Hillcrest Rise will be opening their gardens when we have our annual Open Gardens Evening. There will also be refreshments, a raffle, a plant stall and a quiz. Further details will follow in our August newsletter.

On Sunday July 30th between 1 pm and 4 pm the garden at Adel Quaker Meeting House on New Adel Lane, LS16 6AZ, will be open to the public in aid of St. Gemma’s Hospice. Entry will be by donation to the hospice and tea and biscuits will be available. If you are coming from Cookridge turn left into New Adel lane from Otley Old Road [just before the junction with Spen Lane] and the meeting house is on the left as you negotiate the right bend. You will see the Quaker notice board by the gateway. There are several parking spaces within the grounds.

Since its construction for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II our Jubilee Bed on Green Lane has been tended by a small number of members and friends. We would welcome additional help, particularly when extra watering is needed. Please contact our secretary Katherine Hill [0113 267 1858] if you can help.

Mention of Katherine in the preceding paragraph is an appropriate prelude to announcing that she has decided to step down as our Club Secretary after our AGM later this year. One doesn’t need to be reminded that her work on behalf of Cookridge Gardening Club has been incalculable, particularly during the Pandemic, so she will be very much missed although her retirement from the post is well-earned. Clearly we shall need a new secretary and, as a guide to anyone who may be interested in taking over, here is a list of duties that the secretary can expect to undertake:

Take minutes at meetings of the Club General Committee and at the AGM. Type and distribute these minutes to all committee members.

Plan and organise:-  

Garden Visits – one full day by coach in summer and one or two local evening/afternoon visits with members using their own transport;

Members Open Gardens Evening with the gardens within walking distance of each other and with the provision of refreshments, plant stall and a raffle.

Copy, print and distribute the monthly newsletter to members who don’t receive it via email or post.

 Assist at the Annual Show.

Introduce and thank guest speakers in the absence of the Chairman.

 Anyone who is interested in taking on this role should please give their name to Katherine.

 In recent years Katherine has organised visits to Golden Acre Park and members have benefitted from conducted tours by Head Gardener Dean Lockwood. Committee member Marion Lawson has re-visited Golden Acre in recent weeks and been very impressed by the wonderful displays there. She urges everyone to visit the park and see for themselves the spectacular results of the work of Dean and his staff.

To help you make the best of your own gardens here is the latest advice from Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs [Blomsbulbs.com] concerning compost and potting:

                ‘One of the most frequent questions we are asked concerns the best type of compost to use for containers and pots. Use fresh compost. The compost should be moisture retentive, free draining and friable. Most general-purpose composts will suffice but the mixture should include garden soil, leaf mould and a small amount of horticultural grit. This is also important when planting your borders.

                It is important to keep the pots evenly moist without soaking them. Before filling your containers make sure the compost is suitably damp; it is very difficult to add sufficient moisture once planted. The amount of moisture should be enough for the compost to bind together when tightly squeezed.

                What containers to use? Ventilation is very important. Earthenware pots are ideal as they allow air to reach the roots and moisture to evaporate slowly. They do need more attention to watering than plastic pots. Pots and containers tend to dry from the outside so watch this when watering. If you use plastic containers make sure there are plenty of drainage holes. Remember to keep everything well- watered during this heat wave.’

                One of the pleasures of our gardens is the bird life which they encourage. They naturally need water for bathing and drinking but these actions can be risky since bending to drink entails being off-guard, bathing results in soaked feathers while splashing in the water can attract predators. The RSPB urges us to provide bird baths which are wide [30 cms. minimum diameter], safe and shallow with a rock or two for perching so that the birds stay within their depth and have enough space in which to flap around in the company of others thus forming a safer environment. The simplest bath is a plant saucer and the best location is within an open flat area away from long grass from which a cat may pounce. Rest the saucer on four bricks with a wooden ramp between the saucer and the ground which will allow access for hedgehogs. Tap or rainwater can be used but wash out the bath regularly since the water will quickly become dirty, often turning red or green with algae. A good scrubbing brush will clean off most of the dirt and a weak disinfectant solution can also be used followed by a thorough rinsing afterwards. Allow the bird bath to thoroughly dry out in order to kill pathogens.

Finally, don’t forget to think about what you might enter in our Annual Show on Sept. 9. Further details are available on our website.

  

JUNE 2023

For our June 2023 Newsletter editor Bill Hunt wrote;-

“Welcome to our June Newsletter. If you have not yet renewed your membership of Cookridge Gardening Club please consider doing so. ( A renewal form was attached to the e-mailed version of the newsletter.) Please also note that after this month the newsletter will only be sent to those who have renewed for 2023 or who have joined the club since the Annual Show in 2022.

Our Plant Sale on May 20th raised an impressive £154.40. Thank you to all who helped in whatever way, to Eric and Joan Wells and their next-door neighbours for allowing the use of their front drives, and to all who came and bought items.  

On Sunday June 4 member Carol Abbott will be holding a plant sale at her home at The Orchard, 4A Blackwood Rise, LS16 7BG. This is part of the National Open Garden Scheme where gardens are opened to raise money for various charities, including those supporting patients with cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. Times will be 11.30 to 16.30 and admission will be £4 for adults, free for children. Light refreshments will be provided together with shelter in case of unfavourable weather. If you are coming by car then please park in Tinshill Lane. Carol can also cater by arrangement for visits by groups of 10 or more people between May 14 and July 30. She can be contacted on 01132 676764.

On Sunday June 18 we have our Annual Coach Outing, this year to Warton Village Gardens. The 6 gardens and allotments at Warton are spread across the village and offer a wide variety of planting and design ideas.  Our group offers a contemporary garden skilfully planted on limestone pavement, a flower picking garden, a mature cottage style garden with unusual herbaceous planting, trees and productive vegetables/soft fruit section.  21 allotments and large gardens, comprised of a series of rooms each with different atmosphere and 2 new gardens which have been created recently.  Warton is the birthplace of the medieval ancestors of George Washington (coat of arms in village church).

The coach will leave Cookridge Methodist Church at 08.45. N.B. THIS IS FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER THAN OUR NORMAL DEPARTURE TIME. Numbers are low so far for this trip. If you haven’t yet booked then please consider doing so. ( A booking form was attached to the newsletter.) The staff at Warton are working hard to make our visit a success and it would be a great pity if we had to cancel due to insufficient numbers.

On Wednesday July 19th we shall have an evening visit to the garden of member Peter Smith at 16 Woodlea Close, Yeadon, LS19 7LP where he grows succulents, cacti and more. Further details will follow in July’s newsletter and appear on the Calendar of Events on the website.

On Wednesday August 2nd members in Hillcrest Rise will be opening their gardens for our annual Open Gardens Evening. More details will follow in the newsletter for August and will appear on the Calendar of Events on the website

You don’t need to be reminded that Sept. 9th is our Annual Show. Start giving thought to what you might enter and also if you might have anything to give away for the Tombola and Raffle. If you possess any trophies from last year’s show then please return them either to our Show Secretary Denise Watson [0113 250 2899] or to our Chairman Ruth Straw [07951 361020].

Committee member Marion Lawson reminds us that as a subscriber to the RHS the club has a 2 for 1 entry pass. If any club member would like to borrow it then please contact Marion on 07946 603896”

MAY 2023

As April drew to a close and the dawning of May grew nearer Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt sent out the following Newsletter to our Members:-

“It is with sadness that I open this newsletter by bringing to your attention the death of member Peter Blakey. Peter was a keen supporter of our club and a regular exhibitor and prize-winner at our shows. He will clearly be missed and we send our condolences to his widow Kathryn and members of their family.

In case anyone has still to renew their membership a renewal form was attached to the e-mailed / posted version of the newsletter. Please note that after the end of May the newsletter will only be sent to those who have renewed their membership for 2023 or who joined at the 2022 show. It will though still be available to read on the website.

 

Our May indoor meeting will be on the 17th with a talk by prize-winning Garden Designer Tracy Foster entitled ‘Eden to Titchmarsh.’ At our April meeting on the 19th our guest speaker, Pat Inman, gave an interesting and informative talk on the subject of ‘Good Garden Plants.’ At the conclusion of the meeting Pat was asked for a list of the plants which she had described as her favourites and it is with pleasure that her list is replicated on our website on the News/Latest news/ Newsletter page. In addition, at the end of her presentation Pat read out an amusing poem which added to the evening’s entertainment and which is also replicated on the website. ( For those receiving the newsletter by post a printed copy was attached ).

The picture shows the club’s raised flowerbed decorated for the coronation of King Charles III.



On Saturday May 20th   we are holding a plant sale on the front drive of member Eric Wells at 55 Holt Park Road, LS16 7QS. THE PLANT SALE WILL BE FROM 1-00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m.    We ask that members bring plants, including houseplants, etc. to sell at 12noon so that we have an hour in which to set up the stalls etc. So please bring along any plants which you can spare along with garden tools or other gardening accessories which you no longer need to keep. Our thanks to Eric for once again allowing us the use of his front drive.

Our coach outing on June 18th to Warton Village Gardens looms ever nearer and a booking form was attached to the newsletter. The 6 gardens and allotments are spread across the village and offer a wide variety of planting and design ideas.  The gardens include one planted on limestone pavement, a flower picking garden, a mature cottage style garden with unusual herbaceous planting, trees and veg/soft fruit; 21 allotments; a garden comprised of rooms and two new gardens . There is an interesting church and the Old Rectory is owned by English Heritage.  Warton Crag is nearby and from the top gives views across Morecambe to the Lake District beyond. This should be a day out to remember.

The Show Committee is busy preparing for our Annual Show on September 9th and arrangements have been finalised for the following classes:

CHILDREN’S CLASSES [N.B. THIS SUPERCEDES THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE MARCH NEWSLETTER]

Class 63                 A Scarecrow

Class 64                A Vegetable

Class 65                A Decorated Pebble

Class 66                2 Decorated Biscuits

Class 67                Individual Collage – ‘King’s Coronation’

Class 68                Group Collage – ‘King’s Coronation’

COOKERY CLASSES

Class 54                Jam

Class 55                Savoury: 4 Savoury Rolls

Class 56                Cake: A Victoria Sponge

Class 57                Fruit Pie

Class 58                A Savoury Flan

Class 59                Biscuits: 4 Digger Biscuits

Class 60                Cake to a Given Recipe: Ginger & Parsnip

Class`61               A Loaf of Bread

Class 62                Fruit Scones “



STOP PRESS

Very recently Club Secretary Katherine Hill attended the Hardy Plants Conference. The ex-Head Gardener from York Gate, Ben Preston, was there with a stall of plants. Members may remember that Ben has been a guest speaker at our club’s monthly meetings. He is opening a nursery on the 27^th May through until 28th October, normally Wednesdays to Saturdays.   www.cliffbanknursery.co.uk

The nursery address is CLIFF BANK NURSERY, HARROGATE ROAD, NORTH RIGTON, LS17 0BZ. Ben and Laura would be delighted to welcome visitors and as a new local nursery we wish them every success with their new venture.

APRIL 2023

Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt sent out the following edition just as March was drawing to a close:-

“ Dear members,

As Easter approaches let us hope that it will bring some settled weather so that we can get out in our gardens and get to grips with all that needs doing. Inevitably the question of compost will be on our minds so following-up from Julian Davies’s talk in March this newsletter contains an attachment listing his recommendations. ( That listing was provided for information at the end of the newsletter e-mailed or posted to members ). We are grateful to Julian for sending us this information.

Our April meeting takes place on the 19^th with a talk by Pat Inman on ‘Good Garden Plants.’ Don’t forget that the April meeting is also the occasion for members to bring the daffodils, for which you were given the bulbs some months ago, to display in our mini Spring Show. We realise that some of you may be away on the 19^th so provision will be made for absentees to enter their displays via the website. However we must emphasise that photographic entries are only a back-up for those definitely unable to attend and that we hope to see as many live entries as possible. Webmaster Geoff Lawson will be setting up a webpage in ‘The Gallery’ section of our club’s website and entries should be submitted to: info@cookridgegardenclub.co.uk PLEASE SUBMIT ENTRIES IN JPEG FORMAT and remember to include your name. Also please submit no more than two pictures per entry.

Our May meeting will take place on the 17^th when we welcome back Tracey Foster with her talk ‘Eden to Titchmarsh.’

At our meetings we are always keen to receive feedback, not just on the meetings themselves but also on any aspect of our club so if you have praise, criticisms, suggestions for future meetings/outings/activities then please use the suggestion boxes which will be available.

A reminder also that Saturday May 20^th is the date for our PLANT SALE starting at midday at the front drive of Eric Wells at 55 Holt Park Road. More information will follow in May’s newsletter but in the meantime please consider if you can offer for sale any plants, seedlings, vegetables, gardening bric-a-brac or anything else of potential use in one’s garden.

May is the last month for our indoor meetings until October but in June we begin our garden visiting season with our ANNUAL COACH OUTING which, this year, will be to Lancashire to visit Warton Village Gardens and Beetham Garden Centre.” ( An application form was attached to the e-mailed version of the newsletter which was sent to members ).

 The Top Ten Tips for April ( which are published elsewhere on the website ) are supplemented with recommendations from Chris Blom [Blomsbulbs.com] for summer flowering bulbs which will make interesting alternatives to more traditional bedding plants: Begonias – they flower well from June to October, even in dull weather; Anemones – can be planted by themselves or as a carpet for other summer flowering bulbs. They are hardy in the UK and will provide colour for most of the year in a warm, sheltered garden; Dahlias – dwarf varieties are particularly impressive in any summer bedding scheme; Gladiolus – dwarf varieties are ideal for border pockets or for additional colour among ground cover plantings. Taller summer bulbs can add colour and interest as well as drawing the eye to different aspects of the garden. Lilies are particularly outstanding [N.B. SEE OUR TOP TEN TIPS] but it is also worth considering, for example, Hippeastrum, Cannas, Polianthes and Nennes.”

MARCH 2023

The March Newsletter which included news from the year’s first meeting of the Show Committee read:-

“Dear members,

Our March meeting will take place on the 15^th when Julian Davies will talk about The Stockbridge Technical Centre. Our April meeting will be on the 19^th with a talk by Pat Inman on ‘Good Garden Plants.’

SUNDAY 18TH JUNE 2023 – FULL DAY VISIT BY COACH TO WARTON VILLAGE GARDENS, LANCASHIRE followed by visit to BEETHAM GARDEN CENTRE

A form was attached to the newsletter to complete and return to club secretary Katherine Hill, tel 2671858 by no later than 8th June for any member interested in going on what is sure to be an enjoyable day out.

We will travel by coach and depart Cookridge Methodist Church car park at 08.45 prompt. Light Refreshments available at one of the gardens. There is also a cafe at the Old School Brewery, or you may wish to bring a picnic. Beetham Garden Centre also has a cafe.

Cost – : MEMBERS £25.00 NON-MEMBERS £28.00

If you are intending to purchase new plants and can access the necessary transport then DEAN’S GARDEN CENTRE at STOCKTON LANE, STOCKTON-ON-THE-FOREST, YORK YO32 9UE offer a 10% discount on purchases when you show your Cookridge Garden Club membership card. ‘Phone nos. for Deans are: 01904 400141 and 01904 401027.

The Show Committee has had its first meeting to prepare for our Annual Show on September 9^th and we can give you advance notice of some of the classes so that you can start putting ideas together.

The Floral Art classes will be as follows:

Class 15: A Child Bridesmaid’s Alice Band

Class 16: A table decoration on the theme ‘The King’s Coronation.’

Class 17: ‘The Wind in the Willows.’

Class 18: A Woodland Walk

Class 19: A miniature arrangement within a 6” x 6” container [incl. the frame]

Photography classes:

Class 44: Water World

Class 45: Growing Together

Class 46: ‘King’s Coronation’ floral display

Class 47: Wild Yorkshire

Class 48: Four-legged Friends

Children’s Classes:

Class 63: A Scarecrow

Class 64: A Vegetable

Class 65: Cress Head in an Eggshell (SINCE AMENDED – SEE ANNUAL SHOW 2023 PAGE FOR REVISED DETAILS)

Class 66: ( Two )Homemade Cup Cakes ( SINCE AMENDED – SEE ANNUAL SHOW 2023 PAGE FOR REVISED DETAILS )

Class 67: Individual collage – ‘King’s Coronation.’

Class 68: Group collage – ‘King’s Coronation.’

N.B. PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR ADULT EXHIBITS THE CHARGE WILL BE INCREASED TO 50p

Plenty of places are still available for our visit to the Veolia recycling plant on April 5 (and a booking form was attached to the newsletter). ( Enquiries and applications should be sent to club secretary Katherine Hill ).

This month’s Ten Tips ( which are published elsewhere on the website ) are supplemented by advice from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds about growing plants for caterpillars. It is clearly important to grow plants which will provide the right food for boosting the butterfly population. The following plants will encourage the butterflies which we can expect to see in our region:

Lady’s smock, garlic mustard – orange-tip and green-veined white caterpillars

Bird’s foot trefoil – common blue caterpillars

Nettles [in a sunny, sheltered location] – red admiral, peacock, small tortoiseshell caterpillars

Plant the species in clusters so that butterflies can flit from one to the next, and keep new plants well mulched so that they stay moist and weeds are kept down. Well- watered plants produce the most nectar and herbaceous perennials can be left to grow from year to year. Leaving the seedheads standing during winter will provide extra homes for wildlife before you clear the stems in the following spring and put them on the compost heap”.

FEBRUARY 2023

On 31^st January Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt wrote:

“ Dear members,

I open February’s newsletter by thanking all those who have renewed their membership of Cookridge Gardening Club for 2023. It is very encouraging to see the enthusiasm of local people for our club.” ( If you have yet to renew then a form was attached to the email sent out to members ). Bill continued, “You can either post it directly to me or bring it to the next meeting which you are able to attend.

Looking forward to our next indoor meetings:-

On February 15th John Cossham will talk about ‘Compost,’ clearly a vital aspect of anyone’s gardening,

and

On March 15th Julian Davies’s subject will be ‘Stockbridge Technology Centre Research.’

Please note: The doors open for all our indoor Wednesday meetings soon after 7.00.p.m. with the presentations due to start at around 7.30.p.m.

It almost goes without saying that we look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. You do not have to be a member to attend a meeting so please come along.

Don’t forget our SUGGESTIONS BOX which will be available at each meeting so that you can let us know your opinions about any aspect of our club’s activities.( including any requests and thoughts on subjects for future presentations and topics.)”

The newsletter also contained an application form for the visit to the Veolia Recycling Centre in April. “PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY THE ADVICE GIVEN on the form REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF STEP CLIMBING WHICH THE VISIT WILL INVOLVE.

Our Top Ten Tips ( which as always appears elsewhere on the website ) are again supplemented with another bulletin from Chris Blom. He writes: ‘ Summer flowering bulbs can provide a varied and exciting display through the summer and into the autumn. They are a great companion to herbaceous border plants and, using flowering trees and shrubs as a backdrop, they provide stunning colour and variation throughout the garden. Used for bedding, their colours are often more vibrant and striking than traditional bedding plants, and, apart from the removal of perennial weeds and a yearly mulch, there will be little else to do as far as upkeep.’ Blomsbulbs spring catalogue is expected to be out later this week and it can also be found on their website at Blomsbulbs.com [For those of you without internet connection their address is: Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ, telephone number 01234 709099 ]. Chris and his team are always happy to be of assistance at any time.”        

JANUARY 2023

Our January 2023 edition of the Newsletter is here; the first edition in what promises to be a good year for the club, with much to look forward to. The January Top Ten Tips are shown separately on the website as are the Tips and Newsletters for previous months. Newslettter editor Bill Hunt writes:-

“The committee of Cookridge Gardening Club hope that you have had an enjoyable Christmas and we send our best wishes to you for 2023 particularly in the realm of gardening. We ended last year with nearly ninety members, a notable increase on previous years, and it is encouraging to report that already there are nearly thirty of you who have either joined for the first time [N.B. NO NEED TO RENEW UNTIL THE END OF 2023] or who have renewed your membership from last year. Club events to look forward to during the coming 12 months include a visit to the Veolia recycling plant on Apr. 5^th, a plant sale on May 20^th, a coach outing to Warton Village Gardens on June 18^th, a visit to a member’s garden at Yeadon on July 19^th, and, of course, our Annual Show on Sept. 9^th. Further details will be published nearer the dates but do enter them in your diaries now. We also hope to organise our usual summer evening visits to gardens of members/members’ friends in Cookridge so please consider if you might be able to support us by opening your garden and/or persuading friends/neighbours to do likewise.

No doubt we were all wary of the potential threat caused to our plants by the sharp frosts early in December. Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs reminds us that, while they can be rather unpleasant weather to experience, frosts do actually have benefits for our gardens by killing off pests and diseases which may linger on plants, and breaking down organic matter in the soil thereby making it more fertile for the coming growing season. However, it’s worth supplementing this month’s Top Ten Tips with advice from seed merchants Thompson and Morgan on ways to minimise adverse effects of frosty weather. They begin by pointing out that even in areas with milder average winter temperatures tender plants are best moved into a greenhouse or a conservatory when there is the prospect of frost. Use fleece or straw to protect potentially vulnerable plants which remain outdoors. Take care also if you have non-frostproof containers such as terracotta which can be prone to cracking. Protect them with bubble-wrap, hessian or fleece and, if possible, group them close to a south-facing wall for added protection.

Newly-planted trees, hedges and shrubs can be prone to being loosened in the ground and their roots lifted out by cold winds as well as frosts. If this happens then re-firm them into the ground  and erect temporary netting as a wind break if no natural protection is at hand. Protect the roots with a thick, dry mulch while branches can be covered with fleece and, additionally, packed with dry straw. Evergreens can be placed in a wooden frame which has clear polythene stretched over the opening, taking care that the polythene does not touch the leaves and cause condensation which will result in freezing and rotting. Frost-damaged plants can be helped to recover in spring by mulching with compost and feeding with fertiliser”.

And please remember, If you wish to look back at earlier newsletters, including the December issue, they can all be found under the heading “Previous Newsletters”.

DECEMBER 2022

On Tuesday 29th November Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt sent out the club’s December newsletter. That Newsletter is replicated below. The December Top Ten Tips are shown separately on the website as are the Tips and Newsletters for all previous months.

“Dear members,

                Let me begin by wishing you all, on behalf of the committee, a happy and peaceful Christmas. It was good to see such a high turnout for our A.G.M. a few weeks ago. We are grateful to Ruth Straw and Denise Watson for volunteering to be our new Chairperson and Show Secretary respectively and to Joan Waite for volunteering to be on our committee. We are also grateful to Chris and Mary Brook, Maxine Asso , Tracey Watkins and Alan Parsons for being willing to support the committee as additional volunteers whenever tasks require them to do so. The membership subscription for 2023 will remain at £10 and a renewal form is attached to this newsletter along with the A.G.M. minutes. Renewals can be made at our December meeting. N.B. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT IF YOU JOINED THE CLUB AT OR SINCE THE ANNUAL SHOW IN SEPTEMBER YOU DO NOT NEED TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP UNTIL THE END OF 2023.

                Our December meeting will take place on the 14^th [N.B. !!] and will take the form of a demonstration and workshop on Christmas decorations led by club member Peter Blackwell. Peter asks us to bring the following if we can: greenery [plain or variegated], berries, secateurs, thin wire, oasis [preferably soaked in water before bringing], glu-gun, candle, ribbon, scissors, container for your arrangement [e.g. wreath ring, candlestick, bowl, vase or basket]. For a small charge we can supply any materials which you may lack. Also at our December meeting Denise Watson will kindly be providing a stall for her home-made jam and chutney, Joan Webster will be treating us with her home-baked mince pies and there will be a raffle for which one ticket will be available to each member and visitor for £1 when you sign in at the door. As if all that were not enough the remaining narcissi bulbs will be on sale and we will be able to view the exhibits in the Methodist Church Christmas Tree Festival. The festival itself takes place on Saturday Dec. 3^rd at 11 am with craft stalls, games, and refreshments. A preview of our own Christmas tree entry can be seen by visiting the members’ gallery on our club’s website. Following Christmas we look forward to starting on January 18^th when Jack Ogg will talk about ‘Succulents and Cacti.’

Our thanks once again to Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs for some additional seasonal advice to our Top Ten Tips. On the subject of dahlias he recommends generally lifting them although it is possible to leave them in the ground if you have a sheltered area in your garden [make sure that they have been planted reasonably deep] and that winter is mild. If lifting them then do so after the first frosts when the foliage has blackened at the tips. Frost helps to seal the tuber. Cut back the stems to about 12 cms and dig out the dahlia, removing as much soil as possible. After drying remove any remaining soil, cut the stem back to 2 cms and trim the roots back to a neat cluster before storing upside down so that excess moisture can drain. The tubers must be stored frost free or they will turn mushy next spring.

On the subject of tulip bulbs Chris dismisses the advice that, if you want to leave them in the ground year after year, they should be planted as deep as possible. He quotes a study which found that bulbs covered with just 2 to 4 inches of soil yield more flowers over a 3 year period than bulbs covered with 6 inches. Tulips have a contractile root system i.e. a thick root which grows down vertically and pulls the bulb to its required depth. Bulbs planted in the autumn will be replaced by next summer with another large bulb which has smaller offsets. Following harvesting in the early summer the larger ones go on sale while the smaller ones are replanted in the autumn. Bulbs can remain in the ground if you have a lighter soil and they are in a sunny position which provides enough warmth to develop the flower embryo over the summer. Many tulips only grow new bulbs once flowering has finished. For success in leaving tulips in the ground for several years Chris recommends the Darwin Hybrid varieties which have a longer growing season. Tulips, along with crocuses, are prone to bulb predators so the secret is to disguise the scent given by the bulb. Chilli powder has proved effective, being scattered in the bulb hole and then generously over the soil surface. Lightly tamp down the soil and add a sprinkle of water. A scattering of fallen leaves over the area can also help. Our thanks to: Blom’s Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ”.

NOVEMBER 2022

The November Newsletter really was a bumper edition. Given below is a copy of the newsletter in its entirety:-

So here it is……..

Our Newsletter editor Bill Hunt has worked hard producing the November edition which is replicated below. In addition, Bill has also produced the November Top Ten Tips which are shown elsewhere on this website.

Our November meeting will take place on the 16^th when Brian Dennison talks about ‘New Year, New Plants.’ November is also the month when we hold our Annual General Meeting at the opening of the session. Please make every effort to attend as this year’s meeting will be particularly important because, after several years of very distinguished service to our club, Martin Tyas, our present Chairman and Show Secretary, has announced his intention to resign from both posts since he will be moving down to Cornwall.

We therefore need to find successors for both of these vitally important offices and to help you to understand exactly what each one entails here are lists of the main duties and responsibilities for each position:

CHAIRMAN

• Chair meetings of the full committee
• Introduce the speakers at our monthly meetings
• Chair the AGM
• Help and liaise with people at any of the events organised by our club
• Oversee the prize presentation on the stage at our Annual Show

SHOW SECRETARY

• Chair meetings of the Show Committee
• Appoint by telephone the judges of the various classes
• Contact the person who will present the awards on the stage
• Inform the appropriate Show Committee member of any changes to the Show Schedule
• Order the trestle tables [usually 42] from M. Danforth
• Liaise with the caretaker at Cookridge Methodist Church
• Purchase bedding plants for the show plant stall
• Organise the setting up of the church hall on the evening before the show
• Assist on the stage at the awards presentation
• Generally oversee all aspects of the show as well as the clearing away and cleaning up at the end

We would also like to appoint two additional members to our committee. You may feel that you prefer not to have a specific responsibility but would like to be on hand to help when necessary. If that’s the case then we would still like to hear from you as Volunteers, especially just before and on the day of the Annual Show, are invaluable.

Don’t forget that if you were unable to come to our 2022 Annual Show you can see pictures of the show, and of other events organised by our club, on our website at cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

As usual at this time of the year we are offering to our members packs of daffodil bulbs for you to pot up and cultivate for our informal mini Spring Show at our April 2023 meeting. This year the varieties are ‘Georgie Boy’ and ‘Geranium.’ They can be collected at the November meeting or, if you are unable to attend the meeting, you can arrange to collect them from our secretary Katherine Hill via katherinehill@live.co.uk. There may be some spares left over for selling.

Our November meeting is also the occasion when we ask members to bring angels/hearts as decorations for our contribution, based on the carol ‘In The Bleak mid-Winter, to the Methodist Church’s Christmas Tree Festival on the first Saturday of December. We welcome contributions from both members and non-members alike, so please bring any contribution you wish to make or give to the November meeting.

In December our meeting takes place on the 14th December, that is, the second Wednesday in the month. Member Peter Blackwell will present a demonstration / workshop on Christmas decorations. Members will be familiar with Peter’s handicraft work which he has displayed at our club events as well as at fundraising events from his own garden so here is a chance to learn from his impressive expertise.

Katherine Hill has arranged a full schedule of speakers for 2023 and the January meeting on Wednesday 18th, will be a return visit by Jack Ogg, this time on the subject of ‘Succulents and Cacti.’ The topics for the rest of the year will be:

February 15th. John Cossham ‘Compost’

March 15th. Julian Davies ‘Stockbridge Technology Centre Research’

April 19th. Pat Inman ‘Good Garden Plants’

May 17th. Tracey Foster ‘Eden to Titchmarsh’

October 18th. Michael Myers ‘Water in the Garden’

November15th. Martin & Jill Fish ‘Winter Table’

December 13th. Darren Turner ‘Beekeeping’

Further details about the monthly meetings, times, venues etc , can be found on the website’s “Calendar of Events” page.

Whatever you may need in the way of gardening supplies, do consider visiting Horsforth Allotment and Gardeners Association [HAGA]. Their hut is located at 21 Featherbank Lane, Horsforth, LS18 4QR and they open between 7 and 8 on Friday evenings as well as on Saturday mornings during the spring. They supply, at reasonable prices, virtually all your needs – compost, bamboo canes, grass seed, fertiliser, grit, tools etc – and are happy to offer advice on gardening matters as well as being willing to help you load your car! They would also be grateful for more volunteers to act as staff. If you would like to know more about any aspect of HAGA then contact Cookridge Gardening Club member Eric Wells at ericwells@hotmail.co.uk Please note that there is an annual membership fee of £1 but this will not now apply until January 2023. The shed will close after the third Friday of November and meanwhile there will be a 10% discount on all products during November.

The first of this month’s Top Ten Tips ( listed elsewhere on the website under the heading “November Top Ten Tips ) recommends the planting of hyacinths for spring. Further advice on this topic comes from Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs in another of his welcome articles. His first recommendation is the development of a good root system to support the plant during its life and this can be achieved by a cool temperature and even moisture in the early stages after planting. The soil should be rich, well-drained and exposed to plenty of sun. If they are to remain in the same place for more than a year the bulbs should be planted 10 -15 cms/ 4 -6 inches down depending on the soil type. Shallow planting can cause the bulbs to split and produce smaller flower stems after the first year. Hyacinths in a border can be left undisturbed for 3 -4 years before requiring division. Don’t be tempted to cover the border with decorative bark since this will deprive the bulbs of the warmth which they will need later in the year and will result in diminishing flowers year on year. If planting hyacinths in pots and containers make sure that they are in good quality soil and located in sunny spots. Make sure that they are watered during dry periods to prevent the flower heads becoming stunted and shrivelled. Even if you don’t intend planting the bulbs straightaway it is advisable to order them now and then simply store them somewhere cool, dry and airy where they will happily wait until required.

Blomsbulbs.com

Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ

Please remember, If you wish to look back at earlier newsletters, including the October issue, they can all be found under the heading “Previous Newsletters”.

OCTOBER 2022

Our Newsletter editor Bill Hunt had been busy producing the October version which is replicated below. In addition Bill also produced the October Top Ten Tips which can still be seen elsewhere on this website.

” It was naturally a great delight to be able to resume our Annual Show this year and I need to start by, on behalf of the committee, thanking everyone who contributed in whatever way: judges, helpers, donors of raffle and tombola prizes, the exhibitors of course – without whom there would be no show and supporters who came to see the displays. We now return to our indoor meetings season and on Oct. 19^th David Allison will give a talk entitled ‘Plant of the Year at Chelsea.’ Please remember that there is a small charge for admission namely £1 for members and £2 for visitors.

Our November meeting will take place on the 16^th with a talk by Brian Dennison, ‘New Year, New Plants.’ The November meeting is always our AGM so we hope that as many of you as possible will be able to attend.

Our November meeting also prompts a message from committee members Yvonne and Ruth who will kindly be organizing our contribution to the Methodist Church’s Christmas Tree Festival in December. They write:

‘This year the theme for our Christmas Tree is ‘In The Bleak Mid-winter.’ We are keeping the decorations simple this year. What we would like you to do is to stick to two items, angels’ wings, and hearts, different sizes but not too big. Also, as we are all aware of recycling, we think it would be fun to use recycled materials such as plastic, cardboard, paper, wool, tin foil etc. . You can see a few ideas at our next meeting. We need you to bring your decoration at the November meeting as the tree will be decorated on 27^th of November. Thank you. We look forward to seeing what you have created.’

This month our Top Ten Tips are supplemented by further advice from Chris Blom [Blomsbulbs.com] to whom we’re always thankful for his articles. Writing about the planting of bulbs in autumn he recommends being cautious that the soil is neither too wet nor too dry. The bulbs need to develop good root systems and they all have different requirements. While daffodils can be planted from mid-September onwards tulips should wait until mid-October since they do not come out of dormancy until soil temperatures begin to cool thus avoiding potential problems due to the spread of viruses. Although tulip bulbs have been available for some weeks they should be unpacked and then stored in a dry place until November which is the usual month for tulip planting. Other spring bulbs which will give pleasure are snowdrops, aconites, crocus, cyclamen, alliums and fritillaries. More ideas can be found in Chris Blom’s catalogue.

Chris’s catalogue is also where you can find advice on Christmas bulbs since late September onwards is the time for starting them. He advises that Christmas hyacinths prepared by his company are specially treated by a process which is not completed until early September and that bulbs offered before this time should be avoided. Although most Christmas bulbs are grown in bulb fibre hyacinths have, for a long time, been grown in water containers. If you are interested in trying this, then the following advice is offered:

1. Use only top-size bulbs since smaller bulbs lack the stored nutrients required for good results;
2. Use rainwater instead of tap water;
3. The base of the bulb should be just above the water level;
4. Add charcoal to the water so that it doesn’t go sour;
5. Check regularly for evaporation;
6. Keep the containers in a cool, dark room until the roots have formed and the bulbs begin to shoot. A dark cupboard or cellar is ideal;
7. Do not rush the bulbs into flower. Most are native to mountainous conditions and need the coolness to fully develop their root systems.
8. Gradually introduce light and warmth;
9. Beyond this advice follow the same procedures as you would when growing in fibre.

Chris points out that his company’s catalogue includes detailed instructions for bulb cultivation, but they are always happy to be contacted for individual advice. In addition to the website address given above their mailing address is:

Blom’s Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries,  Melchbourne,   Bedford, MK44 1ZZ

Advice on how to get the best out of your soil comes from Morwenna Alldis of the RSPB.

For those living in a clay soil area she recommends the following wild flowers: yarrow, ox-eye daisy,musk marrow, cowslip, birdsfoot trefoil, red clover, ragged robin and white campion. She also recommends summer crop vegetables and fruit trees. For sandy soils she warns about the ease of nutrients being washed away in the rain and the consequent need for organic matter to sustain the plants and hold moisture. She recommends the following wild flowers: ladies bedstraw, common birdsfoot trefoil, bladder campion, wild carrot, ox-eye daisy, dandelion, field forget-me-not, rough hawkbit, common knapweed, musk mallow, black medick, wild mignonette, hoary plantain, St. Johns-wort, self-heal, kidney vetch, vipers-bugloss, weld, yarrow, yellow-rattle, field scabious while vegetables include root vegetables, lettuce,tomatoes, squash, and strawberries.

Morwenna also emphasizes the importance of knowing your soil’s PH rating. 7.0 is acid, above that is alkaline  while dead on 7.0 is neutral. Knowledge of your PH rating will clearly affect what you can grow, Soil testing kits are available from many garden centres and once you know your PH you can add lime to increase it or you can decrease it with an acidifier such as sulphur. The website Plant Wild provides a table showing which wild flowers grow best in any given type of PH rating.

All types of soil will benefit from added organic matter since it helps retain moisture to aid the absorption of more nutrients, provides food for the micro organisms in our soil and binds soil particles to help the movement of air and water between them. Water retention and soil structure can also be improved by compost, leaf mould, bark, woodchip and grass clippings which, when used as a mulch, will suppress annual weeds. Organic matter will also prevent soil erosion on sandy soils and capping on clay soils. However it is important to choose the right sort of mulch: woody material can lead to temporary nitrogen deficiency so should not be used if the mulch is intended to integrate with the soil as in a vegetable bed; chipped bark can be acidic; mushroom compost is unsuitable for acid-loving plants. It clearly pays to accumulate your own compost as a means of disposing of garden waste and some forms of kitchen waste.”

SEPTEMBER 2022

As September dawns there is much to look forward to with our Annual Show making a very welcome return on Saturday the 10th. Ahead of our own show the Adel Horticultural Society are holding their show on 3rd September ( details on the “Headlines” page ) and Cookridge G.C. member Carol Abbott is holding a plant sale on the 4th ( details below ).

Carol Abbott’s Autumn Plant Sale – Sunday 4 September 11.00 am – 3.00 pm

You may wish to know that member Carol Abbott is having an Autumn Plant Sale next Sunday, 4^th September. The sale will be held at Carol’s address which is 4a Blackwood Rise, LS16 7BG. Parking isn’t available at Carol’s house but there is ample parking nearby on Tinshill Lane. It will be well worth a visit as Carol’s plant are always of excellent quality.

Newsletter Editor Bill Hunt sent the following Newsletter to members as we neared the end of August:-

 “After two years of interruption we look forward to resuming our Annual Show on Saturday Sept. 10^th 14.00 to 16.15 at Cookridge Methodist Church Hall. Admission will be free for members of Cookridge Gardening Club, £1 for adults and free for children under 16.  We hope that as many of you as possible will be able to come and view the exhibits and even enter your own contributions. If you haven’t obtained an entry form beforehand they will be available at the church hall when you come to register your entries The hall will be open from 19.30 to 21.00 on Friday Sept. 9^th and from 8.45 until 10.45 on the day of the show. Information about the show is also available on our website www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

We would be grateful for donations of cakes and biscuits for the show café and for donations of prizes for the raffle and tombola. These may be brought in during the registration times indicated above. We would also be grateful for volunteers to help with setting up on the Friday, particularly with the unloading and erection of the display tables, and the dismantling and tidying up after the end of the show. N.B. THE CHURCH HALL NOW HAS A NEW FLOOR; please treat it with respect.

October will see the return of our indoor meeting season which will start with, on the 19^th, David Allison talking about ‘Plant of the Year at Chelsea.’ As usual the starting time will be 19.30 and the venue will be the Methodist Church hall.

A reminder that we would particularly welcome someone to join our committee to take on the role of either General Secretary or Speaker Secretary. Both these tasks are currently being performed by Katherine Hill so if anyone is interested in relieving her of one of them then please contact Katherine at katherinehill@live.co.uk or 0113 267 1858.”

AUGUST 2022

Newsletter editor Bill Hunt sent out the following Newsletter to members just as July was drawing to a close. The Newsletter is reproduced below. In addition the August Top Ten Tips were also sent out and these are replicated elsewhere on the website ( In the previous Top Ten Tips section )..

” I hope that your gardens have not been adversely affected by the recent heatwave. No doubt the recent rainfall has been very welcome to all of us. As you know, members of the club and friends recently visited the new gardens at RHS Bridgewater. It was a very enjoyable day which has been recorded in a set of photographs which are displayed on the Gallery page of our website at www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk , Do take a look if you haven’t already done so.

You can now also find on our website pictures of our successful Open Gardens Evening which was kindly hosted by Yvonne Cooper. It was well-attended and enjoyed by all  and the weather obliged by remaining dry and not too hot. As well as a raffle, a quiz and the availability of four gardens to visit the evening was rounded off with cakes, tea and coffee in Yvonne’s own superb back garden. We are grateful to our webmaster Geoff Lawson for the pictures which were taken on this occasion and which can be found on the website Gallery page under the heading ‘Open Gardens Evening.’

JULY 2022

The July Newsletter is reproduced below and was sent out, by editor Bill Hunt, via email and by post. The Newsletter read:-

“Dear members,

 Welcome to our July newsletter with plenty of activity in store for this month. You could begin by going to see our Jubilee Flower Bed by the junction of Green Lane and Kirkwood Drive. Whether or not you have seen it already it continues to delight. We are grateful to Jenny, the resident at the former post office, and her neighbour  for keeping watch over it and for providing water for the plants as and  when necessary.

On Sunday July 10^th we have our coach outing to RHS Bridgewater. The coach will leave Cookridge Methodist Church car park AT 9.00 a.m. PROMPT therefore please be in your seats by 8.55. Cars can be left in the church car park while you are on the trip. You may wish to take a packed lunch but there are two cafes at the venue. See https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater/food-drink

Our Members’ Open Gardens Evening will be on Wednesday July 27^th between 6 and 8 pm beginning at  Committee Member Yvonne Cooper’s  on  Cookridge Drive. Charges will be £2 for members and £3 for non-members. It is hoped to have 3 additional nearby gardens for you to visit and their addresses will be given to you on arrival. Visitors should return to Yvonne’s around 7.30 to 7.45 for refreshments, a raffle, a plant sale and a chat. Our thanks to Yvonne for her organization of the evening.

Our Annual Show on Sept. 10^th draws nearer and further information about it can be found on our club’s website, including details of ‘Martin’s Cake!’  Show Schedules will be available on our Open Gardens Evening on July 27^th so as well as planning your own entries why not encourage friends and family to come along and even enter their own exhibits?  Remember also that new members joining at the show for the first time will be able to remain in membership until the end of 2023, in effect having the rest of 2022 free.

This month the Top Ten Tips ( which are published elsewhere on this website ) are supplemented by advice from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds [RSPB] on the subject of butterflies, both for the pleasure which they give and for their indication of the health of our environment through their role in pollination and providing food for other species.

Since nectar is their food source they require nectar-rich flowers to give them energy both after and before winter hibernation. They prefer either single open flowers or tubular flowers where they can use their long tongues to consume the sticky nectar, and the flowers should be planted in a single sunny spot and in clumps of the same species. Recommended flowers for the July – November period include catmint, globe thistle, ivy, Michaelmas daisy, scabious and vipers bugloss.

If you have the space of if you don’t object to a wilder appearance then nettles and thistles will also provide good habitat. Different species thrive in different parts of the country so check first of all what you can expect in your own area. Other methods of encouragement include: leaving large stones in sunny spots or providing sunny patches of bare wall for basking; providing a shallow dish of water with stones in it as a drinking spot or, if you have the space, providing a pond so that other wildlife will also benefit; growing climbing plants which will provide shelter in wet or frosty weather; leaving log piles for hibernation spots.

Butterflies are more choosey in where they lay their eggs since, on hatching, the caterpillars require more specific food both for nourishment and for repelling potential predators. Perhaps controversially for gardeners such plants include brassicas, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale but if you don’t mind sacrificing some of these crops then you will be doing butterflies a favour. You may also be interested in contributing to the BIG BUTTERFLY COUNT between July 15 and August 7 by logging your sightings and thereby helping to assess the health of our environment. BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION also includes volunteering opportunities, appeals and further advice in supporting these creatures.”

JUNE 2022.

Our June newsletter was sent out to members by e-mail and post as May drew to a close. . As usual editor Bill Hunt had put together an excellent edition. Given below is a copy of that newsletter for information. The newsletter read:-

“Dear members,

The celebration of H.M. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee provides us with a pleasant news topic for once and Cookridge Gardening Club is pleased to be making its own contribution to the commemorations which will be taking place nationwide. Further to my email of a couple of days ago ( sent to members ) our Platinum Jubilee Flower Bed has now been erected and we are grateful to our chairman Martin Tyas and his team of helpers from the club committee ( see picture below ) for their time and effort in obtaining all the necessary equipment and flowers and for putting together such an eye-catching display which we hope will give pleasure to the many Cookridge residents and visitors who pass by. Our thanks also to Jim Fonquernie for his model of the crown. (Some pictures of the Jubilee Bed and the members of the committee who helped put it together were attached to the newsletter); further pictures can be found on our club’s website.

 It is good to report that the Show Committee have made great progress towards the return of our ANNUAL SHOW FROM 2 PM TO 4.15 PM ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON SEPTEMBER 10^TH at our usual venue of COOKRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH HALL on Tinshill Road. You may be interested to know that there is now much more information about our Annual Show on the website. Included is a listing of all the classes, the show sponsors, information about how to enter exhibits and the rules and regulations governing the show. Although the show date is clearly just over three months away it is important that potential entrants have time to prepare whatever they may have in mind for entry. Winners or not we will be very happy for people to display whatever they can and we wish everyone the best of luck. Should there be further additions or amendments to the Show Schedule then these will be published on the website at the first opportunity. We are aware of course that not all members have internet and that some of you receive printed copies of the newsletter. It is hoped that printed copies of the show schedule will be available in about a month’s time to send out to those members. For those with access to the internet just click on the “Annual Show” tab on the website to access the information you will need.

Our Plant Sale on Saturday May 28^th raised £214 for the club. Thank you to all who helped with the sales, who provided items for selling and who came and supported the event. A special thank you of course to member Eric Wells for once again allowing us to use his front drive as the sale venue.

Another plant sale will be taking place on Saturday June 18^th between 10 am and 1 pm at the home of member Peter Blackwell at 15 Woodhill Rise, LS16 7DB. Proceeds will be in aid of Prostate Cancer, Leeds. Peter always has a fine selection of plants and other items for sale and this is a particularly worthy cause so do please try to support him if you can.

Our series of indoor meetings has drawn to a temporary close as we now concentrate on our summer outdoor events, in particular our visit to RHS Bridgewater Gardens on July 10^th for which there are still a few places available.

This is therefore an appropriate opportunity to thank our President , Joan Hopper and member Jean Turner for their provision of tea and biscuits at our indoor meetings, a vital part of the meeting which gives members and visitors the chance to chat over some refreshments”.

MAY 2022.

Our May newsletter was sent out to members by editor Bill Hunt just as May began. Given below is the replicated content of that mailing. The newsletter read:-

” Dear Member,

  At the risk of repeating myself I need to thank, on behalf of our committee, all those who have renewed their membership for 2022 so that our number currently stands at 72. Please consider renewing if you haven’t already done so and please also note that from June onwards newsletters will only go out to those who have renewed or whose membership ran over from 2021.

Following Geoff Wilson’s fascinating talk in March about ‘Leaf Nibblers and Sap Suckers’ Geoff has very kindly produced a summary of his information ( which was attached to the e-mailed version of the newsletter and which is also replicated on this website under the heading “Supplementary Newsletter – May 2022” ).

Our MAY MEETING will take place on the 18^th with a talk by Steve Halliwell entitled ‘From Hornbeam to Handkerchief Tree.’

May 28^th will be the date for our CLUB PLANT SALE to be held in the front drive of member Eric Wells at 55 Holt Park Road, LS16 7 QS from 1.00.p.m. until 3.00.p.m. Once again we thank Eric for accommodating the event for us. Further information is given on the website.

In addition to our well-attended indoor meetings we have had our first visit, notably to Swincar Nurseries, and a report on that event follows below. A form was attached if you would like to book for the visit to the JAPANESE GARDEN AT TOCKWITH ON JUNE 1^st and also for our COACH OUTING ON JULY 10^TH to the RHS BRIDGEWATER GARDENS AT SALFORD.

EVENING VISIT TO SWINCAR NURSERIES. A brief report by Geoff Lawson, with acknowledgement to information drawn from the Swincar Nursery website.

On Wednesday evening, 13^th April, the club enjoyed their first outing of the year when we were invited to a behind the scenes tour of nearby Swincar nurseries, on the hillside overlooking Guiseley.

Those who attended were met for this members only evening tour by owners  Andrew and Diane Fisher, the nursery having been a family run and owned business for many years.

The event was oversubscribed but Andrew and Diane weren’t phased by the numbers and gave a very interesting and educational tour of their state of the art facilities which included a viewing of the four new eco-friendly biomass boilers, the installation of which was completed in summer 2014, replacing three oil fired boilers with four Guntamatic Biocom wood pellet units. This involved a new boiler house and fuel store which holds 20 tons, yes, 20 tons, of wood pellet. The boilers are totally automatic and provide heat for all of the glasshouses, offices and workshops. Combined with the lighting power provided by their own wind turbine, this significantly reduces Swincar’s carbon footprint and hopefully will lead the way in to an age of more sustainable production, not just for the horticulture industry. 

​More recently, they have rebuilt the outside area which now provides shelter for customers and plants in the harsher weather conditions. The roof can be removed ( we were given a demonstration of this ) in  Summer, and protects the precious and delicate produce from wind, rain and frost in the Winter. 

Many of the products sold at Swincar are grown on site, such as basket, bedding and pot plants, while their grower contacts with Holland and Belgium ensure a good supply of quality plants, trees and shrubs. Andrew frequently visits Holland and Belgium to ensure that the plants on sale are of the highest quality.

After the tour was over Members had the opportunity to buy nursery grown plants and took full advantage of the chance to do so.

So a big thank you to  Andrew and Diane  for giving us a very enjoyable evening. And also a thank you to Swincar Nurseries for being ( for many years ) a sponsor of the club’s annual show .”

APRIL 2022

Bill Hunt produced another meaty edition of the newsletter which is replicated below and which was e-mailed to members just as March was drawing to a close with early signs of the approach of spring.

“ I’m opening April’s newsletter by repeating a previous appeal for any member to come forward to act as either the club’s general secretary or as the speaker secretary. Since the retirement of our former speaker secretary, Jim Fonquernie, his role has been taken over by our general secretary Katherine Hill. Both roles demand a fair amount of time and effort and we on the committee feel that, in fulfilling both of them at once, Katherine is carrying a disproportionate amount of responsibility and work. In case potential volunteers are wondering what exactly would be entailed it may help if we set out the sort of duties each position involves:

 General Secretary:

• To record the minutes of the club’s general committee and show committee and to relay them to the committee members;
• To notify committee members when their respective committees are due to meet and to provide the meeting agendas;
• To correspond on behalf of the club with outside agencies in connection with outings, events, publicity etc. but not to be solely responsible for  contacting potential sponsors for our Annual Show.

 Speaker Secretary:

• To liaise with possible speakers for our evening meetings;
• To confirm the subject of the speaker’s topic;
• To agree an appropriate fee and expenses;
• To inform the club’s general committee as progress is made with arrangements so that the topics can be included on the membership cards, on the club’s website and in appropriate newsletters. 

Katherine is willing to step down from whichever role a potential applicant might prefer. It goes without saying that support and help will always be available from the entire committee for the new secretary, particularly during the settling-in period. If anyone would like to take on either role then please contact Katherine – katherinehill@live.co.uk or via 0113 267 1858 – or have a word with any member of the general committee.

We continue to welcome new members as well as renewals from last year’s members. For anyone who has yet to renew a form was attached to the newsletter.

 At our March meeting we held a raffle in aid of the appeal to help Ukrainian refugees which, together with sales from cards and posters produced by member Peter Blackwell, raised £104. Thank you to everyone who contributed and to Peter for the cards and posters.

Our April meeting will take place on the 20^th, the topic being ‘Propagation for Grown-Up Gardeners’ presented by Peter Williams.

N.B. OUR APRIL MEETING WILL INCLUDE OUR MINI SPRING SHOW in which there will be 3 categories:

i.       A pot of ‘Narcissi’ daffodils from bulbs which were given out to members last autumn and which included the varieties ‘Salome’ [white with a pinkish trumpet] and ‘Camelot’ [yellow; robust and rounded].

ii.     Any other pot of ‘Narcissi;’

iii.   A pot of ANY OTHER flowering spring bulbs.

On May 18^th Steve Halliwell will present ‘From Hornbeam to Handkerchief Tree.’

A reminder also of our PLANT SALE ON SATURDAY MAY 28^TH on the front drive of member Eric Wells home at 55 Holt Park Road. Please pot up plants/ seedlings etc. for sale and PLEASE REMEMBER TO LABEL THEM CLEARLY.

Among our events during 2021 was a memorable visit to Clearbeck and attached to the newsletter were details of Clearbeck’s openings for 2022 in case anyone was unable to be on last year’s trip or if, quite understandably, you would like to return. Also attached was a picture of member Ann Fritchley’s mandrake [mandragora] plant as mentioned in ‘Harry Potter.’ Legend warns that it will scream if you try to uproot it and that if you succeed in doing so then you will die!! We definitely do not wish to lose any of our members so be warned!!

A recent email in the RSPB’s ‘Garden Notes’ series deals with companion planting. For any of you less familiar with this topic it is the creation of a community of plants which provide each other with nutrients along with protection from pests, diseases and the elements. Planting such a community helps bio-diversity, improves productivity and utilizes the natural control which plants can give each other. As well as looking attractive the dense planting and mix of species helps to confuse unwanted insects as well as attracting insects which aid pollination.

Companion planting can help in various ways. ‘Trap crops’ such as nasturtium, when planted alongside cabbages, will attract small and large white butterflies to lay their eggs there instead of on the cabbages. Many plants, when planted among food crops, can attract beneficial insects such as lacewings, ladybirds and hoverflies which in turn can control pests and eliminate the need for chemical controls. Yarrow, for instance, has scented clusters of white flowers which are popular with several beneficial predatory insects. When planted near aromatic herbs it can increase the production of essential oils. Fennel, however, while attractive to insects can also inhibit the productivity of neighbouring plants.  Lupins, beans and peas fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and make it available for other plants in the soil.

If you need to deter butterflies, moths, flies and beetles from laying eggs in food plants then try the following: rosemary, lavender, crow-garlic, mint, goldenrod, maranth, borage, dill, valerian, clover, sunflower, elderberry, coneflower.

Beneficial combinations include: carrots and leek; clover and apple tree; chives and tomatoes; marigold and tomatoes; geraniums/lavender and roses; nasturtium and cabbage; maize, beans and squash.

Avoid the following: Allium family [e.g. onions] with peas and beans; sage and cucumbers; tomatoes and cabbage family/potatoes; strawberries and cabbages.

Once again our Top Ten Tips which appear elsewhere on the website are supplemented by welcome advice from Chris Blom, beginning with Eucomis [‘the pineapple flower’], recommended for the summer patio and for adding interest to empty border patches. To provide appropriate drainage plant on a layer of sand. It flowers during July to end of September after which give it a heavy dressing of leaf mould.

Concerning Polianthes Tuberosa, lovely for containers when grown in a warm, sheltered location with full sun, Chris recommends starting them from the end of March onwards in a frost-free greenhouse or cold frame and kept there until any danger of frost has passed, probably early June. Plant 20 cms. apart and leave the tops of the tubers exposed for ripening by the sun. Provide plenty of moisture and keep frost-free during winter.

Chris also provides advice on growing dahlias which can be planted as self-contained groups or with other annuals or perennials. He recommends visiting dahlia show gardens for ideas to try out in your own garden [so a  good reason, among others, to visit Golden Acre Park]. Their variety of colour makes them compatible with any planting scheme, particularly in a herbaceous border where they can provide focus and colour during the summer and into the autumn. While they will grow in almost any type of soil there is always room for improving growing conditions to ensure even better displays so plenty of leaf mould and compost should be worked in to help with moisture retention. If you are using tubers from last year make certain that they have not suffered frost damage. It is easy to miss this and then to have the disappointment of finding that they turn soft and mushy on starting to grow. Further ideas concerning dahlias can be obtained by visiting Blomsbulbs.com whose mailing address is: Bloms Bulbs, Primrose Nurseries, Melchbourne, Bedford, MK44 1ZZ

MARCH 2022

It was during the first day or two of the month when Bill Hunt, our Newsletter Editor sent out the March edition, principally by email or in a small number of cases by surface mail, to members . The Newletter read as follows:-

“We continue to welcome both new and lapsed members to our club which is very encouraging. Thank you to all for your support.” (As usual renewal forms were attached in the hope that anyone who had not yet renewed their membership would be prompted to do so). The newsletter continued:-

“Our evening meetings continue to be well attended and we are grateful for such turnouts when, in spite of official relaxation measures, many people are still understandably cautious about joining large gatherings. Rest assured that we continue to ensure appropriate seating distancing and hall ventilation. Our MARCH MEETING will take place on the 16^th with a talk by Geoff Wilson from Middlesbrough entitled ‘Leaf Nibblers and Sap Suckers.’ We shall be reinstating refreshments at this meeting therefore PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL AGAIN BE CHARGING FOR ENTRIES WITH £1 FOR MEMBERS AND £2 FOR VISITORS.

Our APRIL MEETING will take place on the 20^th and the subject will be ‘Propagation for Grown-Up Gardeners’ presented by Peter Williams.  A reminder that April will also see the first of our outings for this year in the form of the evening visit to Swincar Nurseries on Wednesday the 13^th “. ( An application form for this and our other outings was attached to the newsletter) .

“At our January meeting 2 months ago members obtained plants from our speaker Jack Ogg of York Gate Garden. Katherine Hill, our Secretary ,has sent in a picture of the Pinella Dissectum which she took away and which has made remarkable growth since then “. The picture was attached to the newsletter ( and is reproduced below ). Thanks to Katherine for sending it in.

“We have, so far, two households in Cookridge Drive who have kindly offered to open their gardens to members during our Open Gardens Evening in July. Ideally we could do with 2 or 3 more offers either in Cookridge Drive itself or within easy walking distance. If anyone would like to offer, or if you know anyone who might be interested in showing their gardens, then please get in touch with Katherine Hill on Leeds 267 1858. 

 After 2 years lapse due to Covid we look forward to resuming our Annual Show on September 10^th at the Cookridge Methodist Church Hall on Tinshill Road. As I notified members  earlier, the Show Committee held its first meeting on Feb. 28^th and while the Show Schedule will become available later in the year members will no doubt be interested in the more immediate details of the Photography and Floral Art classes so that you can begin to develop ideas for possible entries. Details will, of course, also appear ON OUR WEBSITE AT www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

FLORAL ART

CLASS 15: A Wedding Buttonhole

CLASS 16: A table decoration entitled ‘Platinum Jubilee’

CLASS 17: ‘An Overgrown Path’

CLASS 18: ‘A Living Desert’

CLASS 19: A Miniature Arrangement in a Sea Shell in an area not exceeding 6” x 6” inc. a container

 PHOTOGRAPHY

CLASS 44: ‘Reflections’

CLASS 45: Garden Wildlife

CLASS 46: ‘In Black and White’

CLASS 47: A Platinum Jubilee Display

CLASS 48: ‘Are You Fit?!’

 This month’s Top Ten Tips are supplemented by the welcome return of a contribution by Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs [Blomsbulbs.com] who advises on the lifting and dividing of spring bulbs which may have been undisturbed for 4 or 5 years and where clustering has led to competition for food and water resulting in an absence of flowering, coming up ‘blind.’ Chris advises the following: 

1.   Divide the bulbs as soon as the flowering has finished. If left until autumn the bulbs can be hard to find.
2.   Divide when the ground is damp. If conditions have been dry then water the ground an hour before starting.
3.   As far as possible try to lift the bulbs in one clump. Then, if the bulbs are small or immature, divide them into clusters of about half-a-dozen or, if they are big enough, into singles.
4.   Prepare the ground thoroughly and add compost if necessary before replanting the bulbs to the same depth as before. Finish by watering well.

HAPPY GARDENING – AND WELCOME TO SPRING.

FEBRUARY 2022

 Reproduced below is the excellent February newsletter produced by William Hunt, Newsletter Editor and Membership Secretary. Our February edition really was a bumper one with lots of helpful information and details of events to come. The newsletter read:-

” It’s pleasing to see the (membership) renewals coming in as well as some new members and even some lapsed ones. Thank you to all of you. ( Forms were attached to the emailed newsletter either for posting or for bringing to one of our indoor meetings ).

I always try to send out the newsletter around the beginning of the month to which it relates. If you haven’t received it by the end of the first week of the month I suggest that first of all you CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER since for reasons definitely unknown to me bona fide correspondence can sometimes end up there. If it isn’t even in your spam folder then don’t hesitate to get in touch directly with me ( William Hunt ).

Although it is still early in the year there is much to bring to your attention concerning not only our own club activities but also things which are happening nearby. First of all (and attached to the emailed version) ,application forms were provided for the three visits which have been arranged for later this year, namely to Swincar Nurseries, Andy Bolton’s Japanese garden at Tockwith, and our annual coach outing which, this year, will be to RHS Bridgewater. Full details were given on the appropriate form for each event.

We enjoyed a very lively and enthusiastic talk from Jack Ogg of Yorkgate Garden at our January meeting and it is hoped to book Jack again during 2023. This is an appropriate spot to remind you that Feb. 15^th to 20^th is the period for visiting Yorkgate to see their snowdrops; try not to miss the opportunity.

William has been in touch with Ellen Stoker who is the ABCD Community Builder at the Welcome In/OPAL on Bedford Drive in Tinshill. Ellen informs me that they will be working hard to get their Community Garden underway this spring. If any members are interested in helping, particularly members who live in the vicinity of ‘Welcome In’, then do please get in touch with Ellen who can be contacted on ellen@opal-project.org.uk

The Committee are very keen to hear the views of our members about any aspect of our club’s organisation or activities. To this end our indoor meetings will include the availability of our SUGGESTION AND IDEAS BOX so if you have any suggestions on matters such as outings, speakers, meeting topics, opening of members’ gardens, or even if you think there are things which we ought to be doing better, then we want to hear from you so please take advantage of the opportunity.

It goes without saying that one of the immeasurable pleasures of having a garden is the birdlife which can be attracted by what we grow. As well as the sheer joy they provide us through being able to watch them our birds are also our allies in trying to keep down pests. Another way of attracting them is by providing them with food but there are cautions to be observed in order to ensure a healthy environment. In the latest issue of ‘Nature’s Home’, the magazine of the RSPB, Mick Harlow advises that garden feeders should be CLEANED AND WASHED WEEKLY in order to prevent the occurrence of diseases amongst birds. The entire feeder should be dismantled so that every small part together with each nook and cranny can be scrubbed with a 5% disinfectant solution. Wear gloves while you do this. Before refilling make sure that all parts of the feeder are thoroughly air dried in order to kill potential pathogens and to ensure that there is no residual dampness which could adversely affect fresh food. Feeders should also be regularly rotated in order to prevent the accumulation of waste and droppings which can carry infection.

Elsewhere in ‘Nature’s Home’ we are warned to be on the watch for trichomonosis which can affect finches and can be disturbing to witness since it causes throat lesions and swelling which in turn undermines the capacity to breath and feed, leading to death. Other symptoms are a fluffed-up appearance, lethargy, and sitting still with little movement so that they are easy to approach. The following action is advised: stop feeding birds for 2-4 weeks in order to encourage them to disperse; remove, thoroughly clean, and then allow to thoroughly dry, all feeding equipment which should then be stored indoors away from the garden until such time as there are no further signs of ill health after which feeders should always be regularly cleaned as prescribed in the previous paragraph. For more information about trichomonosis, and to report diseases among garden species please visit gardenwildlifehealth.org  “

JANUARY 2022

Bill Hunt sent the informative newsletter replicated below to Members to welcome in the start of 2022.

 “As 2021 draws to a close and we welcome in 2022 with some degree of hope and optimism the committee of Cookridge Gardening Club send all our members their best wishes for 2022 and hope that you have had an enjoyable Christmas free from Covid and any other bothersome ailments. Despite the uncertainty now being generated by the Omicron variant it is good to be able to report that membership of the club, as a result of renewals and new members joining in the final months of 2021, stands at twenty-nine. We look forward to that number growing and a renewal form was attached to the newsletter sent out by email and post by William Hunt our Newsletter editor. As usual you can either post it to the membership secretary or bring it to the next indoor meeting which you will be able to attend.

Let me remind you of the outings which have already been arranged for 2022:

Wednesday. April 13^th. : Evening visit to Swincar Nursery, Guiseley

Wednesday. June 1^st:    Afternoon visit to Andy Bolton’s Japanese Garden at Tockwith

Sunday.  July 10^th:         Annual coach outing, this year to RHS Bridgewater

Further details and opportunities to book for these events will be available nearer the relevant dates but do please note them in your diaries straightaway if you would like to go.

 We hope that, unlike early 2021, we will be able to hold actual indoor meetings straightaway and our JANUARY MEETING will take place on the 19^th when Jack Ogg, who is in charge of the Exotic Garden at York Gate, will talk about ‘Tropical Gardening in Yorkshire,’ perhaps a not-too-fanciful idea in view of some climate change predictions!

Our FEBRUARY MEETING will be on the 16^th with the presentation on ‘Flowers of Crete’ by David Aldred which should have been given in January 2021.

On the subject of our indoor presentations we are still looking for a member to join the committee as either SPEAKER SECRETARY or GENERAL SECRETARY. Our current General Secretary, Katherine Hill, has indicated that she would be willing to be Speaker Secretary if someone is prepared to take on her present role so if either office appeals to anyone then please contact Katherine without delay either on 0113 267 1858 or email katherinehill@live.co.uk “

DECEMBER 2021

It was on the last day of November when newsletter Editor William Hunt sent out the following excellent edition. The newsletter was full of useful information and is replicated below:-

The committee of Cookridge Gardening Club would like to wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and the hope that, unlike 2020, you will be able to enjoy the company of those closest to you. If deciding what sort of presents to give is a problem for you then why not simply give a year’s membership of our club? You may well be encouraging a new interest as well as the opportunity to make new friends and enjoy a healthier and more fulfilling life style. For such friends/relations and for those of you whose membership will expire at the end of this year, a renewal form was attached to the e-mailed / posted newsletter.

At our AGM it was announced that the subscription cost will remain at £10. We were very happy to welcome new members Emma Chippendale, Steven Gazeley, Mary Smith and Joan Webster. It’s particularly noteworthy that we now have members from as far afield as Moortown, Rawdon, Horsforth, Meanwood and Chapel Allerton. Sadly Rita Horne and Jim Fonquernie have stepped down from the committee but we welcome new member Ruth Straw. There is still a vacancy for at least one new member. As mentioned in a previous email we are now looking for someone to take on the responsibility for booking speakers for our evening meetings. However, as our secretary Katherine Hill has herself expressed interest in this role we would be pleased to hear from anyone who is willing to take over from Katherine as the club’s overall Secretary. Anyone who feels interested should contact Katherine either on 0113 267 1858 or katherinehill@live.co.uk

Our DECEMBER MEETING will take place on the 8^th [NB!] with Steve Halliwell presenting ‘Peek at Packwood [Cotswolds]’. PLEASE NOTE THAT AT THIS MEETING WE SHALL BE RE-INSTATING OUR ADMISSION CHARGES, NAMELY £1 FOR MEMBERS AND £2 FOR VISITORS. As in the past the charge will include the provision of refreshments in the form of a cup of tea or coffee and, appropriately for the approach of Christmas, mince pies in place of the usual biscuits. On the same night Denise Watson will be selling her delicious home-made jams and chutney from 7 pm and Peter Blackwell will be selling his own hand-painted Christmas cards. December’s meeting will also give us a chance to view the display, inside the Methodist Church, of Christmas trees prepared by various other Cookridge-based organisations and we are grateful to the church for their permission for us to do this. The display will include our club’s own Christmas tree and we are grateful to committee members Yvonne Cooper and Ruth Straw for their time and work in preparing it. On Saturday December 4^th the Methodist Church will be presenting their Christmas Tree Festival from 10.30 to midday. Our JANUARY MEETING will be on the 19^th with a talk by Jack Ogg, who maintains the Exotic Garden at York Gate, entitled ‘Tropical Gardening in Yorkshire.’ Jack is a specialist in this field so expect a particularly fascinating evening. Details of our indoor meetings during 2022 will be included on your membership card and can also be found on our website. ( Note: The meetings through to the end of May are already posted on the website’s Calendar of Events Page. The remaining booked events will appear shortly. ) However, the newsletter will always contain a reminder of those meetings which are immediately forthcoming.

THERE ARE ALREADY THREE OUTINGS IN 2022 FOR NOTING IN YOUR DIARIES:

WEDNESDAY April 13^th – evening visit to Swincar Nursery at Guiseley. This will be a private visit, exclusively for members of our club, to see how the nursery functions. There will be no admission charge but members will have the opportunity to buy whatever they may fancy in the way of plants and shrubs so make sure that your wallets are well filled! Further details will follow in the newsletters for February and / or March so that members will have the opportunity to book places which will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

WEDNESDAY June 1^st at 2pm – a visit to Andy Bolton’s Japanese garden at Tockwith.[This follows Andy’s presentation at   our October meeting]. Expected cost – £6 incl. tea and cakes.

SUNDAY July 10^th  – Annual Coach Outing which, this year, will be to RHS Bridgewater

Please note these dates now. Further details for the July outing will follow in due course.

We are keen for members to make their ideas/ suggestions about our club known to the committee therefore our indoor meetings will feature, on the registration table, a Suggestion Box in which you can recommend speakers, topics for meetings, places/gardens for visits/coach trips or just tell us in general how we are doing [or not doing!].

HAPPY CHRISTMAS !

NOVEMBER 2021

 As October drew to a close and the clocks fell back an hour newsletter editor William Hunt sent out the following November newsletter to members:-

“It was very encouraging to see well over thirty attenders at our October meeting and to see the fascinating garden scenes presented to us by Andy Bolton. Our November Meeting takes place on the 17th. when Doug Stewart will talk about ‘Gardens of The National Trust.’ This will also be our AGM session which we hope to complete quickly before the evening’s main fixture. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING ANY CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS WHICH YOU MAY HAVE PREPARED FOR THE CHURCH’S CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL AND GIVE THEM TO YVONNE COOPER.

A reminder that our December meeting takes place ON THE EIGHTH i.e. the second Wednesday of the month as opposed to the third Wednesday which is our usual week. Steve Halliwell’s talk will be entitled ‘Peek at Packwood [Cotswolds].’

Bags of Narcissi daffodil bulbs are ready to collect from the home of committee member Marion Lawson at 63 Cookridge Drive. There will be a table by the front door and a list of members’ names where you are asked to tick off your name on collecting your bulbs. Each pack will contain 5 bulbs, a mixture of ‘Sealing Wax’ and ‘Binkie’ varieties. These packs are free to members of Cookridge Gardening Club. Since there is a surplus of the ‘Sealing Wax’ variety we are offering extra bags of these at £2 per bag. Normally we would hope to give out the bulbs before now but, unfortunately, 2021 has been a particularly adverse year for bulb growers due to several periods of unfavourable weather which at one stage halted the bulb harvesting and resulted in slower progress in their lifting and drying, hence the delay in our obtaining them. We therefore recommend that you pot your bulbs straightaway on getting them home so that they will flower in time for our Mini-Show next spring. If you are planting bulbs in the ground then Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs recommends good preparation of suitably fertile soil and, needless to say, good quality bulbs which should be planted at twice the depth of the bulb, a process which can be made easier by lightly forking the soil beforehand. We are grateful to committee members Geoff, Marion and Anne for the purchase of the bulbs and the carrier bags and for preparing the packages for us to collect. Our thanks also to Geoff for putting pictures of the flowered bulbs on our website so that you can see what to expect.”

OCTOBER 2021

William Hunt produced the following newsletter which was e-mailed to members in the last day or two of September. “During what has undoubtedly been the most difficult period during our club’s existence it is very encouraging to acknowledge the loyalty and interest which our members have shown and which has made itself evident through support for our activities such as our Plant Sales [ our sale on Sept. 11^th raised £335 and we are very grateful to those members who brought items to sell as well as everyone who turned up and, of course, to Cookridge Methodist Church for allowing us to use their car park ], sales organised by our members at their own homes, our July Coach Outing, and, most recently, our visit to Golden Acre Park under the welcoming guidance of Park Manager Dean Lockwood and his assistant James. Do view the pictures on our website – www.cookridgegardenclub – which were taken during the visit. Our present membership stands at sixty-four and it was good to enrol both lapsed and completely new members at our Sept. 11^th sale. We now look forward to resuming our evening meetings during the coming months. Naturally we will be taking anti-Covid precautions such as safely-distanced seating and adequate ventilation and, in view of the latter, members are advised to wear an extra layer for warmth. Upcoming events include:

OCTOBER 20th: ‘Japanese Gardens’ with Andy Bolton

N.B. Please remember to bring your Chrysanthemum!! There will be a prize for the best exhibit.

NOVEMBER.17^th: ‘Gardens of The National Trust’ with Doug Stewart

N.B. This will be our Annual General Meeting as well.

DECEMBER. 8^th: ‘Peek at Packwood [Cotswolds]’ with Steve Halliwell

N.B. Please note that this meeting is on the second Wednesday of the month. It is hoped that at this meeting we will be able to view the Christmas Tree Festival in the Church. Committee member Yvonne Cooper has kindly taken on the task of preparing our own entry and more information about this will follow later

JANUARY.19^th [2022]: ‘Tropical Gardening in Yorkshire’ with Jack Ogg [Senior Gardener at Yorkgate]

Our 2022 SUMMER COACH OUTING will take place on Sunday July 10^th with a visit to R.H.S. BRIDGWATER GARDEN at SALFORD. Please put the date in your diary straightaway to avoid missing the opportunity to visit this excellent new RHS site.

Once again we are grateful to Chris Blom of Blom’s Bulbs [Blomsbulbs.com / 01234 709099] for some additional advice to go with our regular Top Ten Tips. Chris’s topic for October is compost for which he recommends the following ingredients:

Bulb fibre [more open and free-draining than multi-purpose compost and ideal for bulbs];

Nutrient-enriched topsoil;

Multi-purpose compost;

Horticultural grit;

Sharp sand;

Mushroom compost [slightly alkaline];

Perlite

Most bulbs like soil which is free-draining, moisture retentive and friable. They strive for a good root system and will consume a lot of water in spring. A good root system is advantageous for the current year and  for ensuring that the bulbs absorb maximum nutrients for future growth. Make sure that the compost is suitably damp BEFORE filling any containers since it is difficult to add enough moisture once the bulbs have been planted. There should be enough moisture for the compost to bind when lightly squeezed. While most general-purpose composts are adequate it is useful to include garden soil, leaf mould and a small amount of horticultural grit. If you are buying compost then choose a soil-based mix such as John Innes No.2. Similar recommendations apply to border planting. If you need additional organic matter then lightly fork-in material from your compost heap, preferably a few weeks before planting. For bulbs this is better than mulching. Spring-flowering bulbs need warm soil temperatures during their ‘dormant’ summer period.”

                           

Please take a look at the “normal ” Top Ten Tips ” in their normal slot on the website.

SEPTEMBER 2021

Our Newsletter Editor, William Hunt emailed the following bumper edition of the monthly newsletter to members as we neared the end of August. The Newsletter read as follows:-

Cautious optimism is still very much the watchword so it is to be hoped that the present steady situation will continue throughout autumn and into early winter so that we can enjoy the activities which are planned for our members.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4^TH, 2pm to 4.15: Adel Flower and Produce Show to be held at Adel Methodist Church, Holt Lane. Do try to support this event since Adel Gardeners Club is kindly helping to promote our own plant sale a week later.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11^TH, 1 pm to 3.00 [set up from midday]. Cookridge Gardening Club Plant Sale to be held in the car park of Cookridge Methodist Church. Contributions of plants and general gardening items to sell on behalf of the club will be much appreciated. Please label any plants which you may wish to donate. Also don’t forget to bring the chrysanthemums which were given out to you back in the spring and remember to put your names on the pots.

All being well, our autumn indoor meetings will be going ahead as planned [see below], and we look forward to returning to our usual venue at Cookridge Methodist Church Hall. We will naturally have to adopt stricter hygiene measures in the interests of attenders’ safety and we hope to publish more precise information on this aspect in the October newsletter following  discussion at the next meeting of the committee early in September.

                OCT. 20^th: ‘Japanese Gardens’ with Andy Bolton

                NOV. 17^th [AGM Meeting]: ‘Gardens of The National Trust’ with Doug Stewart

                DEC. 8^th:  ‘Peek at Packwood [Cotswolds]’ with Steve Halliwell

In addition to our indoor meetings, a reminder of our visit to Golden Acre Park with a conducted tour by Dean Lockwood on WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 22^ND  at 2pm. Please contact Katherine Hill [0113 267 1858/ katherinehill@live.co.uk] if you would like to go. We need a minimum of 10 members to make the visit viable. The cost will be £3 each, payable at the visit.

You will remember that we recently ran a competition to come up with a Strapline/Slogan for our club. Entries closed on Aug 13^th and the committee were faced with 14 entries from which to make a choice. The clear winner was: ‘ ‘’Growing Together’’ – with Cookridge Gardening Club’. This strapline should now appear just in front of our club’s logo on the home page of our website. A big ‘thank you!’ to all who submitted entries and to Geoff Lawson for organising the competition. While on the subject of our website, if anyone is thinking of submitting pictures of gardens, flowers, or anything which will be of interest to our members then please let me know so that it can be mentioned in the newsletter, thereby helping to promote our website and encourage more visitors to it.

 Once again, the ‘Top Ten Tips’ for the month are supplemented by advice kindly sent to us by Chris Blom of ‘Blom’s Bulbs. Concerning their catalogue Chris writes:

                    ‘[It] needs to reflect the current colour and planting trends for the garden, the best-performing varieties but it is also important to showcase some of the more rare and uncommon plants that I feel often get overlooked. What makes for a rare bulb? It may be difficult to grow, or low-yielding and therefore expensive, or may just have fallen from public attention. Many of these bulbs are now only grown by single growers who have a passion for a particular flower.

                A good example from my current catalogue is Techophileae Cyanocrocus Leichtinii, known as the Chilean Blue crocus. Very, very few of my customers buy these [we have so far sold five], but I include them because they are possibly my favourite spring flower. Call them an indulgence, I do not want to see them disappear. Certainly expensive, and although easy to grow they do not significantly increase year to year.

                These most beautiful of bulbs bear crocus-like flowers of rich sky-blue with a white centre, and have a lovely fragrance. They require a light, well-drained soil and a sunny position. Growing to a height of 10 cm with the flowers 3-4 cm in diameter, they flower March/April. Ideal for the rock garden or against a sunny wall, a sheltered position is important. Given the cost, it is advisable to give them some winter protection; they are only just frost tolerant. Consider growing them in a cold frame and then moving them indoors to a bright position when the first colour starts to appear. This will give the greatest enjoyment of the flowers and fragrance.’

  In another contribution Chris adds:

                ‘Whilst our focus will be on our displays for next spring it is still worth considering the autumn garden. On the bulb front the most popular choices are colchicums, cyclamen and crocus. They are charming and fascinating and provide useful colour when other perennials are dying back . . .

                COLCHICUM: Native to the British Isles, Europe, the Mediterranean and central Asia, they bear their flowers before the leaves appear, hence their name ‘Naked Ladies.’ Plant in moisture-retentive fertile soil. To flower at their best they should be situated in a sheltered position that enjoys the afternoon sun. If they become over-congested they should be divided after the foliage has died down and immediately replanted. If they are not planted immediately they can be brought into flower on a sunny window sill without any soil or moisture. Plant in the garden as soon as the flowers have gone over.

                AUTUMN CROCUS: These include Crocus Sativus, the saffron crocus thought to be first commercially cultivated during the reign of Edward III in the village now called Saffron Walden. Plant in generous drifts in the shrubbery, beneath trees, or in the alpine garden. Planting depths should be no more than 5 cm. Planting too deeply is a common cause for failure to flower and prevents naturalisation unless the soil is especially light.

                HARDY CYCLAMEN [Hederifolium]: They form a luxurious carpet of marbled foliage followed by numerous weather-resistant dainty blossoms. They look glorious in woodland or the shrubbery and also do well in containers. Plant in a dampish situation, working in plenty of leaf mould. Apply a top dressing of the same when the plants are dormant.’

AUGUST 2021

The August Newsletter published as July came to a close read as follows:-

” ‘Normalisation’ is naturally bringing a very cautious approach but there is plenty of good news in this newsletter for August, beginning with a report of our highly enjoyable coach outing on July 11^th which can be viewed on the attachment. ( which had been sent out to Members with the emailed newsletter and which can also be viewed in its entirety on the News Page of this website ). In addition the newsletter encouraged readers to visit our website at cookridgegardenclub.co.uk to see the spectacular garden scenes which some of our members recorded during the visit.

Peter Blackwell’s plant sale earlier in July raised a remarkable £1500 in aid of Motor Neurone Disease. ‘Well done!’ to Peter and his helpers and ‘Thank you!’ to everyone who supported.

Our visit to the garden of Kate van Heel at 2 Newlay Grove, Horsforth, LS18 4LH [tel. 239 0191] takes place on Wed. Aug. 4^th at 2 pm. Admission will be £5 to include tea and cake. Please let Katherine Hill know if you intend to go [267 1858 or 0782 543 2213]. Please park on Newlaithes Rd. and walk down to Newlay Grove, turning right just before Newlay Bridge. You may park on Newlay Rd., if you have mobility problems. But please notify Katherine if you need to do so. Please note that this visit is for members only – but if you wish to take a friend or relative please check with Katherine first.

Sadly we have been forced to cancel our Annual Show for the second successive year. However there is good news in that Cookridge Methodist Church have kindly allowed us to use their car park for a plant sale which will take place on Saturday Sept. 11^th, the day on which the show should have been held. The sale will run from 1 pm to 3 pm but items to be sold may be brought from midday. Please consider donating any flowers or fruit and vegetable produce which may have been cultivated for display in our show and please also make sure that all items which are offered are clearly labelled. Remember also to bring the chrysanthemums which were given out in May so that they can be displayed and judged, and please make sure that your name is on the chrysanthemum pot.

 We cautiously hope to be able to resume our indoor meetings in October and more information will follow in subsequent newsletters. If any of you have ideas for talk topics for 2022 which you think would interest the other members then please get in touch with Katherine Hill.

Geoff Lawson, our webmaster, is looking out for an appropriate ‘Strapline’ [we used to call them ‘slogans’!] for our club .The newsletter advised readers to  see the ‘Strapline’ attachment which accompanied the emailed newsletter  but for ease of reference there is now a page on the website giving full competition details. It can be found via a link at the foot of the home page or directly as a separate page under the News page heading.  See if you can come up with something that will catch peoples’ imagination “.

JULY 2021

The July newsletter sent out just before the start of the month was as informative as ever and read as follows;-

“The July Newsletter which has already been sent out to members via e-mail or in the post included a booking form for the coach outing on July 11^th. Please contact William Hunt our Newsletter editor if you have trouble downloading the form; he will be happy to help.

In connection with the July 11^th coach outing please note the following:

1.  Please let Katherine Hill have your application form BEFORE Wed. June 30^th. Katherine’s address is: 71 Cookridge Drive, LS16 7HP [Tel: 0113 267 1858] OR email her at katherinehill@live.co.uk
   
   
2.  The coach will follow social-distancing guidelines and masks will need to be worn while travelling. The 51-seater coach is allowed to carry 24 passengers.
   
   
3.  At Clearbeck House coffee and biscuits will be available at £2 per person.
   
   
4.  At Gresgarth there will be refreshments but there is no seating. So you may wish to bring a packed lunch and / or something to sit on in the picnic area.

On Wednesday August . 4^th 2021 at 2 pm you may wish to visit KATE VAN HEEL’S GARDEN at HORSFORTH. Entry will be £5 including tea and cake. Katherine or our treasurer Anne Miller will collect the entry money at the garden. PLEASE NOTIFY KATHERINE IN ADVANCE [‘PHONE NUMBERS BELOW] IF YOU INTEND TO VISIT SO THAT KATE KNOWS HOW MANY VISITORS TO CATER FOR. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS VISIT IS FOR MEMBERS ONLY.

Parking near Kate’s house is limited; if you have mobility problems then you may park nearby BUT PLEASE RING KATHERINE HILL TO ARRANGE THIS: Tel: 0113 267 1858 or Mobile 0782 543 2213.

Kate’s beautiful garden is situated close to the River Aire. We are visiting in the afternoon because this is the time when the garden is at its best; it is more shaded at evening time.

 ANNUAL SHOW 2021

 Unfortunately the situation for our September Show looks very uncertain at the moment. However, if we are not able to go ahead as a full show in the Church Hall then it is hoped to be able to organise a Car Park plant sale instead ON THE SAME DATE i.e. SEPT. 11^TH so please keep that date clear. More information will follow later “.

JUNE 2021

The chatty June Newsletter read as follows:

“We hope that you will be able to take full advantage of the current warm spell [predicted to last for at least the first half of this month] so that you can get your gardens in order after such a wet May. The rain held off just long enough for us to have a successful Plant Stall day on May 15^th which raised a remarkable £365! Thank you to all who supported in whatever way and to Eric Wells and Katherine Hill for respectively hosting and organizing the day and to Marion Lawson for organizing the distribution of chrysanthemums.

Marion and Yvonne Cooper have prepared a 2^nd delivery of chrysanthemums for members who were unable to collect theirs from the first batch the club received, to collect and grow with a view to exhibiting them in our September Show when a special prize will be available for the best entry. The plants are available for members who still have to collect one, from Marion’s home at 63 Cookridge Drive, LS16 7HP. Marion will kindly deliver to anyone who is unable to collect.  In connection with this scheme here are some advisory pointers on caring for your chrysanthemum:

• Your plant will come in a small pot. As it grows, transfer it to a larger one, ideally 8” and filled with John Innes No. 3 compost. Alternatively you can fill the pot with garden soil provided that it is light and free-draining.
  
• Add a small amount of general fertilizer such as ‘Growmore’ or fish, blood and bone for necessary nourishment.
  
• Stand the pot in a sunny location and keep the compost moist. During mid-summer give a balanced liquid feed every two weeks.
  
• For a bushy habit pinch out the growing tip after 6”. Otherwise leave it to achieve height. Enjoy its beautiful flowers and good luck in the show!

Enjoy its beautiful flowers and good luck in the show!

And some events to look forward to:-

Wednesday  23^rd June. 6.00 to 8.00.pm – Carol Bradford has kindly agreed to open her garden at 9 KIRKWOOD CRESCENT.  We also hope that a few other gardens in the vicinity may also open for us.  There will be light refreshments and a plant stall.   (DONATIONS OF PLANTS TO SELL WILL BE MOST WELCOME!)    Carol warned of some uneven surfaces within her garden area.

There is a small charge for admission. Members: £2;   Non-members: £3  which includes refreshments.

We are delighted to tell you that our full day trip on Sunday 11 July will go ahead.  We will visit Clearbeck House Garden at Caton in the morning followed by a long-awaited visit to Gresgarth Hall Garden in the afternoon. ( A booking form for this trip was attached to the newsletter e-mailed to Members. The form also included further details of the trip.) “

MAY 2021 

The May Newsletter began with our Newsletter Editor and Membership Secretary, Bill Hunt, thanking those who had renewed their membership for 2021. It was reported that at the moment we had 51 members. The chatty newsletter continued “If you haven’t yet renewed then please consider doing so. You will see from the items below that plenty of activity will be on offer during the coming months. The e-mailed version of this Newsletter includes a renewal form and there will also be a further opportunity to join or renew membership when we hold our Plant Sale on Saturday 15th May. Further details of that event are given below. Please note that from the start of June further newsletters and other information will only be sent to members who have renewed for 2021.

Our mini-Spring Show was very successful with 28 entries. The 3 winners were Nina Foggin, Anne Miller and Yvonne Cooper but thank you to all who entered. As well as being grateful to Doug Stewart for judging we must also thank our club webmaster, Geoff Lawson, for dealing with all the technical intricacies which allowed the show to go ahead in the first place. Geoff points out that on the day of the show our website received a remarkable 350 hits, a strong publicity tool.

On Saturday May 15^th, between midday and 3 pm,  we shall be having our plant sale and we are again grateful to member and former club chairman Eric Wells for allowing us to use his front drive at 55 Holt Park Road. In addition to being able to buy plants, greetings cards will be available from Peter Blackwell and if anyone wishes to dispose of usable gardening equipment or other useful bric-a-brac then please bring it along so that it can be offered for sale for club funds. PLEASE NOTE: at the plant sale EACH MEMBER WILL BE ABLE TO COLLECT ONE POTTED CHRYSANTHEMUM free of charge. Any left-over chrysanthemums will be available to buy at the same time. Our thanks to committee member Marion Lawson for organising this scheme.

On Wednesday May 19^th at 7.30 pm we shall be presenting another Zoom meeting when Peter Williams will talk about ‘Special Plants for Small Gardens.’ The link for this event will be sent out nearer to the time.

On Sunday May 23^rd between midday and 5 pm, member Carol Abbott will be opening her lovely garden at ‘The Orchard,’ 4A Blackwood Rise, LS16 7BG, [off Tinshill Lane, almost opposite the Tinshill Free Church]. This event is in aid of the National Garden Scheme. Admission will be £3.50 for adults and free for children. As well as plants on offer for sale there will be light refreshments and there will be cover in case of inclement weather. If you intend to come by car then please park on Tinshill Lane.

On June 23^rd member Carol Bradford will kindly be opening her garden on Kirkwood Crescent for members to visit and on August 4^th we are invited to visit the garden of Kate van Heel in Horsforth. Further details about both of these events will be given nearer the time but please put them in your diary now. July 11^th was intended to be the date for our Annual Coach Outing but unfortunately there is uncertainty about this event due to Covid restrictions which have to be observed by the coach operator. We will clarify the position at a later date”.

APRIL 2021

Once again, on behalf of the club committee, a big ‘thank you’ was sent to all of those members who had renewed membership for 2021 and who had supported our successful Zoom meetings. A membership form was included with the newsletter for anyone who  hadn’t yet renewed their membership with a request to please consider doing so since there is a lot of activity planned for the coming weeks and months. The following gives an idea of club activities coming up. The Newsletter continued:-

“On April 7^th at 7.30 pm Ben Preston of Yorkgate Garden will give a zoom talk about the gardens there. The link for this event was sent out on March 8^th.

On April 21^st at 7.30 pm Doug Stewart will talk about ‘Flowers, Foliage, and Fat Rascals.’ [Entrance to both zoom meetings will be at 7.15 pm]. Doug has also kindly agreed to act as the judge for our Mini Spring Show which will take place at the same time. Details of the show and conditions of entry are given at the end of the Newsletter and were sent out as an attachment to the original email version of the Newsletter..

The Newsletter urged readers to keep abreast of what’s happening on the Cookridge gardening scene by visiting the club’s website at Cookridgegardenclub.co.uk and to contribute pictures for the Gallery whenever possible.

On May 15^th,  from midday to 3pm  there will be our Club Plant Sale on the drive at the home of member Eric Wells at 55 Holt Park Road.

Sunday July 11^th is the date for our coach outing to the gardens at Clearbeck House and Gresgarth Hall. An application form for the outing will be attached to a later newsletter.

Sadly we recently learnt of the death after a long illness of former member Barry Temple. Barry was the club’s treasurer for many years and we will miss seeing him at our events. Our condolences go to his widow Yvonne and the rest of his family. Our secretary Katherine Hill will represent the club at Barry’s funeral on Monday March 29^th  at Rawdon.

Also attached to the newsletter were details of a 10% discount on some items for club members [on production of your membership card] at DEAN’S GARDEN CENTRE, STOCKTON LANE, STOCKTON-ON-THE-FOREST, YORK, YO32 9UE [www.deansgardencentre.co.uk  Main line: 01904 400 141; Direct line: 01904 401027. Club Secretary Katherine Hill warmly recommends this centre and also points out that it is within 2 miles of ‘Vertigro,’ another recommended centre, and ‘Breezy Knees’ Garden which is open during the summer.

SPRING SHOW – A virtual reality!

We had planned to hold our Spring show in April and had hoped that depending on the lifting of current restrictions related to coronavirus it might be held in the Methodist Church Hall. Sadly that won’t be possible.

However we are determined to hold a Spring Show one way or another and with that in mind we are holding a “virtual” Show using our website and its Gallery page for Members to exhibit entries for judging.

There will be three categories and they will be:-
1. A pot of Narcissi with the bulbs already given to Members which were “Jack the Lad”, a double yellow, and “Rainbow”, white with a coloured centre.
2. Any other pot of Narcissi
3. A pot of any flowering spring bulbs

Entrants will be required to submit a single photograph of their entry for any or all of the three classes, as an attachment from their own personal e-mail address to info@cookridgegardenclub.co.uk

All entries must be submitted as JPEG attachments and be in portrait format and the e-mail should indicate which of the three categories the entry is for. Entries will be displayed on the Gallery Page of the website.

ENTRIES CAN BE SUBMITTED FROM 00.01 HOURS ON SUNDAY 18TH APRIL through to 23.59 HOURS ON TUESDAY 20th APRIL, allowing a three day span.

Judging will take place on or very soon after Wednesday 21st April with Doug Stewart our speaker on the 21st having kindly agreed to be the judge for all entries received. A prize will be awarded for the best entry in each class.

Please keep checking the website for more information. We wish all entrants the very best of luck.

HAPPY GARDENING! “

MARCH 2021

William Hunt, our Newsletter editor sent out the March edition just as February was drawing to a close. The Newsletter included copies of the Membership application / renewal forms for those who have yet to renew their membership for this year. Any member wishing to renew or anyone interested in joining our club should contact William direct via william.hunt7@ntlworld.com. He will be delighted to hear from you. Good to write that there is quite a lot to report this month and much to look forward too. The Newsletter continued………..

‘Many, many welcomes,
February fair-maid,
Ever as of old time,
Solitary firstling,
Coming at the cold time,
Prophet of the gay time,
Prophet of the May time,
Prophet of the roses,
Many, many welcomes,
February first-maid.’ 
Tennyson’s ‘The Snowdrop’ provided an appropriate albeit unusual opening for our March newsletter and hopefully set an optimistic tone for the coming year. “I’m grateful to Katherine Hill for suggesting its inclusion” wrote the editor.

SPRING OUT OF LOCKDOWN is the title of an idea being promoted by OPAL [Older Peoples’ Action in the Locality] based in Tinshill whereby residents of Leeds 16 are being encouraged to celebrate the emergence from Lockdown and the arrival of spring by displaying a pot of flowers on their doorstep. Alternatively, children or those unable to do any planting are encouraged to draw or paint pictures with a floral theme and display them in a window or somewhere equally suitable. Additionally members who know someone who is unable to provide their own decoration might be willing to prepare a pot on their behalf or even on behalf of someone you don’t know. The scheme is being co-ordinated by Ellen who is the Community Builder for Leeds 16 at OPAL and who is keen to hear from anyone who would be willing to prepare displays or offer any pots for use and she can be contacted on: ellen@opal-project.org.uk 

A surplus supply of bulbs has been kindly donated to OPAL by John Woodruff, the manager of ‘Caring for Life’  Garden Centre and, following our very successful February Zoom meeting, he will on WEDNESDAY MARCH 17^TH at 7.30 pm be presenting a Zoom meeting on the topic of ‘CARING FOR LIFE/SPRING FLOWERS.’ 
A SECOND MARCH ZOOM MEETING has been arranged by Katherine Hill for WEDNESDAY 31^ST AT 7.30 PM when Ben Preston, the head gardener at York Gate, will talk about ‘YORK GATE THROUGH THE SEASONS.’  ( Note: This event was subsequently rearranged to an April date )
FOR OUR APRIL MEETING WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE 21^ST as stated on your membership card, Doug Stewart’s topic will be ‘FLOWERS, FOLIAGE AND FAT RASCALS.’ We are grateful to our three speakers for being willing to set up the Zoom links, the details of which will be forwarded shortly before the arranged dates. 
April 21^st is also the date for our VIRTUAL MINI SPRING SHOW in which we invite you to send in pictures [portrait size please] for inclusion in one of the following three categories: 

i.        A pot of the narcissi daffodils which were given to members last  autumn;
ii.       Any other pot of narcissi;
iii.      A pot of any other spring-flowering bulbs.

 We are grateful to Doug Stewart for agreeing to judge the entries. ( Hopefully also on the 21st April )

 A MAY PLANT SALE will take place on the afternoon of the 15^th and again we are grateful to member and former chairman Eric Wells for the use of his front drive as the venue. We will be grateful for any plants, plugs or seedlings which members may be able to donate for sale. It is hoped to be able to distribute chrysanthemum plugs for cultivation for the Annual Show. Committee member Nina Foggin will kindly be organising a used book stall. 
Clearly we hope that progress from the Lockdown will continue sufficiently for our ANNUAL COACH OUTING to go ahead on SUNDAY JULY 11^TH when we are due to visit the gardens at Clearbeck House and Gresgarth Hall. Please note the date now and further details will follow nearer the time. We also hope to be able to resume our Members’ Garden Visits later in the summer with further details to follow. 
Our thanks go to COUNCILLOR BARRY ANDERSON for kindly responding to our request for him to help the promotion of our website. Consequently, for instance, on Feb. 10/11 there were more than 100 hits/day with 140 on the 10^th, the majority being from first-time visitors. Our thanks to committee member Geoff Lawson for his work as webmaster.

FEBRUARY 2021 

Bill Hunt our newsletter author sent the February newsletter out on the 28^th January and wrote:-

“To begin with I need to thank the 31 people who have renewed their membership for 2021. The committee is very grateful for your support and for your gesture of confidence in the club’s future in spite of the current disruption caused by the pandemic. I hope that those who have not yet renewed will be encouraged by the show of support so far and will help to swell our membership.” Attached to the newsletter were  renewal forms for the use of those still to join the club..

The newsletter continued “Sadly it goes without saying that our February indoor meeting will not take place. However, the committee are currently working on the idea of having a photographic spring bulb show with the photographs being displayed on our club website for judging. The fine details of the show are being considered and full details will be published on the website and in the March newsletter following a virtual meeting of the committee in early February. It’s worth emphasising of course that the website is worth visiting at any time. On a bright note congratulations are due to the four highest-scoring winners of our Christmas Quiz 2020, namely Carol Abbott [100% score! Brilliant!], Colleen Hipkin, Geoff Lawson and Katherine Hill. They each received a ‘Beautiful Gardens’ calendar sponsored by Alan Titchmarsh on behalf of the horticultural charity ‘Perennial.’ As well as thanks to all who took part we are particularly grateful to James Fonquernie for devising the questions and to Marion Lawson for compiling the quiz and making arrangements for the prizes. The questions which featured in the quiz together with their answers can be found on the Cookridge Garden Club website” ( and will remain on the website for another week or two

JANUARY 2021

As we entered the New Year the newsletter began by expressing the hope “that you have all had the happiest possible Christmas, given the stringent restrictions which we all have to observe at the moment, and the hope that  2021 will be a much better year for everyone with an eventual resumption of our normal Gardening Club activities “. The newsletter continued ” Having said that I regretfully have to remind you that we have cancelled January’s indoor meeting. February’s meeting is still due to take place though, on the 17th when Steve Halliwell is booked to talk about Sizergh Castle Garden. We will of course keep you updated about the prospects for this meeting’s taking place. ( SADLY THE MEETING HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED )

Thank you to those members who have renewed for 2021. A renewal form was  attached to the e-mailed  newsletter so we look forward to hearing from more of you soon. Also attached  to the e-mailed newsletter was a further copy of  the club’s Christmas Quiz, kindly devised by Jim Fonquernie and Marion Lawson. THE CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES IS MIDNIGHT ON NEW YEAR’S EVE so please do have a go. There are a small number of prizes  on offer for the lucky winners.

Although the Winter Solstice was only a week ago there are already signs of movement in our gardens as winter and early spring flowers begin to make their presence known. If you have anything interesting or attractive in your own garden then please consider sharing it on our club website.

Since we were unable to hold our AGM in November a copy of the club’s accounts for the past year was also attached for members to view.”

DECEMBER 2020

The newsletter opened with the author wishing all our members, from the committee, the happiest possible Christmas and the hope that they would be able to enjoy the festive period with as many of their loved ones as possible. The newsletter continued:

“During the last few weeks we learned the sad news of the death of Wilf Fayle who, for many, many years, helped with the delivery of our newsletter. We send our condolences to his widow Margaret and other members of his family.

In view of the pandemic your committee decided that there would be no 2020 A.G.M., normally held  during November. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT INDOOR MEETINGS WHICH WERE ARRANGED FOR THIS DECEMBER AND FOR JANUARY 2021 HAVE ALSO BEEN CANCELLED. We have, however, been busy preparing other activities for 2021 since the news of the impending availability of vaccines gives hope that we may be able to resume more normal activities during the spring. Speakers have been booked for indoor meetings, arrangements have been made for a coach outing in July and we will be planning for the Annual Show in September. All in all we are ready to pick up in full swing as soon as the opportunity permits.

Currently our membership stands at 58. The committee is grateful to those members who have remained with us and we hope that you will renew your membership for 2021. With that in mind a form is attached to the email sent out to members. Details of how to return the form and subscription are included on that attachment. The subscription remains the same at £10.

With Christmas only one month away our speaker secretary Jim Fonquernie in association with Marion Lawson has kindly arranged a Christmas Quiz, details of which are also attached to the e-mailed newsletter. The quiz is replicated elsewhere within this website. This should provide you with some amusing challenges during the dark evenings. Entries close at midnight on New Year’s Eve and a random draw from the best entries will be held on 2^nd January  with  a small number of prizes being awarded to the lucky winners.

You might also spend a bit of time admiring the spectacular pictures which have been sent in to the website. We’re very grateful for these contributions so do keep them coming please. Winter can, of course, provide fine walking weather, even if it’s only a stroll around your locality. With this in mind we would like to hear from members who have attractive front gardens at this time of the year so that a route can be planned around Cookridge for other members to walk by and admire them. Also please let us know if you come across interesting winter displays in any parks or public gardens so that others can be informed.”

NOVEMBER 2020

In October’s newsletter it was reported that our club secretary Katherine Hill had been awarded the club’s Banksian Medal for her work on our behalf. Katherine was very grateful for the award although with typical modesty her reaction was,’ What’s this for?’  Katherine went on: ‘But it’s greatly appreciated. I enjoy being involved with the club and able to arrange things for the members. It’s great to have so many friends who share the love of plants and gardening. I love it when I see folk at the meetings getting together chatting about their gardens etc. and also being friendly and welcoming to our speakers and guests. I must say that my life has been enriched by belonging to the C&DHS as I’ve made many good friends and learnt a lot about plants and gardens. I can’t wait for the day when we can hold meetings and get together again. THANK YOU ALL!’ In reply we have to say that our Gardening Club has been enriched in turn by Katherine’s contribution to our activities. 

Katherine wished to emphasise that some members still had not collected their NARCISSI BULBS. Each pack included two Camelot and four Salome bulbs to be potted and brought to our April 2021 meeting for display. Members were asked to get in touch with Katherine to arrange either to collect them or have them delivered [katherinehill@live.co.uk or 267 1858].

It came  as no surprise to learn that, sadly, we  had to cancel the proposed visit to RODLEY NATURE RESERVE on Nov.11^th. However, Peter and Barbara Murphy, the reserve’s organisers, stressed that the reserve was still open to the public on WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY AFTERNOONS 12 NOON TO 4 PM and that support for the work done by all the volunteers would be much appreciated.

 In spite of all the uncertainty due to Covid 19 we endeavoured to maintain a positive outlook and with that in mind the following activities had been arranged for 2021:

•  SUNDAY JULY 11^th: Coach outing to Clearbeck House and Gresgarth Hall Gardens. Full details will be available and publicized in due course, but please note the date..

 It was hoped to arrange further garden visits, including the popular annual tour of local Members’ Open Gardens, during July and August 2021

• SATURDAY SEPT.11^th:2021. COOKRIDGE GARDENING CLUB ANNUAL SHOW.

 It was reported that new Membership Cards will be printed either late November or early December and  will carry details of our Speaker Programme for 2021 which Committee Member Jim Fonquernie has kindly  arranged. Details are displayed on the Events page of the Club’s website. On the question of speakers and meeting topics the committee stated that they would be more than happy to receive any members’ suggestions for visitors or subjects of interest. Please contact Katherine Hill our secretary with any ideas you have..               

October’s newsletter also announced the launch of the new website. Many of us have already viewed it and commented very favourably, and Committee member Geoff Lawson, who helped to set it up, is very keen, as are the rest of the committee, for people to visit it and to hear any comments. In the first month of its life the website had over 600 views, so a healthy start to life.

Clearly we were unable to hold our AGM in its normal format this year. The committee were due to meet in early November and a decision would be taken as to what format the AGM may take unless it is cancelled altogether. The author would email members with more information about the outcome of the Committee Meeting. 

Members were reminded  that this newsletter is  a voice for members so if you have any useful advice to give, or if you wish to give away or sell items of gardening interest e.g. plants or gardening tools/equipment, please get in touch with committee member Bill Hunt  at: william.hunt7@ntlworld.com  CLUB MEETING ON DEC.10^th. This meeting, led by Peter Blackwell, on the subject of making Christmas decorations, was still due to go ahead at COOKRIDGE VILLAGE HALL. However, since the publication date it regrettably had to be cancelled

OCTOBER 2020.

Although Covid 19 circumstances in the Leeds area were as unstable as ever there was much to report in the October newsletter which we hope you found positive. The newsletter read……

“In the absence of our Annual Show in September we were able to organise a successful plant sale from the front drive of the home of member Eric Wells. Forty ordinary and committee members attended and it was good to see so many familiar faces after an absence of club activities. £261.60 was raised and we thank everyone who contributed plants and other items for sale, in particular, Denise Watson for her delicious home-made jams and chutneys, Peter Blackwell for his lovely greetings cards, and, of course, Eric for the use of his drive and for allowing us to view his impressive garden.

We must also congratulate Carol and Michael Abbott whose open garden event on September 12^th raised £42.50 for the National Garden Scheme. This sum is in addition to £387.50 which they raised from a succession of plant sales held during June.

There are still plants left over from September.12^th which Katherine Hill is offering for sale from her drive at 71 Cookridge Drive. Members are welcome to take whatever they like in return for a donation but please would you notify Katherine if you wish to take advantage of this arrangement. She can be contacted by phone 0113 267 1858 or by email katherinehill@live.co.uk

The club has been pleased to acknowledge Katherine’s contribution to its activities by awarding her our Banksian Medal. This is normally awarded to the entrant who achieves the most points in the horticultural sections of our Annual Show but, in view of the cancellation of the show, it was decided to award it to Katherine for her outstanding contribution to our club’s activities, particularly during the pandemic crisis.

There is good news about our club’s new website. Committee member Geoff Lawson has been working with Ceri Wood in setting up the framework for the site and adding pages for the newsletters and the ‘Top Ten Tips.’ IT IS INTENDED TO OPEN THE SITE ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 1^ST USING THE ADDRESS: www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk . Do please visit the site and let us have your feedback [hopefully positive!]. It goes without saying that we are very grateful to Geoff and Ceri for their work in restoring the club’s website.

I don’t need to remind you that, unfortunately, Covid 19 restrictions in Leeds have been increased so that it is forbidden for groups of people to have pre-arranged meetings in local parks. This means that our proposed visit to Golden Acre at the end of October cannot now take place. A decision will be taken nearer the time concerning our proposed visit to Rodley Nature Reserve”.

SEPTEMBER 2020

In spite of the uncertain times  a newsletter was sent out which contained much that was positive. To begin with we offered our congratulations and thanks to member Peter Blackwell for his recently-organised plant sale which raised £700 for Wheatfields Hospice. Thank you to all of you who supported the event. A list of activities during the coming autumn was given in the newsletter which replaced  our normal evening meetings which, regrettably, had to be cancelled up to the end of 2020. The Club expressed gratitude to our secretary Katherine Hill for arranging the substitute activities and we hoped that as many people as possible would  be able to support them

 AUGUST 2020 

For the benefit of those members who were not on email and for whom the newsletter would be printed out, it was  firstly repeated that the Show Committee had reluctantly decided that our 2020 Annual Show should be cancelled since it was felt that the required safety measures against Covid 19 were too demanding. At this stage it was reported that we could not say what would happen about planned indoor meetings, the first of which was due to be held in October, but members would be informed as soon as any positive decisions had been made. The committee hoped to be able to arrange visits to local places of gardening and related interest during the coming months.