Charitable Roses

Roses with messages printed on the petals

Whenever a charitable cause wants to raise public awareness (and hopefully some funds), the first plant they consider is normally a rose. Then the added bonus is usually to get a famous person linked with the rose to raise the profile even higher. It is an association that works well, but it is not a new trend. The enduring rose ‘Peace’ was given its name soon after the end of the Second World War in the hope that there would be peace for ever more after such a destructive period in history. The story goes that a panel of the “great and good” who gave the rose its name did so without asking the person who bred it and introduced it.

The people whose names have been given to roses (although they are not all linked to charities) cover a very wide spectrum from royalty through to gardeners – and even famous racehorses. For instance:

Royalty: Duke of York, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Windsor, Elizabeth, Elizabeth of Glamis, Prince Charles, Princess Alexandra and Princess of Wales (to name but a very few).

From the gardening world; Alan Titchmarsh and Geoff Hamilton

From the world of entertainment; Chevy Chase, Susan Hampshire, Felicity Kendal, Joanna Lumley and Sir John Mills

Celebrities include; Jill Dando, Sue Lawley and Michael Parkinson (although his nickname ‘Parky’ is used).

From the sporting world; Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves, Gary Lineker and the late George Best – all footballers, although it’s noticeable that we appear to have a much greater affection for forward players than defenders or goalkeepers – Sir Steve Redgrave

Historical figures; Sir Walter Raleigh, Robin Hood and Will Scarlet

The popular racehorse Desert Orchid is also remembered with a rose.

Even a teddy bear gets into the act, with a rose being named after Pudsey (the mascot of the Children in Need charity) to help raise funds.

A good example of how roses can bring out the best in us is the ‘Help for Heroes’ rose, launched to help raise money to equip a rehabilitation centre for members of the armed forces. £5 from each rose sold goes towards funding facilities at Headley Court, Surrey, to help these brave people rebuild their lives after injury. This deep red floribunda rose, raised by Harkness, and marketed by Hilliers Nurseries of Winchester, has already raised thousands of pounds and hopes to continue this momentum into the future. A charitable rugby match at Twickenham, with teams of current and former international players, filled the stadium to raise money for this cause, the link being the red rose on England rugby shirts.

We all love roses and we would grow them regardless, but it’s nice to be able to do something to help others at the same time. Even is this is the only charitable giving we do in a year, it can make a valuable contribution to a very worthy cause – and we still get a beautiful plant for the garden that will bring pleasure for many years to come.

 

See you next week

Feed the Birds

Nuts, Seeds and Fat balls just the thing for the bird table

This coming Saturday, October 25th, is “Feed the Birds Day”, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. They have been publicising the event quite heavily, and one of the local radio stations I work at had been given a nice new bird feeder to try out so they could promote it to their listeners.

 

Feeding birds (or other forms of wildlife) can be very important, especially if they appear to be struggling for food or having a hard time for one reason or another. Many of you must do it too, because for the past few years the high- selling products in garden centres throughout the winter months have been things like fat balls, bird seed, peanuts, nesting boxes, feeders and the like.

I must admit that I found this surprising, as I expected the Christmas-themed goods would win hands down. However, when I thought about it, this was talking about sales for the winter months and most garden centres actually tend to have their Christmas stock in from late August, which is definitely not a winter month.

Our general interest in birds and wildlife generally is increasing year-on-year and I was musing about the reason. Many years ago, I spent a short time in the United States, where they were using the phrase ‘touch and tech’, to describe peoples’ desire to get back to nature. They noticed that the more working time was spent in an air-conditioned environment, sitting at a desk or in front of a computer, the more we wanted to be involved with nature in our leisure time. So it appears in the UK at the present time.

 

The only problem I have with bringing nature into the garden is that you can’t be selective. Feeding the birds is good, but the grey squirrels and rats must really love it – and are probably doing far better than the birds will ever do. Grey squirrels are natural acrobats and brilliant thieves; they can do everything a bird can apart from fly (and they’ll even try that if they are desperate).

Once squirrels have found a regular food supply, the birds will only get what the squirrels leave unless you have a squirrel-proof bird feeder. The trouble is, birds don’t really help themselves; they’re messy feeders and tend to flick food all over the place when they start feeding (especially when there is competition between species for the food available), so much of the food that starts out in the feeder or on the bird table finishes up on the floor. This is where the rats get can become a problem. They start with the crumbs and before long, will be climbing up onto the bird table to get their share before they birds can have any.

 

All of which leaves me wondering how much the birds actually get of the food we’re paying so much for? And after millions of years of evolution, how did the birds ever cope with life before we had garden centres to supply them and Bill Oddie to speak up for them?

Must go, the robin wants his breakfast.

 

See you next week.

Dirty Manure

 

Damage Caused by Contaminated Manure

You may have noticed the debate that’s raging at the moment regarding the value of manure and its use in the gardens and allotments of the UK. The problem is that there appears to have been a problem this year with some batched of manure being contaminated. The culprit is a persistent weed killer, used to control broad-leaved weeds like docks, nettles, thistles and ragwort in grazing pasture. Ragwort is the main problem, as it’s highly poisonous to grazing animals, especially if it is pulled up and the animals find it while it’s wilting. It stands to reason that pulling up these weeds and carting them away is far too costly, so sprays are used to control them. The chemical aminopyralid in the weed killer does not harm animals or humans (in Canada and the USA it is used to control weeds in crops grown for human consumption), but it can do a great deal of damage to broad-leaved plants, including potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans and many other vegetables. Although there is no evidence to suggest that the affected produce is toxic in any way, the manufacturers of the weed killer have suggested that affected vegetables should not be consumed as a precaution.

The chemical binds to woody tissue in grass, hay and straw and persists even after the fodder has been eaten and passed through the animal’s digestive system. It may also be in the bedding that the animals lie on. These materials are much valued as constituents in manure, particularly by organic gardeners who choose not to use chemical-based fertilisers. It is believed that that the chemical can persist for up to two years in contaminated manure. 

 

Advisors believe that the most rapid breakdown of the chemical occurs when the manure is in contact with the soil, where soil-borne bacteria and microbes help degrade it. Although there have been some suggestions that the best way to incorporate the manure into the soil is to use a rotary cultivator, these machines can do considerable damage to the soil structure, especially if they are used while the soil is wet. Perhaps a better alternative would be to use the manure as mulch, so that worms and insects will slowly incorporate it into the soil where it can be attacked by bacteria. This way, there is less chance of the chemical coming into direct contact with plant roots and the plants themselves will still gain the nutritional benefits of the manure. Some advisors have suggested that the contaminated manure is stacked in heaps for several years until the chemical is degraded (but this may take longer if there will be little or no contact with soil-borne bacteria); others have suggested the manure is returned to the supplier.

 

My main concern is where else this contaminated material will crop up. The current trend is towards composts with “peat-alternative” bulk ingredients, such as ‘green waste’ (which can include manure). What is the future for these ‘peat-free’ composts and how safe are they for our crops next year? If we can still get them, I think we may use peat-based composts at home next year, to be on the safe side. At least the results will be reliable.

 

See you next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plan & Plant

• What unpredictable weather! Here, we had a wet, miserable weekend with howling winds shaking leaves off trees and the digging put on hold thanks to wet, sticky soil and puddles everywhere. I know lots of you will have had a lovely (if chilly) weekend with bright sunshine, so I hope you made the most of it. The sun’s still quite warm when we do see it and wet soil will soon dry out again with this wind.

  More importantly, the soil is warm, so as soon as it’s dry enough, this is a good time to start planting any new plants and dividing old ones. The autumn development of plants (particularly deciduous ones) can be very deceptive, because although they look dormant, that’s just the bit you can see. Down at the roots, things are still happening.

  Roots continue to grow (albeit at a much slower rate than in spring and summer) for several weeks after the top stops. Trees and shrubs planted over the next six weeks will get a head start next spring, because their roots will probably stay active until Christmas. This means that when spring comes, the business of making new roots to support the plant as it grows is well under way and more energy can go into growth.

   

  In the past, one of the main pitfalls of planting container-grown plants in autumn was the fact that many had only just been re-potted. So, when you knocked the plant out of the pot, you ended up with a pot in one hand, the plant in the other and a pile of fresh compost on your feet. This was crazy, especially when you remember that the whole idea of buying a containerised plant was so you could transplant it with minimum root disturbance.

  There is now a simple, practical alternative, as nurseries are beginning to introduce plants in bio-degradable pots. All you have to do is pop the whole thing (pot, compost and plant) into the hole. The pots are made from pampas grass fibres, coir (coconut fibre) or, more recently, rice husks and they take about two years to completely rot away in the soil – although the plant’s roots will have grown through into the surrounding soil long before that. This is one of the most useful developments to have come out of the organic movement in gardening. Look out for them when you’re in the garden centre.

   

  Remember that anything you plant at this time of year will still need to be well-watered. Yes, I know we’ve had a wet summer and most of the country is still getting soaked, but water does more than just give the plants a drink. A thorough watering settles the roots into their new surroundings by washing soil around the roots (so that there is close contact between them and the soil) and it also removes any air pockets left in the soil during planting.

   

  Well, I see it’s stopped raining so I have no more excuses. Time to go and sort out the herbaceous plants we seem to keep acquiring…. can’t wait….. is that rain again? Better have some coffee and give it a minute.

   

  See you next week.