february 21st
Julian Sutton - dream of Winter
Julian showed us of the wonderful variety of plants that are at their best in the winter season.
· In the wild Himalaya, Daphne makes a large suckering shrub, in the UK the most popular variety is Daphne Bholua Jacqueline postill
· Sarcococca confusa has a pervasive scent, these shrubs fruit and flower at the same time, some varieties of have red fruits others black.
· A classic suburban garden tree is Magnolia Soulangea. The variety Etienne soulange bodin is a hybrid from 1820 named for a French Cavalry Officer who after the devastation of the 1stWorld War was quoted to have said “We would all have done better to have stayed home and planted cabbages”.
· Justin had 2 tips for anyone who wants to grow Trilliums but struggles – they like a humus rich soil in light shade, don`t buy bulbs, buy from a nursery where the plants have a well-established root system; the best types for our climate are the sesile species.
· Hazel catkins are a harbinger of Spring – especially on the twisted stems of Corylus avellana.
· We were all fascinated to see images of the Toothwort Lathrea squamaria - a parasite which feeds on willow. It has pink flower spikes in spring.
· A later flowering Magnolia Campbellii is Betty Jessel, but this isn`t grown in domestic gardens as it usually reaches 50 foot in a landscape garden. There is a magnificent fully grown tree at Lukesland Gardens near Ivybridge that the society has visited twice in the past and is planning to visit again in April.
· Witch hazel Hamamelis mollis, in particular, is highly scented and also has good autumn leaf colour.
· Cornus mas, also known as Dogwood, has showy yellow flowers on bare wood.
· An acid yellow flower, with big bold butter yellow leaves in autumn, Lindera obtusiloba, is quite a rare plant from Japan.
· The Spurge laurel has evergreen leaves and lime green standout flowers.
· Ghostly white edges of the divided leaves of Fatsia polycarpa shine when the veins are picked out by the frost.
· A plant originally from N America, the Skunk Cabbage looks glorious in the snow, although it stinks to attract pollinating insects.
· Looking best in winter is Arum italicum Sandy McNab, because it has white markings, the variety Chui has Leopard spots on its foliage with a splendid flower spike.
· Justin then moved on to varieties of bulbs that give of their best in winter such as Snowdrops which had a wide distribution from the Pyrenees in Europe to the Balkans, before being brought to Britain.
· They also grow in a variety of habitats, such as riverbanks, snow melt and open ground. Some like to bake in summer and have a cool wet winter, they are very adaptable to different conditions.
· Other bulbs of note for this season are Scilla which are ideal in raised beds, Daffodils in many different varieties and shapes, Iris, Cyclamen Coum and Erythronium.
January 2026
Annual Coffee Social
The Council chamber was full of chatter, which soon calmed down as everyone was enjoying the free delicious homemade cakes with a hot drink.
We signed up 5 new members, the raffle had 10 gifts on offer including gardening gifts and books, there was plenty of colour on the plant stall with spring flowering pinks, bulbs and some hardy perennials.
The Chair informed everyone about the programme of talks and events for the year ahead and encouraged them to enter Flower of the Month.
Sue Thompson handed out the schedules for our members only Spring Flower Show in March.
There were lots of compliments and a very good turnout on such a weather-beaten day after such a stormy night.
November 28th
Honeybees at Buckfast Abbey
We were treated to a fascinating talk from Clare Densley and Martin Hann. Honeybees have been an important part of life at the Abbey since medieval times. As well as the culinary and brewing uses of the honey, the beeswax was highly prized for making candles which burn with a pure, smokeless flame.
Early in the twentieth century a young monk, later to be known as Brother Adam, arrived at the Abbey. In 1919 he took over the running of the Abbey apiaries and was instrumental in restoring colony numbers after 29 of the 45 colonies were lost to a mysterious illness. Hives were kept close together, and this resulted in disease spreading quickly between them. A breeding programme was started with the aim of producing bees that were gentle, hardy and good honey producers. This was successful but is no longer practiced as traits that help the bee’s natural resistance to disease were being lost. There are fewer hives now and they are spread around the estate to limit the chance of spreading disease.
Winter: In winter bees sole aim is to stay warm and survive. They eat their honey to give them energy and huddle together into a ‘winter cluster,’ vibrating their flight muscles to generate heat to keep the colony warm.
Spring and summer:Bees are at their most active during these seasons. A virgin queen will fly from the hive to a ‘drone congregation area’. Here, she will mate with 10-20+ drones all of whom die at the point of mating! On her return to the colony if she has not mated with enough drones to ensure a broad gene pool that will keep the colony healthy and diverse, the workers may force her out and make a new queen. Eggs develop into drones or worker bees. Worker bees are sterile females and live for about five weeks. Spending the first few weeks on housekeeping duties, they keep the hive clean and feed the larvae. During their last few weeks they fly, foraging for propolis (a sticky substance produced by trees which they use to seals cracks and crevices in the hive), nectar and pollen, laying down stores for the autumn and winter. Workers communicate the exact location of nectar and pollen each day through the wiggle dance. Chemical signals, pheromones, produced by the queen, are passed to all the workers in the colony to reduce their urge to build queen cells. If the hive gets too crowded, then the bees will swarm. The old queen, and about half of the colony feed up on honey and take flight to find a new home. A new queen will be created by the bees remaining in the hive by feeding a young larva with royal jelly. Bees prefer open flowers that give easy access to the nectar. Flowers that have rapidly refilling nectarines are particularly favoured. In spring these include tree flowers of Sycamore, Willow and Horse Chestnut and flowers such as Dandelions, Borage, Clover, Echiums and all the herbs. Many flowers signal to bees when they have been pollinated and no longer have nectar. For example, the center of a Forget-me-not that is white has been pollinated whereas if the center is yellow, it has not been pollinated and nectar is still available.
Autumn: In autumn Ivy can provide the nectar and pollen needed to take the colony through the winter. The drones are expelled, and will die, as they contribute nothing to the well-being of the colony.
And so, another year in the life of a bee colony comes full circle. On warmer days bees may take short flights from the hive but the focus for the next few months is to keep the queen warm and to stay alive until spring when the whole cycle will start again.