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Dawlish Garden Society

Dawlish Garden SocietyDawlish Garden SocietyDawlish Garden Society
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Next Meeting or Event
  • 2025 Programme
  • Newsletters
  • Summer Show 2025
  • Dawlish In Bloom
  • Spring show
  • History of Society
  • Past Meetings or Events
  • Review of 2024
  • Sustainable Gardening
Read reports of our most recent meetings and events.

Welcome

Find out more

june 26th

CARNIVOROUS Plant with dennis Balsdon

Dennis has grown Carnivorous plants for 35 years, travelling to Europe and further afield to Singapore, Borneo, USA and Australia to see them in their natural habitat. He`s exhibited at Chelsea and other RHS shows, and together with Royal Botanic gardens at Kew organised a world conference for his favourite species. His celebrity claim to fame is that he has met David Attenborough, who is patron of the International Carnivorous Plant Society, when Dennis was Chair.

In 1875, Charles Darwin had a book published entitled ‘Insectivorous Plants’ which concentrated on one plant. However, there are about 600/700 species that have been discovered and are located around the world. Usually, they like swamps or damp land although a few varieties do grow in sandy desert conditions. They all produce an acid enzyme which kills their prey – attracting them with sticky nectar.

He started with the smaller varieties which he called Fly Paper traps – the Sundews of which there are about 200 species, some of which are native the British Isles. The leaves of the Sundews have tentacles with a blob of nectar at the end which insects are fatally attracted to. When the insect is trapped the plant curls that leaf around the body of the insect to squash it and then dissolve it with the acid enzyme. He had live action footage to demonstrate how the plant managed to do this.

Butterworts have leaves that are coated with a butter-like substance to attract its prey. There are 3 native to Britain and Southwest Ireland including Exmoor and Bodmin Moor nearby.

Most people know what a Venus Fly Trap looks like as they fascinate children and adults alike. Dennis informed us that each hinged leaf has 3 trigger points which have to be activated twice within 20 seconds before the leaf partly closes, it only fully closes when further movement is detected inside the leaf, then the insect is crushed.

There are 240 species of Bladderworts also known as the Waterwheel plant an aquatic fly trap which lives in water, they have evolved a system where the plant has a trapdoor so when an insect or tadpole perhaps enters the bladder that triggers a vacuum, so the water is expunged, and the insect is suffocated.

Nepenthes – the Tropical Pitcher Plant – is native to S.E. Asia, a climbing vine which starts on the forest floor. The 190 species vary in size and colour, red, green and yellow, the lip of the plant is slippery so easy for any unsuspecting insect to fall in and be consumed by the acid enzyme. Other insects are beneficial or gain benefit from the pitcher – for instance Ants leave a pheromone trail which lead other insects into doom, Tree Frogs lay their eggs in the acid, Bats sometimes lodge in there during the day excreting their droppings into the pitcher. We saw film of the Tree Shrew licking the nectar from around the rim of the plant. The nectar on the lid and throat of the pitcher has a narcotic which affects insects but not mammals.

Exotic Bromeliads from North and South America have a waxy leaf, they use bacteria to dissolve the insects which is an exception.

All these plants produce flowers on very tall stems so that beneficial pollinators don`t get caught up and die so the plant can set seed and reproduce. They are all promiscuous too, some self-pollinate, and cross breeding produces hundreds of hybrids. However, they are easy to propagate, hardy in our winter – even under a blanket of snow. Sow seed in moss or compost with grit, lightly cover and you`ll see seedlings appear in spring. Although it may take 6 years to grow to a decent size. Some varieties have rhizomes, so plants can be split carefully to produce more of the same. They prefer a peaty compost with sphagnum moss but there are ongoing experiments with other media such as coir. All plants would be happy in a container or in a group together to make a mini bog garden.

may 29th

FUCHSIAS My way

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While living in Woking near RHS Wisley in Surrey, Derek got interested in Fuchsias as a hobby which has now grown into a small business. He has since relocated to Chard in Somerset, and although he still works full time, he dedicates his free time to propagating, growing and exhibiting his Fuchsias at shows throughout the country.

Derek started off by demonstrating “his way” to take cuttings from established plants in April or May or alternatively after September, but if you do it then, you have to overwinter them. Generally, they root in about 21 – 23 days and are then ready to pot on. Internodal cuttings will change colour when they have rooted so this is a good indicator. He`s found that cuttings grow successfully in trays or multi six pack pots. 

Whilst he was chatting about his depth of experience with growing Fuchsia, he was sharing his Top Tips with us such as- leaving mucky secateurs covered in tomato ketchup overnight cleans up the blades without any fuss.

If you have established fuchsia plants that may be tender, then the best thing to over winter them is to remove all the leaves when you bring them in from the garden and cut the stem back to 6 inches. They can be left in the greenhouse or garage as long as they are kept at 3 degrees. Covering in fleece will also help to protect the tender varieties. In March/April, bring them back to life by spraying tepid water on the stems as this stimulates new leaf growth. Also check the root ball for vine weevil grubs, chop off some roots if necessary and re-pot into fresh compost.

Derek spends about 6 weeks in March / April time potting up 4,500 Fuchsia plants.

As the plants are growing, pinch out the tips to encourage flowering, not forgetting to feed – he recommended SB brand.

If you want to encourage any Fuchsia to trail, use clothes pegs on the end of each branch to bend them down and makes an elegant shape.

He then showed many images of his favorite varieties – most of them prize winning exhibits – for which he competes at Bristol Fuchsia Society every year.

Derek brought along a selection of Fuchsias to sell after his talk and was happy to answer questions. A thoroughly entertaining talk was the feedback from members. Are your customers raving about you on social media? Share their great stories to help turn potential customers into loyal ones.

April 2025

Hospice Open Gardens

Sharon Collins from Hospiscare Exeter came and talked to us about the work of the Hospice and the private gardens which are opened during the summer to help support their work.

A full list of gardens open in 2025 can be found on their website - hospiscare.co.uk 

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