meeting september 30th 2021

Saul Walker  Head Gardner at Stonelands, Dawlish –

Saul took us on his travels in this country – for instance Abbotsbury Tropical Garden near Weymouth, the Lost Gardens at Heligan where in times gone by Azaleas and Rhododendrons were treated as exotic to Wild Side near Yelverton gardened by Keith Wiley. The Minack and the Abbey Gardens at Tresco on the Scilly Isles also deserve their place, and a great place for ideas and inspiration is the Exotic Garden at RHS Wisley in Surrey.

Then abroad to a garden on a cliff at Monaco – Jardin d`Exotique – where giant Aloes grew with excellent drainage due to the sloping site.

RHS Rosemoor nearer to home has a ‘Hot Garden’ full of Salvias and Rudbeckia which is a late summer delight, so different styles and looks can be achieved with native planting.

The focus however of Saul's talk was his own collection of plants built up over the years from friends and generous gardening colleagues from his time working at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. He has amassed 389 species including Calocasia, Banana, Datura and Gingers. He has a polytunnel for over wintering protection but is experimenting with leaving some plants out all year.

He grows 40 hardy varieties of Brugmansia and 30 Gingers – he recommended “Devon Cream” but says it is vigorous, showing us an image of his own garden in spring and then summer with the large leaved foliage filling the space. Fuchsia and Salvia are useful for adding pops of colour to the scheme which includes Aeonium, Aloe, Agave, and Begonia evansiana, with tree ferns. He mentioned that the New Zealand silver fern Cyathea is an alternative to create that dappled canopy.

Saul still has another patch of garden to develop at home and is keen to gain some new plant introductions from Vietnam from the plant hunters based at Crug Farm in North Wales. 

He recommends a visit to Mike Clifford’s Garden at Poole in Dorset who opens for charity under the National Gardens Scheme. Also on his list is Sweetbriar at Ash in Kent and nearer to home – Devon Subtropical Garden at Yelland near Bideford owned by Steve and Dawn Morgan.

His talk really has inspired us to try growing more exotic looking plants to create a jungle feel to our gardens ready for next summer. 

 Our November meeting took place on Thanksgiving Day, we were all happy to be transported to the warmth of Malaysia listening to Stewart Henchie talk about his time working at the Botanic Gardens in Penang. 

To reach this island which is about half the size of the Isle of Wight, there are 2 bridges, a ferry and a proposed tunnel bringing thousands of workers and tourists across from the mainland every day. Georgetown is the capital which is twinned with Malacca both having World Heritage status. The garden is owned by the state and has grown in acreage over the years from the forest and surrounding land in a valley to include old quarries which have developed the scope of plants grown there. It is open to the public and free to enter.

Back in 1884, a local Devon man from Barnstaple, Charles Curtis, became the head of what was then called the Waterfall Garden. He was responsible for devising a new plan for the garden, laying out curving pathways and creating zones and areas for exotic planting. A freshwater reservoir was designed by James MacRitchie in 1892 which fed the famous waterfall. Since then, there has been a close working relationship between Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Penang and Singapore botanic gardens with curators having reciprocal arrangements.

The Dipterocarp tropical rainforest area is full of wildlife, Stewart showed many images of tropical snakes, water monitor, exotic kingfisher, millipede, spiders, and monkeys and macaques. The dusky leaf monkey enjoys eating the nectar rich flowers from the shrubs and trees. Any newly planted trees need to be protected for up to 5 years as the young leaves are irresistible to these creatures.

Stewart was asked to be a consultant and bring his expertise from working at Kew to help revitalise the garden. With the help of the many staff, he advised on new tools and machinery to help the gardeners to get the hard labour done more efficiently and effectively. Mechanical Diggers were hired to plant trees at the correct depth, the ponds were cleared of rubbish and replanted with large water lily varieties, the Cacti House was re-established, and the outdoor areas mulched with stone. In other zones, coir, a local resource was used as a mulch under the indigenous tropical planting. An endangered tree, Burmese Aquilaria malaccensis, commonly known as Kayu gaharu grown for its highly prized heartwood which provides valuable incense grows within the garden grounds. The wood is relatively soft for a tree and is easily cut through with a thin saw, some have been cut down by criminal gangs as the incense is worth its weight in gold.

Stewart obviously enjoyed his time out in Malaysia and has many fond memories of friendships made with people of a different culture. We certainly enjoyed hearing about his experience and seeing the many images. He ended his talk saying “Terima Kasih“, Thank You. i

On May 19th, 17 of us visited Stonelands Gardens and had a lovely guided tour by Head Gardener Saul Walker.  The Rhododendrons were beautiful and the blossom was at its best on the cherry and malus trees as we walked up the drive.

Our next outing will be to High Gardens in Kenton in July.

Roger explained that he`s no expert entomologist, just an interested gardener who has had a career in Zoology at Bristol University.

He showed us the Gatekeeper butterfly which usually appears in late June for 2-3 weeks although this year it was around in August. The caterpillars feed on grass whereas the adults feed on bramble flowers in the hedgerow. Of course, the flowers are more prolific where there is a gap – such as a gate in a hedge – hence the name Gatekeeper. Next up was the Holly Blue, the 1st brood of caterpillars feed on the new buds of Holly whereas the 2nd brood feed on Ivy as by then the Holly leaves would be too tough.

· The Springtail is a primitive insect which is a great food source for Blackbirds, who rummage around in the fallen leaves to seek them out. 

· Lawn Shrimps are similar to crustaceans, they like living in a damp environment near the sea. Originally from Australia they are now quite common in Bishopsteignton although we didn`t think they had arrived in Dawlish yet!

· Moving on to Arachnids which have 8 legs rather than insects which have 6, the Velvet Mite is a pest in the greenhouse and can also be a danger as it carries a tapeworm that affects horses.

· Earwigs are omnivores that attack our Dahlias. The female shows maternal care for her offspring after laying her eggs in autumn, she brings food to them when they hatch in spring, and if they wander too far from home – brings them back.

· We all dislike aphids on our plants, they breed very fast and shed their skin as they grow but Lacewings are our friends as they feed on these aphids. Cleverly the lacewing uses this shed skin to cover itself as a disguise against predators. 

· Ladybirds are also friends and feed on aphids too, there are many colours including red and yellow with many spots ranging from 2 to 22. A recent migrator from East Asia is the Harlequin Ladybird which is polymorphic – it has a wider range of colours and spots and is very effective in consuming the aphids. Although will it upset the balance with our own native ladybird?

· If you`ve noticed small holes in your lawn recently it may be the Tawny Mining Bee as it makes a burrow to lay the grubs to overwinter but even these insects have predators as the Bee Fly can lay their eggs in the same burrow and their grubs feed on the Tawny Mining Bee as they are parasitic. The Bee Fly has a long proboscis to reach the nectar in bell shaped flowers. 

· Dragonflies can fly up to half a mile from their home pond or water source to find food

A sign of spring to look out for is the Queen Bee coming out of hibernation to find a good place to nest, there are 30 different sorts of Bumblebee in various forms and colours.

After such fascinating facts about the things that inhabit our garden and we see during the day, he encouraged us to go into the garden in the evening with a torch and see what we find.

Roger ended his talk with an image of a well disguised stick insect feeding on bramble leaves, a recent introduction through migration from New Zealand. Will this be a friend or foe in the garden? Time will tell.