October 18th
Elizabeth Holman - 52 Weeks of colour
Elizabeth Holman is a garden designer and horticulturist based in Exeter with a small garden of her own. She came to talk to us on how to achieve 52 weeks of colour in our own gardens. With before and after photos she was able to demonstrate that, either by judicious pruning or even more radical removal of some shrubs, replacing with plants offering more interesting colour, shape or leaf we could all have more interesting gardens to admire. To liven up a boring border for instance, take out an evergreen shrub and insert a variegated plant such as a Pittosporum in its place.
The first thing to do is get the soil right for productive growth with manure, mulch and feed during the year, especially in spring when a potash fertilizer promotes flowering. The secret to all year-round colour is to buy plants which flourish over a long period such as: Geum, Acillia, Hardy Geranium, Erygium, Pinks, Penstemon, Salvias, Scabious, Osteospermum, Violas, Pansy, Heuchera, Euphorbia.
Another tip is to do the “Chelsea Chop” in May cutting back some of the growth so you get flowering later in the season. Later in July the “Hampton Hack” can also be utilised with a similar result for even later flowering These methods are so called for the RHS shows held at these times of year.
Short lived plants such as Peonies, Iris, Lupins, Hemerocallis, and Delphiniums do have their place as spot plants with drama.
Elizabeth then showed us some seasonal photos of gardens -
· Winter. Cornus with different coloured stems provide a focal point – prune those stems in March for bright stems during winter. Heathers and Helebores are traditional winter flowering plants, Nandina offers colourful leaves, so too does Bergenia often with pink flowers too. Choisia, Daphne and Mahonia are fragrant adding another aspect at this time of year. Garrya has long tassels to admire.
· Spring, Bulbs come to the fore, Elizabeth was very keen on mixing Tulips with Grape Muscari. If grown in pots, they can be inserted into the border and removed when they have gone over. Later in spring, Iris Sibirica pops through with vibrant colour. You can create impact with repetition.
· Summer follows with Agapanthus, Echinops, Lavatera, Lavender, Perovskia, Ceanothus, Hydrangea. It`s a must to tie in or prune to keep the shape, dead head regularly and of course to feed & water regularly. Roses are needy and greedy feeders, some varieties are long lasting or repeat flowering such as Iceberg, Star Performer, The Pilgrim and Rosa Rugosa. Roses should be fed at least twice a year. Clematis too have their place in the garden providing height, colour and decorative seed heads.
Autumn is the season of mellow fruitfulness with Helenium, Echinacea, Hypericum, Callicarpa with amazing purple berries, Variegated Holly and Pittosporum Tom Thumb which has very dark purple
september 2025
Batty about Dawlish Bats - Debs Ryland
Debs lead the work of a local non-profit organisation, ‘Wild Ideas’ dedicated to supporting community wildlife projects. She has been working with bats for over 15 years in conjunction with various other wildlife organisations and likes to bring a love of bats to everyone and all wildlife through walks, workshops, projects and talks.
Bats are warm blooded mammals of the order Chiroptera. In Britain there are 18 different species, 17 of them native and breeding. Most common is the Pipistrelle. Bats follow a line like a river or hedge as they use echo location, a form of sonar, using their mouth, the Horseshoe bat uses its shaped nose. Bats have sustained flight, similar to birds but they are more agile. They roost in trees, roof spaces and barns.
The Pipistrelle bat can eat 3,000 midges in one night, typically an individual would weigh up to 47 grams. Noctule bats eat large beetles, moths and cockchafers. Long eared bats specialise in catching moths and the whispering bat has evolved their pitch of echo location to catch their prey. Daubentons Bat has large hairy feet and skims the water to feed.
All Bats fly high and come out after dusk or when its dark depending on the species, they all sense the carbon dioxide given off by living things and home in on it. They feed over water, woodland and open ground.
Around this time of year, late September early October, after mating, the bats start looking for a hibernation space. It must have a steady temperature, so caves are ideal or roof spaces in barns. Bats live in communities and come out of hibernation around March or April depending on weather conditions. They then must put on weight and need feeding up. Any pregnant females will move to maternity roosts; the pregnancy is quite short at 6-9 weeks. The young are born naked and blind; they are fed on mothers’ milk then are soon trained to fly and fend for themselves. Bats have a reasonably long life; one recorded species has lived for 22 years.
As gardeners, how do we help bats to thrive? By growing plants that flower in the evening, such as Evening Primrose, Nicotiana and honeysuckle which attracts pollinating insects that bats feed on. Also, build or invest in a Bat Box.
After the talk Debs invited members to join her on a Bat Walk as she had a sonic device which would locate any bats nearby. Unfortunately, the evening had turned damp and cold so we could not view any Bats, even near the Brook.
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.