If you cant make the open days, remember we welcome groups of six plus by appointment.

The Tilford Garden 2012 open days are Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th of June. 10.30 to 4.00 pm. Friday the 15th June evening  6 to 9.00 pm. Saturday and Sunday the 16th and 17th of June. 10.30 to 4.00 pm)

I have put together a first thought draft for the faery garden.  Being walled makes it extra special and I can visualise a wonderful wooden and glass flat collage against the wall making it appear as though faery houses go deep beyond it.  On the ground I see hollow slices of tree trunks encapsulating the conifers already in place and these in turn would make a circle of seats.  In the middle I see a centre piece, which could be a sand table sprinkled with glitter and little rakes (the sort sometimes used in is it Feng shui?).  Its main aim would be to a place of contemplation and I sense a name of ‘counsel corner’.  In my travelling garden I have a lily pad ring which sits over a ceramic bowl I place a mister inside and pop on a couple of the leaves a faery.  It gives the impression that they are thinking and getting help and advice from an other worldly place.  I feel it would be immensely beneficial and fun to have a place where secrets are shared and covert missions begun.  The plants I see gracing such a special space would have to enjoy living in a very shady place and so ferms would be great.  There are some great flowering plants which are happy in dry shade, there are also some grasses which prefer a dry and shady location.  Also it would be very easy to encourage some plants to live on the wall which would add additional depth, interest and seasonal colour.

The Large Copper was first discovered from Dozen’s Bank near Spalding in Lincolnshire in 1749. It became extinct in the British Isles in 1851 and was last recorded at Bottisham in Cambridgeshire. There is no doubt that the demise of this most spectacular butterfly was the result of changing fenland management and, in particular, the draining of the fens. On the continent this species lives in discrete colonies ranging from a few dozen adults to many hundred.

There have been several introduction attempts, the first at Woodwalton Fen, in Huntingdonshire, in 1927. On several occasions, the population had to be subsequently re-introduced or supplemented from captive stock. The British subspecies, dispar, was endemic to the British Isles and reintroductions have tended to use stock from the Netherlands, which is of the rare subspecies batavus. Unfortunately, all reintroduction attempts have ultimately failed. A project is being undertaken at Keele University to determine the feasibility of a Large Copper re-establishment programme in the British Isles.

Has anyone knowledge of these being reintroduced to the uk.

Smudging to cleanse the atmosphere in a room or building, or to clear a space for meditation and spiritual practices has become popular in recent years. Based on a North American Indian tradition, you can adapt the smudging ceremony to suit your needs. I recommend using a feather to move the smoke around and an abalone shell to catch the ash.

A friend gave me a small plant and now I have several from the mother plant. Read on!

What is Stevia?

Stevia (rebaudiana) is a plant native to South and Central America that belongs to the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Altogether there are 240 species of the Stevia plant in the world. It has been used as an alternative to sugar by the population of Paraguay and Brazil for about 500 years because the extract of the plant is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar.

In other words, you only need one or two leaves of it, to sweeten one cup of strong coffee or tea.

What Are the Negative Side Effects of Stevia?

There are no really confirmed negative Stevia side effects for humans. However, Stevia is forbidden as a food additive in the European Union and some other countries, because many people say that there are still not enough confirmed studies confirming that Stevia is not harmful in any way.

In addition the lack of affirmative evidence, there have actually been several experiments with rats and similar animals that showed a toxic reaction to Stevia, particularly in male rats. The results weren’t dramatic, but they were certainly strong enough to wake some concerns. Now, that being said, these studies have been highly criticized on procedural grounds. AKA: The way the data was handled was misleading;

In these studies the dose of Steviol – The substance in Stevia that people worry about- was WAY too high. They gave the rats an amount of concentrated Steviol equal to if a human ate half of his weight in Stevia leafs every day. With that much of a chemical, even sugar would be dangerous! If you calculate the daily consumption of Stevia to replace the average daily sugar consumption, a human would eat 4 gram of Stevia leafs – Not nearly half the weight of a human body.

Stevia has been a healing plant and a sweetener for the Indigo people for hundreds of years and has been used in Japan and Brazil to sweeten lolly pop candies, coke drinks and many other foods for about 30 years so far. The USA allows “Reb A” (a sweetener made of stevia) since 2008 as food additive.

So after all these studies, no REAL negative Stevia side effects have been seen yet. This is an additional sign that there are just no bad effects from Stevia on humans. Of course, optimally there would be more studies in progress, but the problem is, as always, the money.

Who’s going to pay for these experiments?

The sugar industry, which could be a possible sponsor, is afraid of Stevia killing their business, so of course they’re not funding it. Maybe if they could see the potential of the ‘sweet leaf’ (the nickname Stevia has earned for itself), someone would take action.

Additionally the World Health Organistation (WHO) published a report in 2006 which says: ”Stevioside and Rebaudioside A are not genotoxic in vitro or in vivo and that the genotoxicity of Steviol and some of its oxidative derivatives in vitro is not expressed in vivo.” In 2008 the Food and Drug Administration of the USA (FDA) classified Truvia (by Coca-Cola) and PureVia (by PepsiCO) – both substances based on Stevia – to GRAS, Generally Recognized as Safe.

Update: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) sent a report about the at least healthy  daily dose of steviol glycosides to the European Comission in April 2010. So we can expect a decision about the approval of stevia as a food additive soon.

Benefits of Stevia

Stevia has been recognized for hundreds of years by tribes in South America. In this time it has not only been used as sweetener but as a healing plant and healthy food additive as well.

Unlike artificial sweeteners like aspartame, Stevia is said to have no bad effects on the insulin balancing process of the human body. Instead, as the report of the WHO mentioned above says it has a negligible effect on blood glucose and could even enhance glucose tolerance. That makes it not only a good natural sweetener for diabetics, but for everyone who wants a healthy blood sugar.

Sugar is well known to be extremely calorie intensive, however, Stevia contains no calories. Yet Stevia is still 300 times sweeter AND it’s good for your teeth and – Stevia is effective against cavities and dental plaque. Other experiments and researches found some positive Stevia side effects on obesity and high blood pressure.

All this makes the ‘sweet leaf’ a natural and healthy alternative to sugar and synthetically produced sweeteners. You can use it for cooking and baking as it’s highly heat-resistant and perfectly water soluble, making it a perfect sugar substitute.

I have a few plants for sale from time to time. Rod

A few  slug resistant hosta blues are               ‘Blue Mammoth’, ‘Blue Plate Special’, ‘Blue Shadows’, ‘Krossa Regal’, and ‘Reptillian’.

Heavier and tougher leaves are generally characteristic of hosta that are slug resistant.

‘Sum and Substance’, is a gold leafed hosta that will brighten up any shady garden area.

This large hosta will grow up to 36″h and up to 80″w.

The wide, heavily textured, bright chartreuse leaves may change to a golden green in brighter light. Lavender flowers bloom late in the season.

Other varieties in the group of slug resistant hosta include:

‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’
• ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ Blue; Specimen*; 20″h x 45″w
• ‘Aspen Gold’ Gold; 24″h x 56″h
• ‘Big Daddy’ Blue; Background**; 24″h x 60″w
• ‘Bright Lights’ Chartreuse w/Blue-green margins; 16″h x 30″w
• ‘Blue Umbrellas’ Green; Background; 30″h x 72″w
• ‘Camelot’ Blue; 15″h x 40″w
• ‘Frances Williams’ Gold; Background; 30″h x 60″w
• ‘June’ Gold; Specimen; 12″h x 30″w
• ‘Love Pat’ Blue; Specimen; 21″h x 50″w
• ‘Spilt Milk’ White variegated; Specimen; 20″h x 40″w

Hope this helps.

Apart from cucumbers and other cucurbits, it also attacks spinach, lettuce and celery and many flowers, especially lilies, delphiniums, primulas and daphnes.

Symptoms

• Yellowish patches or green and yellow mottling on leaves.
• Leaves curl downwards and are distorted and reduced in size.
• Plants are stunted due to a shortening of the internodes (lengths of stem between leaves).
• Reduction in yields and distorted fruit.
• In flowers white streaks known as ‘breaks’ appear.

Control

Non chemical control

• Apart from the aphid vectors, CMV is easily transmitted on garden tools and gardeners’ fingers. Avoid handling healthy plants after working with suspected infected ones until tools or hands have been washed with soapy water.
• Destroy suspect plants promptly to reduce the risk of transmission.
• Keep the garden weed free. Groundsel and chickweed are particularly likely to harbour CMV.
• Choose resistant cultivars. Courgettes ‘Supremo’ and ‘Defender’, bush marrow/courgettes ‘Badger Cross’, ‘Zebra Cross F’ and ‘Tiger Cross’, cucumbers ‘Bush Champion’, ‘Crispy Salad’, ‘Jazzer F’, ‘Paskia Fi’, ‘Petita’ and ‘Country Fair’ and aubergine ‘Bonica’ all show some resistance.

 

The Kiwi fruit is a beautiful and succulent fruit which is well suited to being grown in the British climate.  Small furry fruits with succulent vivid green flesh are produced from vigorous plants that have beautiful heart shaped leaves.  A climbing plant that is well suited to growing on walls, pergolas or trellis, the Kiwi is sure to delight.
How to grow

Kiwi plants are easy to grow and vigorous plants which once planted will romp away and produce wonderful fruits.  Plants have been expertly grown and only require planting following delivery.  If you cannot plant your kiwi upon arrival ensure it is adequately watered and place it in a cool and bright spot until it is ready to be moved in to its final position.
Position

Kiwi plants enjoy a sunny position and a south facing aspect is ideal but not essential.  Allow plants some shelter from cold winds, erecting some temporary screening or garden fleece will suffice, and ensure there is a garden structure present for plants to climb up.
Soil

The planting area should have good fertile soil, which is well drained and full of additional organic matter.  Add plenty of well-rotted garden compost to soil to achieve this and this will help to retain moisture, warm soil and improve soil structure.
Care

Plants will require regular watering and feeding throughout the growing season.  An application of general fertiliser in the spring along with a mulch of well-rotted manure will aid growth, suppress weeds and preserve moisture.  A weekly liquid feed will also help aid plant growth and a liquid seaweed feed should suffice, although others can be used.  Plants should be pruned regularly to restrict and contain growth.
Harvesting

Harvest fruits once plump and ripe.  This can be done by hand or with the use of secatuers.
Top Tip

Not all plants are self-fertile and you may need to grow both a male and female plant.