Garden News

As forecast in our Notice of the 20th February Work Party we took delivery of a large order of Spring and Summer Bulbs after the date of the Work Party.

This photo shows 3000 x single snowdrops, 3000 x double snowdrops, and 1000 x aconites, all ‘in the green’ and laid out before planting to enjoy the sun and rain after their long journey.

These were all planted by a group of volunteers who formed an ad hoc working party on Tuesday 3rd March.

The following day the volunteers woke up to the realisation that some 30 trays of 500 Erythroniums Pagodas (dog-tooth violets) had also been delivered, potted up in trays, and ready for planting.

And on a third consecutive day, a smaller group of volunteers planted 500 x cylamen corms.

We cannot wait to see the result.

The volunteers use the WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group page to arrange ad hoc meetings that are needed to keep on top of the many tasks needed to keep Presentation standards high.

At this time of the year it is necessary to protect the more delicate plants in preparation of the advancing frosts.

On Monday 11th October 2019 Harry Ward fitted patent Hilary Ward frost proofing bags which will do very nicely thank you.

Saturday 20th July 2019 – BRITISH PTERIDOLOGICAL SOCIETY- (BPS) Visit.

The East Anglia Group of the British Fern Society have been invited to visit the Danesbury Fernery on Saturday 20th July. Detailed plans are being drawn up and we will announce detailed timings as soon as they have been agreed. Some BPS visitors will be travelling from as far afield as Norfolk.

This is a return for the October 2018 visit that Andrew Beattie organised when a small group of the Friends of Danesbury travelled to Norwich to attend an East Anglian meeting organised by EA Representative Peter Blake and group members.   We will need to be on our toes when they visit us!

Colin has been busy for months labelling many of our specimen ferns, or should that be ‘specimens of our ferns’?

We will see. We have a lot to learn from our BPS visitors.

Following close on the heels of the success of the Welwyn Festival Open Garden Evening in June we are busy preparing the site once again for judging on Tuesday morning 9th July, this time not by 170+ members of Welwyn’s community, but by the (RHS) judges of the Anglia in Bloom Competition 2019.

The Friends of Danesbury Fernery were very proud to have been awarded the Conservation Prize in 2018, but we are not resting on our laurels, nor our ferns, and we seek further success. This time the Borough Council have grouped our Entry with ‘Welwyn Village’, in a ‘special’ category which will include among other sites, the Parish Allotments, a private garden and Welwyn High Street.

These are exciting times and, just this week, we have been working hard with the help of the Borough Council’s contractors, to further improve planting beds, to re-profile the North East slope, and to contain the North West slope with a heavy membrane to stop further slippage of the chalky bank and allow more planting. Of great significance, particularly with the current run of dry weather, is that we have managed to bury hosepipe extensions so that watering at the North end of the Fernery will now be very much more practical.

The volunteers are putting in an extra Thursday work party on Thursday 4th July to prepare the site for the Anglia in Bloom judges.

Sarah – “We have some new and very exciting plants to put in the Fernery”

This ‘call for action’ was broadcast on our WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group on 26th March, and a busy team was formed at short notice.

Following the planting of 5000 x snowdrops ‘in the green’ on the 11th March 2019, (see earlier News item) we were offered another 5000 x plants by the WHBC.

A small team met on Thursday 4th April and added to the earlier plantings so that come the Spring of 2020 we will have a splendid full display of 10,000 snowdrops at the Entrance – on the left bank, and down the right-hand bank.

On a bright morning a small dedicated team of 8x gardeners led by Sarah reached speeds of 2500 s.p.h. and completed the task of planting 5000 snowdrops by mid-day. These plants (in green) had been offered at short notice by the Borough Council and we can now look forward to a splendid showing early in 2020.

The principal planting areas were on the grassy banks near the Entrance, with the bulk being planted on the grass bank on the South side of the path.

Elevensies were taken as soon as the snowdrops had been planted, and after stoking up their energies, the team turned to the task of weeding the planting beds, and in particular the slope in the gorge where the new bluebells are beginning to come through.

Sarah completed the planting in the Parsons bed, which will look spectacular as it matures.