I’m Feeding My Soul ...

“If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
and from thy slender store
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy Hyacinths to feed thy Soul.”

Sadi

Choosing A Healthy Hyacinth ...
Size Matters!

With bulbs you tend to get what you pay for – the lower the price the lower the quality of bulb, which is often reflected in the bulbs being fairly small. When buying your Hyacinth bulbs ideally you should be able to feel the bulbs before you buy – so get them from your local garden centre. Avoid any of the bulbs that are damaged, shriveled or feel soft – rather choose the bulbs that are plump, firm and dry and which feel almost flaky. Never buy bulbs that are cracked or broken in any way. The size of the bulb will affect the size of flowers they produce in their first year. If you buy small hyacinth bulbs they may not flower in the first year rather it could take two to three years before they bloom.

Which Type Of Hyacinth to Buy ...
Eeny, meeny, miny mo ...

Growing Hyacinths In Water Vases ...

Water Vases are specially shaped glass containers that enable you to place a bulb in the top and water below – without the two touching.

However, you don’t have to buy special glass vases if you don’t want to. As long as the hyacinth bulb doesn’t rest in the water, you can use other containers to retain the bulb whilst still letting you watch the roots grow.
I’m filling a glass vase with some coloured glass pebbles (which I’m always buying to cover the compost in my containers) into which I’m adding tap water up to about 5mm from the top of the pebbles, then placing the bulbs on top.

Best Kept In The Dark ...

Once you’ve ‘planted’ your hyacinth bulbs you need to put them away in a cool, dark place within your home or garage.
Check on them occasionally to make sure that the water doesn’t evaporate and after about 8-10 weeks the bulbs should have shoots about 4-5cm in height. You can then take the bulbs out of their solitary confinement and put them where you can watch them grow.
Ideally you should place the bulbs where they won’t be in direct sunlight, are away from draughts and apart from any artificial sources of heat (such as above a radiator).

It’s All In The Shade ...

With virtually every flower you can think of there will be a meaning – based on the flower itself or the flower and its colour, and hyacinths are no exception. Here is what I’ve found out ...

The blue hyacinth symbolizes consistency / sincerity
A purple hyacinth stands as a symbol of sorrow, a request for forgiveness. If you receive a purple hyacinth from a friend with whom you’re fallen out then the flower is being used to say “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Playfulness is pink in the language of hyacinths
The white hyacinths represent loveliness and ‘I’ll pray for you’
Red hyacinths symbolize love and happiness
Whist the yellow hyacinth indicates jealousy.

So just think before you start handing out bunches of hyacinths to everyone ...

A Bit Of A Legend ... Or Is It A Greek Tragedy???

Are you sitting comfortably ... then I’ll begin ...
Once upon a time there was a beautiful young boy called Hyacinthus. He was the favourite companion of the Greek God Apollo, as well as being much loved for his beauty by Zephyr, the God of the West Wind.
One day Apollo and Hyacinthus were playing a game to see who could through a discus the furthest. Zepher saw this play and was jealous, so when Apollo took up the discus and threw it, Zephyr blew the discus over and it hit Hyacinthus in the head.
Apollo was horrified and tried to stop the blood that came from his friend’s wound. But it was too late and Hyacinthus died. The blood that spilled from his wound onto the ground turned into a flower – and Apollo named this flower after him - the Hyacinth.

Growing Schools ...
The government has now put a new initiative in place ‘Growing Schools’

“Every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development. “

“I welcome the efforts businesses are making to support Learning Outside of the Classroom Manifest and Growing Schools initiative by encouraging young people to get actively involved in outdoor learning activities such as growing or gardening. I hope young people and their teachers use these resources to grow their own food at school and at home.”
Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners

In January 2010 schools will then be able to exchange these vouchers for seeds and gardening equipment so they will have everything they need for the start of the spring growing season in March.

With over ten thousand schools already registered to take part in the ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme thousands of packets of seeds will be given free to schools – that’s enough seeds to grow around 1.5 million salad leaf plants for six million salad bowls!

Angus Maciver, Morrisons Director of the ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme said
“This is something children can really get stuck into and by getting their hands dirty planting, growing, pruning and picking, develop a real passion for produce. ‘Let’s Grow will get thousands of children out into their school gardens, learning about where fresh food comes from, how to grow their own and, hopefully, enjoying some tasty fresh fruit and veg as well, What could be better than that?”

Growing Annually ...
This is the second year Morrisons have run their ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme – in 2008 more than 15,500 schools across the country took part.

“The phenomenal success of last year’s ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme shows that our children love to get their hands dirty and grow their own product. It’s a terrifically fun but effective way to teach them how fresh food is produced.”
Angus Maciver, Morrisons Director of the ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme

The range of gardening equipment has grown this year to include biodegradable pots, soil testing kits, smocks and sun hats, together with the most eagerly anticipated piece of equipment – a Wormery! These are in addition to the existing range of seeds, spades, trowels, hosepipes, wellington boots and even greenhouses.
This year the scheme has been extended to include nursery schools – so getting children involved from a really young age.

Expert Support ...
A team of gardening experts provided by community garden specialists, Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens will visit many of the participating schools to give hands-on support.

Growing Knowledge ...

“By encouraging school kids to get green-fingered, we can help them learn more about fresh fruit and veg.
Planting seeds and tending them to spring up and sprout is great fun and very rewarding.
Who knows, having grown and picked their own, they might even get a taste for eating their greens too!"

Diarmuid Gavin, garden designer and TV presenter

It’s quite scary looking at the results of research into what school children know about growing / gardening and crops.

25% of children between the ages of 4 – 13 years have never grown anything at home

8% of children think that bananas grow in UK gardens

75% of children are not getting their five portions of fruit and veg a day

10% of children didn’t know you could grow your own potatoes or carrots

After these scary results we can only hope that by encouraging children to grow their own plants they will learn that vegetables aren’t just available from supermarkets and encourage them to try new vegetables.

I don’t know Barry Micklethwaite but what I do know is that we all like to win. If you win something for the first time it’s really exciting, once you’ve won something for the third or fourth time the pressure is on to keep winning ... but one shouldn’t be stopped from having a go!

It Can Be Hard Being A ‘Good’ Winner ...

There’s even etiquette helping you be a ‘good winner’ (basically not annoying the losers):

“Think about what you’re winning” – you should react differently depending on what sort of situation you’re in.
“Smile appropriately” – not a cheesy grin
“Look Confident” but don’t look arrogant ... it’s also a good idea not to laugh (unless you want the crowd to throw things – tomatoes maybe??)
“Don’t Brag About It” once you’ve won – people don’t like it if you keep saying you’re the best thing since sliced bread!

Back To The Story In Hand ...

Barry Micklethwaite is a winning gardener, who has been growing giant veg to show for decades. But when he tried to enter his local show in Sheffield he was denied a schedule.

“I was gobsmacked but when I asked the secretary for a reason he just said that according to the society rules the committee could ban who they wanted without giving a reason and that’s what they were doing.”
“But A know the reason it’s because I might be a bit too good. There is no real secret to my success it’s all about spending time with the veg and using top quality seed.”

So that’s Mr Micklewaithe’s side to the story ... here’s the other side ...

The secretary of the South Yorkshire National Vegetable Society said “His vegetables are phenomenal. He is a very successful grower and he could exhibit in the top national shows and win prizes but he doesn’t like to lose so he won’t show there.”
“The main reason is that he just can’t accept a decision. The fact that if he loses he objects and I don’t know why because he is such a good grower.”

And Mr Micklewaithe’s response ...

“That’s silly. Nobody likes to lose – but I take it like any other man.” And he’s so cross that he’s off to get some legal advice.
“If they had been honest and said they wanted me to step down and give somebody else a chance I would have done that. But they refused to give a reason so I am determined to fight the decision.”

What Do You Think???

This extremely rare chrysanthemum has been found by William Underwood, growing in his garden in Cavendish, Suffolk.

Noticed by the 73 year young pensioner on Monday 17th August, William said

“What makes it unusual is it is just one flower and not two different coloured flowers growing on one stem. The rest of my chrysanthemums are yellow so I think this one is trying to escape back to its original state.”

Incredibly Rare …
This type of bloom – where the colour of the flower is split straight down the middle – is extremely rare, occurring in Britain around five times a year.

Botanist James Armitage of the RHS explained

“Bi-coloured flowers are an abnormality and while we take tens of thousands of calls here every year we don’t hear of very many.
The phenomenon probably occurs at a very early stage of the flower’s development, probably when it consists of just two cells.

As the cells divide, half are of the new colour and half are the standard colour. This results in a very odd-looking flower with a definite demarcation line down the middle.”

“da da da da da da da da” I’m humming the Dambusters theme as I write – although it’s not from Germany that we can be expecting an invasion but France!

Made In China ...

Apparently these Chinese Hornets – or Vespa Velutina as they liked to be called – booked an excursion to France in 2004 (researchers think they arrived in a boat carrying ceramic goods) and since then have set up camp, with recent studies recording 1,100 nests across France, with established colonies near Bordeaux and spreading as far north as parts of Brittany in north-western France.

Quentin Rome, a researcher at the National History Museum in France explained “They multiply quite quickly, and they settle in a new department (administrative division) every year.”

It’s Not Who You Are It’s Who You Know ...

These Asian hornets are no more dangerous than their European cousins – however it is the size of their colonies which can make them more dangerous. They can build nests up to one metre in height where thousands of the hornets will reside – rather than the smaller nests of the European hornets which normally house a few hundred.
Never attempt to destroy one of their nests yourself as if the inhabitants feel threatened they will charge as a group – so call in the specialists.

Lets Put A Face To The Name ...

Eek!

Recognisable by their orange head and yellow feet, these hornets will grow up to 3cm in length. Not only will these hornets attack you if they feel threatened, they will also attack honey bees – it’s been recorded that just a handful of Asian Hornets can destroy up to 30,000 honey bees in just a few hours. It’s also believed that these hornets will also attack other insects “Nobody can say what damage the Asian hornet has done outside of our hives. What is certain is that last autumn there were less insects than before” said Richard Legrand, a bee keeper from Bergerac.

No Need To Panic ...
Don’t Panic! Don’t Panic!

Stuart Hine, manager of Insect Information at London’s Natural History Museum said “You would expect it (hornets) to move up France slowly, and there is no reason why it shouldn’t reach the UK ... but added “The Channel is still quite a good barrier. There is no need to panic.”

(sorry – very poor insect humour!)

Peak Week For Wasps...
This is the week which you need to be especially carefully when buzzing around outdoors – as according to the Home Emergency Insurance Compact ‘Homeserve’ the last week in July is the peak of the stinging season. This is the most popular week for customers to call out pest controllers to deal with emergencies relating to stinging insects.

And it’s not only us that need to be wary ... although a wasp will sting us where it can find abit of bare flesh, so your dog the most likely place it will get stung is in its mouth – curiously stung the dog and all that as the poke the noses into places they shouldn’t!!

What to Do If You’re Stung ...

Bee Wary ...
If you kill a wasp it will release a warning pheromone from its body which alerts all the rest of its waspy friends that there is a potential danger – so you could well be set upon by a whole colony of wasps as a result. At this time of year the number of wasps in a colony is at its highest – there can be as many of 10,000 wasps occupying just one nest.

How To Avoid Being Stung ...
If you are surrounded by a swarm of wasps you should move out of their way slowly – don’t try waving them away as fast movements will make them more aggressive and more likely to sting you. And you should never try to remove a wasps nest yourself – if you do disturb them they will attack so always call in professional pest controllers is you do find a nest in your garden.

Other things you can do to avoid being stung include wearing light coloured, long sleeved shirts, long trousers, socks etc – so there is less bare flesh available to sting – although when it’s hot this can be abit of a tall order! Avoid wearing strong perfume if you’re going to be spending a lot of time outdoors – smells as well as bright colours will attract wasps.

What Can and Has Happened ...
After a wasp nest was disturbed near Merlins Bridge, Haverfordwest in Wales, they attacked a 64 year old gentlemen and he suffered a severe allergic reaction to the wasp venom. Although he managed to get back to his car emergency services found him dead when they arrived. This attack happened in the last week in July – ‘wasp week’.

In another case, a man was hospitalised after he was stung more than 200 times by wasps. He was attached after he fell onto a wasp nest – the wasps swarmed around him and stung him in excess of 200 times.

Alan Titchmarsh
(a ‘God’ in my eyes although I tend to fall asleep during his Radio 2 programmes …)
MBE (appointed in the 2000 honours list),
VMH (awarded in 2004 this is the Victoria Medal of Honour from the RHS for outstanding services to horticulture)
has been appointed as a new Vice President for the RHS. Not only is Alan one of the country’s best known gardeners, he is a keen supporter of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening (CSG).

Joining alongside Alan is
Lord Heseltine,
CH, former Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the Haymarket Media Group which includes the publications Garden Retail and Horticultural Week.
A keen gardener, Lord Heseltine’s arboretum in Oxfordshire contains one of the most important private collections of tree specimens in the UK with over 3000 different trees and shrubs.

The third new Vice President is
Dr Kiat Tan,
a former Director of Singapore’s National Parks Board and a leading authority on orchids – under his direction the National Orchid Garden in the Singapore Botanic Garden became a major tourist attraction.

These three new Vice Presidents join an array of existing Vice Presidents all of whom make a significant contribution to the achievement of the RHS ai8ms and objectives and exercise influence on behalf of the Society.

“ If you ever watched a butterfly,
You would think the same;
To call him rather "flutterby",
Is more a fitting name.
For what he has to do with butter
I cannot understand.
But he can surely flutter better
Than any insect can!”

Attracting butterflies into your garden may take time and patience, but if you want to ‘build’ your own butterfly it will take just minutes – ideal for the little ‘flutterbies’ in your life …

Click here to start building … Enjoy!