Newsletter

December 2008

Happy Christmas to all our Members!

November Meeting - Tuesday 18 November  

The talk for this month was ‘The Mountain Flowers of Lake Garda’ presented by Ken Akers and accompanied by slides of the wonderful scenery and local flora.  Ken described the quiet village nestling at the foot of the mountains on the shore of Lake Garda where he and his wife had holidayed.  Window boxes overflowed with balcony geraniums, and there were oleanders and magnolias amongst the buildings.  On walks up the mountains many wild flowers were found growing amongst the rocks and you could see what effect alpine plant growers are trying to achieve with their rockeries.  The tour of Italy continued with the canals and architecture of Venice.  As well as being an insight into the natural setting of many alpine plants the slides were also a great advert for holidaying in Italy. 

Hope you all found the Mince pie tasting enjoyable and will be along to enjoy the most popular one, which came from Somerfields, with the hot fruit punch at our stall at the Victorian evenings.

The winners of the November round were 1^st Mary Bird with Winter Jasmine, 2^nd Michael Shrimpton with Aster Laterifolorus and 3^rd Eileen Shrimpton with Alstromeria Psittacima.

November is the final round of the year and the points were totalled up to find the 2008 Janshaven Cup winner.  Congratulations go to Glenys Hopkins who won the cup and £5!  The runners up were 2^nd Vivienne Allen and 3^rd Doreen Linton.  Points are awarded every time you enter the competition so it worth bringing an entry each time you come to a meeting.  Details of next year’s competition will be in the January newsletter. 

Margaret Hurley

Sunflower Competition

The winner of this year’s competition was Donna Cooper of Maldon, whose sunflower reached the grand height of 3,516 mm.  Donna was away on honeymoon at the time of the AGM, so was presented with her cup, £10 and certificate at this month's meeting. 

MHHS Meetings ~ There is not a Members meeting in December

MHHS Committee Meeting – Tuesday 9 December, 7.45pm, Moot Hall

MHHS Committee Meeting – Thursday 8 January, 7.45pm, Moot Hall

MHHS Members Meeting – Tuesday 20 January, 7.30pm, URC Hall

Victorian Evenings – 4 & 11 December 2008

Once again the Society will be dressing up for the Victorian Evenings and selling mistletoe and holly wreaths.  If you would like to join us on the evening or help with tying bunches of mistletoe please contact Liz Dunkin.  Look for us on the High Street and come and say hello and support our fundraising.

January Meeting - 20 January 2009

Our first speaker of the year is Brian Dawson with a talk on ‘Wallasea from Beginning to End’.  Brian is involved with ‘Nature Break’, a non-profit making organisation, offering opportunities for all ages to explore wildlife in and around the Essex waterways.  He also organises bird watching trips across the country.  We will also have refreshments, raffle and shop.

Christine Walkden Talk

Christine Walkden’s talk on the Plants of South Africa mostly touched on the areas of Cape province, the Karroo tableland of semi-desert succulents and the dry Namid Desert.  Colourful open bushland included the heath family (Ericaceae) which is widespread and very different from ours.  The grasses (Stipa) are hardy where it is hot but also where it freezes at higher altitudes and there is the acacia and shrub vegetation which tends to be thorny.  Euphorbia with their milky sap and capability of storing water have 72 species here and are one of the most diverse groups of genera in the plant kingdom.  There are 85 species of Protea which is the national emblem and they have a woody underground trunk which survives fires. There are huge numbers of mesembryanthemums and sometimes a single plant reaches twenty square feet.  Two hundred species of the Aloes include Aloe striata with blue/green leaves and coral red flowers, Aloe vera the natural beauty treatment and the giant slow growing succulent Quiver Tree.  The weird living stones (Lithops) are camouflaged to prevent their being eaten and then there is the extraordinary longevity of the Welwitschin which lives to five or six hundred years on average but may be up to two thousand years.  Not only are the perennials bright and beautiful but many plants are used for herbal remedies or for food and it was a fascinating insight for horticulturalists and a most successful joint meeting with Purleigh Gardeners Society.  Tony Froom

On Saturday 18 October there was a visit by about 12 people from the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) who were visiting Maldon. They had only 20 minutes so there was no time for a short talk and they wandered around the garden, I answered lots of questions and the visitors sampled various apples.  They left some monetary donations and a box of chocolates which disappeared rapidly on the next workday.  Sunday 2nd November was the normal open day and the weather was ideal.  There were 11 people there for varying times.  The main jobs were:

 

• Assembling a new compost bin and clearing a space for it.
  
   
• The huge mass of Clematis cirrhosa was finally removed from its support and the debris is piled up awaiting removal.
  
   
• A netting cover was put over the pond to prevent leaves building up in the water.
  
   
• Work in the SE corner was continued and this area now looks very much more cared for.
  
   
• The remaining patch of ivy overhanging the north wall was removed.
  
   
• A car load of garden rubbish was taken to the tip. There are still a load of sacks of rubbish to be dealt with.
  
   

There has been no more action on the wall repair so I assume the builders are still waiting for the coping bricks.  Arthur Cox

How to keep Squirrels off your nuts!

Do you have problems with cheeky squirrels stealing the nuts you have put out for the wild birds?  The RSPB have suggesting dusting peanuts with chilli powder to put them off, it doesn’t affect the birds at all but the squirrels don’t like the taste.  You can also use curry powder, cayenne pepper or tabasco sauce, put a small amount in a bag with the nuts or seed mix and shake it up so they are coated but not hidden in the powder.  Maybe you have other ideas to keep the squirrels away or are quite happy to watch their antics while they try and get at the nuts?

Cards for Good Causes  is operating from Maldon Library once again this year, open Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 16.00pm and Wednesday 9.30am to 12.30pm up until 18 December.  Some cards are also available at the Plume Library at the top of Market Hill.  Cards for Good Causes (CFGC) sells charity Christmas cards on behalf of more than 320 national and local UK charities.  In the past five years, charities have received more than £20 million – representing at least 79p in every pound, out of which the charities had to pay for the production and distribution of their cards and any VAT.