By Victoria Plum 
By Victoria Plum
Yet another diverting talk was enjoyed by a large group of members and visitors to Reepham & District Gardening Club for the October meeting last night.
Jim Paine from Walnut Tree Garden Nursery spoke on “Celebrating Winter”, and his message was that we should enjoy the changes the season brings.
He showed us dazzling photographs of plants that give good value in terms of stem colour, bark (he cleans his Himalayan birches with a pressure washer to show off the white to best advantage, who ever said gardeners were obsessive?), winter flowers, long-lasting fruit and interesting fragrances.
However, he didn’t have a good word for conifers: What do they do? They just sit there staying the same the whole year through!
Inspired by last month’s inspiring talk on saffron I bought some bulbs (pictured above) and planted them. They might even flower this year (they were already sprouting in the packet); if I had been quicker off the mark I would definitely get flowers this year, but I might have left it just a few crucial weeks too late.
I have planted some in pots so that I can ensure the good drainage which I understand is crucial. However, our chairman told me last night that saffron doesn’t really like being in pots, so I just hope they do well.
I have planted some in the open garden too, with added stones (off the drive) for drainage.
Unfortunately, I found I was digging up the snake’s head fritillary bulbs to put in the saffron, as I had forgotten what I had done last year.
It occurred to me that a with digital camera or phone you could take regular pictures of the garden, which would then not just be a record, but also an aide memoire to stop digging stuff up by mistake.
Photo: Tina Sutton
Geoff Fisher