GARDENING

CEFN CRIBWR GARDENING CLUB

August is the last official month of the summer and the hottest making watering essential. Seed heads and berries rub shoulders with late summer flowers, gaps in the borders where poppies have come and gone and empty rows in the vegetable patch where armies of slugs have been munching! If your have a wildflower patch (wouldn’t it be fab to have a meadow!) now the flowers have scattered their seeds ready for a lovely show next year. Prune rambling roses, sometimes portrayed as difficult, it’s not, just remember roses will produce flowers on wood that was produced last year, all side shoots can be pruned back to one or two buds from the main stem, simples! Veggies -Yummy! Broccoli, cabbage and Brussels all do well in the autumn if you plant now from seedlings, crops to look forward to. Don’t forget to pick courgettes regularly before they turn into marrows (unless you love marrows of course!) Gladiolus is Augusts’ flower, stunning, it means sword in Latin, its represents strength integrity and infatuation and is given to pierce the recipients heart, romantic. But did you know Gladiolus was the word spelled correctly that won the 1st National spelling competition in 1925!

Chris Early

NEW BEGINNINGS FOR OUR CLUB

Calling all members and anybody looking for a new interest. We are delighted to announce that plans are in progress to start having meetings again in October. We will be meeting at Trinity church on alternate Wednesday evenings starting with enrolment and a flower demonstration on October 6th. Our Pre Christmas demonstration will be on November 3rd and on January 26th we have afternoon tea at the Grove Golf club with Terry Walton, the radio gardener as a guest speaker. Other evenings we will concentrate on making Halloween floral displays and Christmas wreaths. An exciting agenda is being planned for 2022 including visits to gardens, flower shows and festivals. We hope to welcome back new and familiar faces. We all need something bright and cheerful to look forward to. All our meetings start at 7.30 and for further information please ring 01656222985 or consult our Facebook page.

Alison Thomas, Club Secretary

PORTHCAWL LIONS’ IN BLOOM

Our virtual Porthcawl in bloom competition was a great success, revealing some lovely gardens and skilled photography. There were 42 entries and our judges had a difficult task choosing the winners, as all entries were of such a high standard. First prize was awarded to Carolyn Chilcott. Second prize went to Daphne Harris and third prize to Noreen Crowder. A special recognition certificate was awarded to the residents of Clevis Crescent for their work on the Clevis Crescent Community Wildflower Garden.

Andrew Collier, Porthcawl Lions

LALESTON GARDENING CLUB

August is a month to enjoy our gardens, but there are still some jobs to do. Dead heading will prolong the flowering of bedding plants; if you have wisteria now is the time to prune. Time to pot up strawberry plants growing from runners and prune out old canes from raspberries. Harvest vegetables and collect seeds from your plants if you want some free plants next year. Keep containers well watered and ponds topped up. Laleston Gardening Club is going to hold a flower and vegetable festival on Saturday and Sunday the 4/5th September. Do come and view the displays put together by Laleston Gardening Club Members to display their best blooms and veg. We will have stalls, craft displays, and if Covid rules allow, we will have our marquee up and refreshments will be served in our gardens at Cliff Cottage, Laleston. One of our bumper raffles will be run with our usual array of attractive hampers. Very much look forward to seeing everyone there. Open from 10am until 4pm each of the two days.

Susan Ford