Village Gardeners
At our November meeting we welcomed Mr Bill Morris who talked to us about
Species Pelargoniums with which he first became fascinated as a young teenager
- as he said, 'a very long time ago'! He shared his great knowledge of
the subject aand wonderful illustrations with us and I am sure we all learnt a
great deal about these intriguing plants. The first pelargoniums were
introduced into this country in 1680, so they have a long history here. There
are well over three hundred species pelargoniums, many of which originate from
south and east Africa and southern Australia, so are desert plants with a great
tolerance for drought but do have to be kept just frost-free. In this country
they grow slowly during winter and burst into flower during the early spring,
ready for pollination by the equally early 'beefly'. Mr Morris noted
that many of the flowers can be used in cooking and the mashed up tubers
(presumably cooked first!) are said to cure the 'runs' and some
intestinal worms! More certainly, pelargonium syrup was used with great success
for coughs and is actually proven to be an effective remedy for T.B. Our
speaker was full of unbounded enthusiasm for these plants and possibly may have
encouraged some of us to have a go at growing them for ourselves.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 19 January at 8pm in the Village Hall, to be held jointly with the W I, and is a talk on Bees and Bee-keeping to which everyone is most welcome.