CLUB NEWS Chetnole and Leigh Garden Club For our first gardening talk in a long time, Ben Candlin and his Adventurous Plants was a plunge into the unusual. Amorphophallus Titanum with its rotten odour and enormous inflorescence is one of the Aroide family that Ben specialises in! Happily, they are a wide range of intriguing plants suitable for the garden or house, without any foul smell. He took us through the range: Arisaema, Arum, Amorphophallus, Colocasia and Zantedeschia, telling us how to use them in our gardens, which ones were hardy, which were good houseplants.
Among his many excellent photographs, the purple black foliage of Colocasia Black Magic stood out, a real temperamental ‘wow’ plant. The delicate Zantedeschia Picasso was very tempting with Arisaema Cobra Lily being another wow plant.
Ben has a nursery near Exmouth, where he grows and experiments with new varieties. He publishes articles, has a very busy show season, and is an excellent speaker. I think everyone learned something and enjoyed the evening. The next meeting is at 7.30pm on 6 December, in Chetnole Village Hall. A seasonal demonstration from the Black Shed with Christmas atmosphere. Anna Awdry
Yetminster & Ryme Garden, Arts and Crafts Society It’s not that often that a Society describes the outcome of their AGM as the highlight of the year. Perhaps it was down to the enthusiastic support from our members, or the influx of lovely newcomers to the 45
