Early Days       By Mary O’Grady

The genesis of Cobh Flower Club was, appropriately, a small seed in the brain of Noreen Ring.    She had a chat about it with the late Patty Coveney (who lovingly tended a walled garden in Whitepoint).   Patty decided that the right woman to get the thing in motion was Mrs Wharton, an inspired choice.

Mrs Wharton was, in anyone’s terms, a character.   No doubt she had a Christian name but it was not employed.    Quite intimidating, with a range in indignation that could reach to the stratosphere.   Her bearing was military to a degree that I, an army wife, have not yet met with but it was invaluable in rallying the few troops and leading us forward.    I have a memory of a very early meeting in what used to be the Sacristy of the church, now the Museum.   For the first time I heard terms like “Through the Chair”, which I confess, I found hilarious and remonstrated that this was not the Houses of Parliament but a Mickey Mouse flower club.   I was met with the Basilisk stare full on and shades of red that a chameleon might envy.    Happily surviving, I grew to become quite fond of Mrs Wharton.   She had a delicate sense of colour contrast in flowers though, not surprisingly, her arrangements followed no rules.   Leading from the front she barged ahead and kept alive the fledgling club.   No little credit is due to the committee, who must have had all seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.   Full marks to survivors Noreen Ring and Mary O’Brien for years of hard work and loyalty.

It seems like the dark ages when flower arranging was done with crumpled chicken wire and we used painted tins as containers.   Conditions were generally spartan, we froze in winter.   Annual Membership was the princely sum of £2, with a charge of 20p for a visitor to a meeting.   Raffles were always held and raised vast sums such as £1.75, £1.99 and even began to exceed £2.    A “Bits Table” for plants and cuttings, run by the late Sheila McCarthy, was always a feature of the meetings – not quite Carewswood, but we were happy.   There was a rota system for the tea and one brought tea, milk and biscuits and trying to judge the timing of the ending of the talk or demonstration to light the gas and put on the kettle was nerve-wracking.   Our first guest speaker was Donagh McCarthy-Morrough, who had recently opened one of the first garden centres in the country at the Elm Tree.   Very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, he graciously refused his fee, which would have been all of £3.   We were off and away!   Flower arranging demonstrations followed, numbers increased and, the greatest things since sliced bread, Oasis appeared.   It was rocket science.

We moved into calmer waters with the election of Margaret O’Reilly after a couple of years.   There must have been rumblings among the troops.   Margaret, sadly deceased, was rather shy and gentle but very able and the Club began to grow and strengthen.   Eileen Madigan came next and she brought something special.   Nobody could have given more encouragement to beginners and her warm approval of every effort caused people to blossom.   Real enjoyment permeated the meetings and many newcomers to the town found a new hobby and new friends in a most congenial environment.   The Club has never looked back – but this is all about looking back.

The great launch was on June 11^th 1975 at the Westbourne Restaurant, better known as “Sheila Denvir’s”.   There our peregrinations began.   Later we went to the Commodore Hotel where, one night, for some reason, we were consigned to a bedroom.    It was a bit of a squash and I spent the entire evening with one elbow in the washbasin.   We were for a while upstairs in the C.Y.M.S but, I believe, rather unsuitable language could be heard emanating from the billiard room, - might wilt our flowers, so we gentle ladies moved on again.   Then it was the I.C.A. Hall, which was a great size but was being maintained on a shoestring, with great difficulty.   It was pretty draughty.   There was quite an amount of wildlife and cups and saucers were carefully washed before we had tea.   We hoped the signs of life were only mice.   The I.C.A. Hall was damaged at some stage and we moved briefly to Rinn Ronain, now the Rushbrooke Hotel and again the Commodore, then back to the I.C.A.   There was never a sense of wandering in the wilderness and my abiding memory is of great fun and enjoyment.

The Club entered the Promised Land of the Prayer and Pastoral Centre on the 11^th June 1990, most appropriately 25 years to the day when it took its first tentative steps.

Many thanks Mary.    I really enjoyed reading about the “early days” and especially the fun you all had – an essential part of any club!

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AOIFA information

30^th Anniversary of AOIFA 6^th Nov will be celebrated with a pre-lunch reception, lunch and entertainment Tickets 30 Euro.

AOIFA AGM 24 March 2004

Meeting of Club Chairmen 3^rd June 2004

Council Meeting 4^th Nov. 2004

WAFA news: Brenda Cox is organising a tour to the 8^th World Show, 28^th April – 1^st May 2005 in Yokohama, Japan.   Tel: 021-4385793

Dates for your Diary

Nov. 4^th Gala Night for Blackrock F & GC will be held in the Blackrock National Hurling Club, Church Road, by Gene O’Riordan at 8 p.m..   Adm. 10 Euro.

Nov. 7^th Friday, Irish Garden Plant Society have Bernard O’Leary – Head Gardener Ilnacullin (Garnish Island) to lecture on “Tender Trees and Shrubs for Coastal Regions” in the SMA Hall, Wilton at 7.45 p.m.

Nov. 13^th Thursday – Kinsale F&GC host Eileen O’Brien’s demo. Entitled “Christmas yet to Come” at 8 pm in St. Multose Hall.

Nov. 13^th 2003, Gala Demo. by Mary Kehoe.   Hosted by Kilkenny Flower Club.

13^th Nov. Gala Demo by Mary O’Keefe President of AOIFA hosted by Macroom Flower Club.

18^th Nov. Gala Demo. by Carol Bone, Clonmel Flower Club

25^th Nov. Gala Demo by Gene O’Riordan, hosted by Carlow Flower Club.

26^th Nov. Gala Demo. by Malcolm Kitt, hosted by Cobh Flower Club.

2^nd Dec. Demo by Angela Behan O’Carroll hosted by Youghal F.C.

3^rd Dec. Demo by Eva Holmes hosted by Tipperary and District F.C

Cobh Flower and Horticulture Club

will host their annual

Christmas Gala Demonstration

entitled   “Festive Pastiche”

by

Malcolm Kitt

in the

Commodore Hotel, Cobh

on

Wednesday 26^th November

at

8 p.m.

Proceeds in aid of The Irish Heart Foundation

Charlie Wilkins recommends the following work be carried out NOW:

·        Collect up fallen leaves – they will cause lawns to go yellow and die.   Use a plastic leaf-sweeper to make the job easy!

·        Sharpen up lawn edges for the winter.   Use a flat, half-moon iron and not a garden spade.

·        Cyclamen plants are the “in” plants of the moment.    Indoor cyclamens love cool, bright conditions.   Water from the base of the plant – stand the pot in a dish containing a few inches of water and wait until the surface darkens with moisture.

·        Do not water again until the leaves wilt.   Treat the outdoor plants to a top-dressing of rich leaf-mould.

·        Remember outdoor pots can be damaged by frost.   Use bricks or ornamental “feet” to lift clear of the ground.   These pots absorb large quantities of water, which can cause the pot to crack if frozen.  

·        Clean the herbaceous border and overgrown areas.   Trim and clean everything.

Why did the kiwifruit go out with the prune?
Because it couldn't get a date.

Christmas Presents:

A membership of the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland could make a nice gift.   Contact RHSI, Cabinteely House, Cabinteely, Co. Dublin.   Tel: 01 2353912 or e-mail info@rhsi.ie

Green Cone provides a completely unique, natural and safe food digester system that returns over 90% of ALL household food waste to your soils in the form of nutrient enriched water.   It takes all organic waste including cooked food such as meat, fish, bones, dairy products, fruit and vegetables.   With this method there are no air holes, so no smells to attract vermin, scavengers and flies!    Contact www.greencone.ie

Books:

Rachel de Thame’s “Top 100 Star Plants”  - beautifully photographed, the plants are divided into short chapters including autumn leaf colour, transparent plants, trees for small gardens, climbers for shade and winter flowering shrubs.

Encyclopaedia of Planting Combinations by Tony Lord and Andrew Lawson.   Detailed information about which plants go best together according to location, soil type and climatic and seasonal considerations.   Over 1100 photos and colour plans to help you design your garden.

The Garden through the Year by Graham Stuart Thomas.   This book is an invitation to stroll around the garden, month by month, with many suggestions for the quieter times of the year.   It is illustrated with author’s own paintings as well as numerous colour photographs.  Certainly not a “how to” manual, more a compendium of the author’s favourites.   He reminds us that everything in the garden must be looked at closely and evaluated not only for its glories at the heights of its season, but for what it can contribute in the leaner months of the year.

Trees for the Garden by JohnCushnie.   Trees for every situation, whatever your soil or site, whatever the season.   Variegated ornamental bark, fragrance, weeping, and conifers – over 200 suggestions.

Climbing Gardens: adding height and structure to your garden by Joan Clifton.   The author encourages us to take a closer look at the use of three-dimensional space in our gardens.    She shows how plant supports can transform a dull space, enhancing the qualities of a wide range of plants.   Diagrams show how to construct an obelisk, a living arbour, a spiral sculpture, a topiary frame and a rustic gazebo.

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Unlike your favourite painting or sentimental vase, a landscape is alive and constantly changing.   Anon.

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Pot Pourri:

The name comes from the fact that the contents of the pot are decaying or rotting.   Dating back to at least Tudor times a wet form of pot-pourri was made into sweet smelling blocks or little cakes.   These were distributed around a house to counteract unpleasant odours, and small pieces were broken off and carried in little decorative containers, hanging from the wrist or on a chain around the neck.   As hygiene standards improved the need for pot pourri and other scents grew less.   The Victorians in their quest for clutter and all things floral revived the interest and placed large bowls of sweet smelling dried plant material in their already over furnished houses.

Over the last ten years or so there has been a renewed interest in pot-pourri but now mainly bought in cellophane packets from super-markets or health shops.    For gardeners a much more desirable idea would be to make your own pot-pourri with scented plants from your own garden.    Select as many scented flowers as you can find in the garden, roses are of course the mainstay of many a mixture.   Other flowers could be lavender, carnations, or marigolds.    Many flowers although sweetly scented when growing do not retain their scent when dried; however, they maybe included to add colour.   The leaves of bay, mint, rosemary, thyme and scented pelargonium (P. capitum is so sweetly scented that it is called “attar of roses”) add contrast.

There are many different ways of drying.   Roses and lavender may be dried in small bunches tied at the end of the stems and hung in the hot press but rose petals may be dried individually spread out on a tray, individual leaves are also best dried this way and this can be done well in advance.   Banana skins dried on top of a radiator can form lovely shapes and add texture to the mix.   As each group is dried, place in any airtight container till all are ready.

When all are dried, mix in a large container with some spices – allspice and cinnamon are good, and finally an ounce of orrisroot, obtained from the chemist should be added to the mixture.   Seal with a lid and leave for about a month stirring occasionally, then place in decorative containers and you will end with your own special kind of pot-pourri to scent your rooms and delight your guests.   Should the scent start to fade, a little drop of flower oil from the health food shop will revive the aroma.

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In an orchard there should be enough to eat, enough to lay up,
enough to be stolen, and enough to rot on the ground.
- James Boswell, 1740-1795

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Growing Garlic:

These days garlic is regarded as indispensable in cooking.   Its health-giving benefits are extolled and many believe it can prevent colds, flu and other illnesses.

Plant out in October – it needs a period of cold (anything up to –10C) for 6 – 8 weeks.    Buy from a garden centre or seed supplier.   It likes sunny, free-draining soil.   Do not add manure, rather use garden compost.   Potash helps growth – ashes from a bonfire or wood fire will help.

Separate the cloves and plant them singly 5-10 cms deep and 18 cms apart.    Do not plant centre bulbs, as they tend to bolt.   Do not compact the covering soil.   If you have heavy soil you can plant one clove to a pot, leaving them outside for the winter and transplant in the spring.   Harvest in late July or when leaves yellow.   “Cure” by leaving in a bright airy place (outdoors preferably) for 1 – 2 weeks or more.    When dry, store in an airy shed in a plait if you have the patience to do one!

Article based on points made in Jane Powers Gardening Column in the Irish Times and subsequently reproduced in the RHSI newsletter.

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Education Day:

This year’s education day was a great success.   Pat Hurley showed members how to make Christmas decorations – she took all the hard work out of it and presented each of us with a bag of ready cut bits and pieces and all we had to do was stick and sew.   My kind of day!!   We all took home our completed works of art - beautiful angels, decorative balls for the Christmas tree and Christmas cards.   Once again, Pat shared her skill and talent and even the “slow learners” were delighted with their finished articles.  

The creative duo Mary Roche and Cindy O’Shea showed their group how to make paper from recycled and natural materials.   Beautifully coloured sheets of paper with petals emerged from basins of “goo”    A really interesting day doing something completely different and ending up with middle aged to well done ladies reverting to their childhood and really loving it!  

Let’s have more!

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I believe that the days to come already feel the wonder of the days that have passed and will permit that wonder to endure and increase.   If this be blind faith, then every gardener has it, or he would never plant a seed.   Anon.

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Sympathy

The members of Cobh Flower and Horticulture Club would like to extend their sincere sympathy to the following:

Mrs Frances Twomey – following the death of her beloved husband Jack.

Mrs Pat Day - on the death of her sister Mrs Mary Whelehan

Congratulations:

Congratulations to “Grandmother” Barbara Buckley on the birth of grandson Eoin.

Good Luck:

To those who are doing their Teacher’s exam.

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When I walk with you, I feel like I have a flower in my buttonhole!

William Makepiece Thackeray 1811-1863 English Novelist.

Eurocarillon:

The members of Cobh Flower and Horticulture Club really helped to put Cobh on the map with the magnificent display in St. Colman’s Cathedral during the carillon festival in September.

On entering the cathedral one was met by giant bells – made from flower pots which were given the special antiquing finish of sheeting soaked in wallpaper paste and stuck on in crinkles and then sprayed gold.   These were suspended at either side of the main aisle just inside the entrance.   Ribbons denoting the colours of the flags of all the participating countries formed the “bell pull”.  

The colours of the stained glass windows were echoed in all the flower arrangements – particularly the stands half way up the aisle.   These stands were also made by the members – Plastic plant holders connected to wavin piping and standing on cake boards – then given the antiquing treatment.   The talent of the members knows no bounds!

The altar was beautifully decorated with arrangements on the floor and on candle stands enhanced further with gold coloured bells – all made by members, of course.

The pillars were decorated with two different varieties of “bells” made from wooden frames decorated like wreath rings with various types of foliage and with rhododendron leaves sprayed gold – these were decorated with ribbons and names of the different countries participating in the festival.   Two pillars were dedicated to each participating country.

Ireland – the host country - was represented by the pulpit, which had arrangements in green, white and orange beautifully carrying through the overall theme.

The Eurocarillon logo was made from dried hydrangea florets, twigs making up the lettering and the whole lot placed on a huge sheet of aeroboard and suspended from the choir gallery.   A marvellous exhibit.

Various other arrangements adorned the Holy Water Font, the entrance to the Choir Gallery, the Porch, the Altars at each side of the Cathedral and the Main Altar area.

Many tributes were paid to the Club and encouraging comments made.    The President of the World Confederation of Carilloneurs – Mr Adrian Gebruers has sent a letter of thanks and congratulations to the Club.

A lot of members helped to make this event a great success and a lot of planning and hard work was involved.   Well done, everyone!

Photographs taken by Mr Brian Daly can be seen on the website homepage.eircom.net/~cfhc

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Where flowers bloom so does hope.

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Next committee meeting November 17^th 8pm in the Prayer and Pastoral Centre.

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Christmas party will be held on December at 8 p.m.    Don’t forget your cold plate and your pressie!   Wrap up your present – which should not cost more than 5 Euro – really nicely and decorate it with artificial, dried or fresh plant or natural material.    You might win a prize!   I hear that the “Santa Claus Choir” is practising for the event! – Remember last year’s rendition of the 12 days of Christmas – could we forget?  Any other “performers” or ideas are welcome.   Come in fancy dress, wear a mad hat, paint your face, stand on your head or even one foot…………….DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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When life hands you a lemon, say,
"Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else ya got?"
- Henry Rollins.

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Articles for inclusion in the Newsletter and website are welcome at any time.

Contact:   Margot  4811563.   Snail-mail:   Seafield, Lower Road, Cobh.

e-mail:     cfhc@eircom.net