January guest speaker report

Our speaker this month was Ivor Mace, who has a vast knowledge of everything horticulturally related, and has visited us on several previous occasions.

The topic this time was spray carnations, the type that you buy in the florist or local supermarket. Ivor has competed for many years in shows around the country and has been very successful with carnations and chrysanthemums in particular, winning many Gold Medals. We were given lots of information on how to take cuttings from carnations and in particular at what  time of year to do this, so that the resulting new plants are at their prime for each show. Ivor did this on an epic scale to ensure he had enough plants for the shows and he devised his own recipe for the potting medium for the best quality plants. However, multi-purpose compost would be sufficient for the amateur gardener.

Ivor showed slides of these cuttings at various stages, together with photos of the many varieties of carnations he has grown and shown.

It was a very good turnout for Ivor's talk. Thank you to everyone for attending, and to Ivor for a great talk.