This extremely interesting and enjoyable day was the first Plantnetwork meeting to be held on the Botanic Garden’s new site, to which the garden had relocated a mere 18 months previously. (The Training Day was repeated in 2008 – link to report).

Nick Wray, Curator of the Garden, set the scene with an introductory presentation on South Africa: its three distinct rainfall patterns, with winter, summer and all-year-round rain; its ancient geology and its enormous plant diversity, particularly in the fynbos. The natural fires of this region tend to suit bulbs, since they remove the build up of dead vegetation which would otherwise shade them out, sterilise the soil, kill fungal diseases and provide nutrients. Showing fabulous slides from his collection, Nick described some of the geophyte treasures of the Cape, and passed on tips on how to grow them successfully (Boophone disticha should be grown with its neck above the soil surface; Cyrtanthus obliquus does best in a very small pot . . .).

Terry Smale, an enthusiastic bulb grower and RHS committee member, also gave detailed information on growing South African bulbs, corms and tubers, as well as discussing their natural habitats, and how this affected growing regimes. A major problem with growing Western Cape plants here is lack of light in their normal growing season (winter), followed by scorching of the leaves in our spring sun. Providing shade at this time can prevent them from burning off too fast, and thus help the bulbs to grow well. Describing his own standard growing regime (growing 25 bulbs to a 13-cm square pot; repotting every 2–3 years into a 50% crushed granite mix with John Innes and ericaceous compost; watering late August to May, generously at each end, but easing off in the middle of winter; feeding only once in spring, with a 1:0:3 fertiliser), he covered some of the exceptions to his rules, problems that he encountered and how to deal with them, and his usual propagation methods. His tips on seed sowing were especially valuable. Ending with sources of seed and of information, his talk too was accompanied by stunning photographs.

Jonathan Hutchinson, of the RHS Garden Rosemoor, closed the morning session with an overview of veltheimias, of which he holds an NCCPG collection. He showed lovely pictures of Veltheimia bracteata, the summer-rainfall species, growing in the shade of Podocarpus and intermingled with Streptocarpus alongside a river; he also brought plants for us to admire V. capensis, the Western Cape species, is, in contrast, a highly xerophytic species, and much harder to cultivate in this country; here it flowers in the autumn.

After lunch, Nick and his team took us round their wonderful new glasshouses, and then to the potting shed, where we indulged in a lively discussion of potting mixes and other such technicalities. The day ended with a tour of the new garden, which will be absolutely stunning when it is completed; it already looks wonderful, and Nick’s tour was fascinating. As well as collections of local endangered plant species, the garden will have displays of Chinese medicinal plants and plants from the Mediterranean climate regions. Plant evolution is one of the major themes of the new garden. One area will show the evolution of different pollination mechanisms; the area devoted to telling the story of flowering-plant evolution and their family relationships is already pretty much complete. All in all, a very good day – and the sun shone throughout!
Jessica Gould

This Training Day proved very popular and was fully booked with a long waiting list. It will be repeated in 2008 (probably on 18 March, but date to be confirmed), giving preference to those on the waiting list for the 2007 day.