Internationally renowned and local growers Ron and Adrian Scamp half filled Mabe’s Youth and Community Hall last weekend with a vast array of daffodil; tulip; crocus; allium and hyacinth bulbs when they were the main attraction at the club’s annual coffee morning.

The hall was busy all morning with ‘bulb fanciers’ arriving from various local garden clubs plus villagers and friends. Earlier, at the regular monthly meeting, members were treated to an excellent talk by a true ‘expert’.

Mike Ellis and his wife Doreen relocated from Leicestershire to Cornwall and now have one greenhouse instead of his previous five in which he used to grow between 4,000 and 6,000 Streptocarpus plants. The name Streptocarpus is derived from the Greek ‘strepto’ meaning twisted and ‘carpus’ meaning fruit. Streptocarpus are native to South Africa where there are over 300 species. The first species arrived in the UK in 1826, some 70 years before the African Violets.

There are two main groups of Streptocarpus: the branch group found on slopes eg “Saxorum” and the rosetti group which is Mike’s main interest. Most early varieties are named after women. On a trip to South Africa he saw then growing on slopes on leaf mould and peat. Streptocarpus like dappled shade and the best place to site a Streptocarpus within the home is on a north facing windowsill, followed by a west facing window. These are plants that don’t like direct sunlight and there is virtually no chance of success in a south facing window. Mike cautioned that although they are sometimes called Cape Primroses, they are not related and do not respond to primrose or primula treatment.

A couple of his favourite varieties are “Ruby” which has good, clean foliage and nice shaped flowers with between six and eight being carried on each stem. “Falling Stars” can have over 100 flowers on the plant and has been known to mutate into “Gloria” which is a pink colour.

Mike then covered propagation of the species in great detail and demonstrated some techniques whilst wielding a scalpel with precision and aplomb. Each technique he demonstrated increased the number of plants that could be generated. For compost he recommends either Westland or Humax as he considers all other brands to be of very poor quality. For propagation material he implores gardeners to use nice green healthy leaves and a very sharp tool, hence the scalpel. For potting material he considers a mix of a third vermiculite (which decomposes much more quickly than perlite), a third silver sand and a third compost is the ideal. Dependent on the time of year, it takes about 8-12 weeks to grow plantlets for onward potting.

The worst thing for Streptocarpus is over-watering, from which there is no way back, so his motto is “If in doubt, leave it out” as plants will recover from drought, but not from drowning.

For feeding he recommends high potash tomato feed and from mid-May onwards he suggests using one-quarter of the recommended dose each time a plant is watered. Over winter months he suggests watering only every 4-6 weeks and plants can be watered from the top.

Mike concluded his very lively and informative talk to rousing applause from the audience and an appreciative vote of thanks from Sue Mitchell on behalf of those assembled.

September’s Flower of the Month: 1, Heather Scott; 2, Kitty Trewern; 3, Rosemary Ball.