Solent Fuchsia Club, News
Club President
Solent Fuchsia Club is pleased to announce Dot Waters as their President. Dot was elected at the Club’s A.G.M. on 6th November 2007.
Fuchsia Gall Mite
We sincerely hope the distressing news about the appearance of the dreaded FUCHSIA GALL MITE in the U.K. will not result in the authorities cancelling any Fuchsia Shows that are being organised for this year.
Fingers crossed that they won’t – but of course, only time will tell.
What are the possibilities of ridding ourselves of Fuchsia Gall Mite quickly?
Not very good, judging by the past experiences of certain countries already involved with the attack of this troublesome pest. For instance, certain districts in the U.S.A. have had fuchsia gall mite attacks for several years now.
An article in a bulletin on the A.F.S. website, that a possible contributory factor encouraging fuchsia gall mite to attack our favourite flower, was the speciality hybridizing of the massive American double varieties. These large doubles are apparently the least resistant to this particular pest. It was mentioned that ‘Santa Cruz’, a semi double, is the only one that comes anywhere near to a double having even a slight resistance to fuchsia gall mite.
The BBC have placed an article on their website dated 11th November 2007 about this disease.
Looking Back At A Few Of The Solent Fuchsia Club's Annual Shows
The photograph (left) shows Ted and Eileen Saunders judging Solent Fuchsia Club’s very first Annual Show in 1974. The venue belonged to Hammonds Nursery at Stubbington, near Fareham. On the far left of the picture is Ted Adams, one of the founder members of the Club.
The 1979 Annual Show
The 1979 Annual Show was held in Holy Trinity Church Hall, West Street, Fareham.
In the picture from left to right: Andy Daws (Show Manager), Margaret Slater (Show Judge), Stan Eames (Show Secretary) and Joe Debono (The hybridizer of the fuchsia ‘Solent Pride’).
The 1980 Annual Show
This photograph was taken at Solent Fuchsia Club’s Annual Show in 1980. It shows Reg and Ruth Witts just after judging the twenty seven classes of good quality plants at the Holy Trinity Church Hall in Fareham.
They were a lovely couple and gave magnificent support to Sid Ellis in his first ever role as Show Secretary. For him, it proved to be a most enjoyable experience, and because of this, his job was made a lot easier than he had envisaged.
The 1986 Annual Show
This photograph was taken in 1986. It illustrates Carol Gubler who was invited to judge the Show. She is seen here with Bryan Stevens who was the Solent Fuchsia Club’s Chairman at the time. This was her first visit as a judge, the second being in 2002 and then again in 2006.
The 2001 Annual Show
This was our 2001 Annual Show held in the majestic surroundings of Ferneham Hall, Osborn Road, Fareham. All the stage structures were manufactured and assembled by Club members. The judges for that year were Mr G Smith & Mr J Large.
The 2004 Annual Show
Titchfield Community Centre is our current venue. We have held our Annual Shows here since 2004. Although a lot smaller than Ferneham Hall, it has more natural light, which is an advantage when viewing plants, especially fuchsias.
The judge in 2004 was Mr R Chislett.
We will be holding our 35th Annual Show here on the 26th & 27th July 2008.
Are you interested in growing fuchsias?
Need to know what that fuchsia is called?
Want to know how to overwinter them?
Interested in talking to and meeting other fuchsia growers?
Fancy going on organized day trips?
Then come and join us!
We always welcome new members.