Art exhibition adds splash of colour Helmsley Walled Garden

ARTISTS Connie Fairweather and Margaret Rivers are contributing to the colour of the Orchid House at Helmsley Walled Garden with a staging of their paintings inspired by nature.

The exhibition runs until Sunday and can be viewed by visitors to the garden every day from 10am to 5pm.
Connie and Margaret, both from Ripon, take their inspiration from the natural world.
Connie, who trained at York School of Art in the 1960s, focuses on the wealth of beauty to be found in nature and works in several different mediums to explore and develop her ideas.
Margaret is a self-taught artist who started producing pen and ink drawings of botanical specimens to go towards a native flora when she was living in Sierra Leone.
On her return to the UK, she took a range of short courses, including a course on botanical illustration at the University of Sheffield. Both have exhibited in various locations around the region, but this is their first time exhibiting at Helmsley Walled Garden.
Tricia Harris, marketing manager, said: “We are so pleased to be able to exhibit the work of Connie Fairweather and Margaret Rivers in the wonderful setting of the Orchid House, a restored Victorian glasshouse.
“Their work, exploring themes in nature complements the Garden and the beauty to be found inside its walls. “We hope visitors will enjoy the exhibition and perhaps take a picture home as a souvenir of their visit.”

Why won’t Fuji apple tree bear fruit?

There are a variety of possible reasons why your Fuji apple tree is failing to bear fruit, including pruning techniques, variety and pollination.

If the tree has never bloomed, you may be pruning too severely. Most fruit trees require the development of spurs or short shoots on which flowers will form. It is important not to cut off all of the 1-year-old growth.

Allow dappled light to enter throughout the tree by thinning out crowded growth. Lack of sunlight can also prevent flowering and fruit set. In addition, avoid excessive heading cuts, especially during the dormant season, since heading encourages vigorous growth and reduces flower development.

If the tree has bloomed but has never set fruit, it may not be a Fuji or may need to have an additional pollinizer placed nearby to encourage bees and pollination. Although the Fuji cultivar should be "self-fruitful," meaning that it should not require cross-pollination from another apple cultivar to set fruit, it may be possible that the tree just needs additional help. Because it did have one instance of bearing fruit, perhaps a nearby apple cultivar in a neighbor’s yard helped with cross-pollination.

If the tree is not a Fuji or "self-fruitful," it will require a pollinizer (a tree or branch of a different apple variety with a similar bloom period) planted nearby (no further than 35 to 50 feet away). If there is no room to plant an additional tree, a pollinizer variety could be grafted onto the existing tree.

To test this solution, try placing flowering branches of a different pollinizer variety in a jar filled with water and set the jar in the tree canopy. Bees will visit these flowers and cross pollinate the existing tree.

When choosing a cultivar for cross-pollination, be sure that the bloom times overlap with the existing tree.

If the tree has bloomed and set fruit normally but the fruit dropped off prematurely, a variety of other factors could be causing poor fruit set, including the weather. During bloom time, strong winds and cold temperatures can greatly reduce or prevent adequate bee activity. Frost during or shortly after blooming can cause young fruitlets to abort even though no frost damage is seen.

Too much or too little water during the summer can cause fruit to drop. Drooping or yellowing leaves would indicate improper irrigation.

In addition, backyard fruit trees do not require heavy applications of fertilizer. Too much nitrogen will cause excessive new growth, which will shade out branches and cause poorer fruit set.

Depending on where the tree is located, it may be receiving too much shade from nearby trees or buildings or is competing for nutrients from other plants. Root constriction caused by hardpan or compacted soil, sunburn, borer insects, soil nematodes, root rot, powdery mildew and spider mites might also be affecting the tree. Take a close look and see if you can observe any other factors that might be impacting the tree’s health.

Trendy Plants And Care

The article is based on my own experience and the expertise I have acquired over time. What works for my plants, may not work for others. Room temperature, amount of sunlight, the ability to muck about plants, to remember to water them, forget to water, give too much water / too little water is obviously in. But what I describe below are tips I have given to others and who, after all, have kept their plants alive. Personally, I have a lot more plants that I would have described in your post - just because I am a crazy plant lady. But in principle, many of the most common indoor plants we have at home, cared for from "Pilea'ens" principles, described a little further down;)

Tip: If you are absolutely miserable to remember to water the flowers, download the free app "Koubachi". I have not yet tried it, but it was said to be perfect, to remember one on watering, fertilizing and "douche" its plants :)

Tip: Fill the water jug ​​/ 2 liter soda bottle, the next time you need it, so the water is room temperature. In this way the plants are not "alarmed" over the cold tap water. I do not know if it is a hoax, but I have no startled plants: P

TIP: Use the hashtag "Crazy Plant Ladies Unit" or "urban jungle bloggers" on Instagram, next time records images of your plant friends. Or search on them inspo;)

Plant Guide: These To Own!

Plants have ended up in the notorious spotlight, which is super exciting! Especially because I never have prioritized them, which is quite strange fret! They are both beautiful, decorative and lively.

'Beads on a string' is a beautiful and a bit quirky hang plant with ærtelignende leaves. It prefers sun or partial shade and is naturally a thirsty little bandit. Remember to let the soil dry out well in between waterings, to avoid drowning.

'Prayer flat' - also called: 'Maranta Leuconeura' is a tropical plant, its leaves fold together at night and opens up again in the morning. Pretty cool actually! The leaves should be cleaned regularly to keep the plant healthy and attractive. It does not like direct sunlight, but it grows best in bright environments. Over the spring and summertime earth has to be a little 'moisty' - opposite the winter months when it does not need that much water because it is 'kind of' going into hibernation

'Pilea peperomioides' also called 'money plant' I am totally in love with. I like serviceinformant mention that they have the Alexandra Flowers for 85 kr. The soil should be 'moisty', and the princess here should not be exposed to sunburn. It is, however, happy light.


'Oxalis lasiopetala' also called 'happiness clover' I think that is super beautiful with its clover leaves. It requires little care because it requires liquid fertilizer once a week from April to September (according to the experienced flower ladies). It should also be watered regularly. You can even adjust little by whether you want it to flourish or not. The more direct light = more flowers. It also dislike about heat stroke, then place it like in rooms that are not too heated.