Christmas quiz – a cracking evening

If you didn’t make it to the Shepton Mallet Hort Soc quiz last night, have a go…

 
Christmas Quiz 2016

 ROUND 1 – On Dowding (multi-choice)

  • Always plant on… a waxing moon, a waning moon, a full moon, a new moon, doesn’t matter

  • When sowing salad crops, plant… only one seed in each module, several seeds in each module, one seed in a toilet roll, several seeds in a toilet roll, always sow direct into the soil

  • Always water… in the night, water in the evening, water at midday, water in the morning, water when they’re slightly wilting

 ROUND 2 – The Wrong Talk by John Negus (multi-choice)

  • Which of the following does John use on his Hostas to keep slugs at bay?
    Garlic, nematode treatment, copper filings, bran mulch, WD40

  • Which vegetable has a cultivar named ‘Red Rum’?
    Bush Tomato, Capsicum Pepper, Carrot, Winter Squash, Runner Bean

  • What is ‘Pitmaster Duchess’?
    A pox-ridden dowager, a propagation tool, a lawnmower, a species of snail, an edible pear

 ROUND 3 – Who You Calling A Burke? Mike Burke of Castle Gardens

  • Skimmia, Camelias and Pieris all like… a little cuddle, alkaline soil, acidic soil, hard pruning in spring, manual fertilization

  • Campanula, clematis and lavender all like… full sun on their roots, acidic soil, cutting back hard in summer, alkaline soil, Monty Don

  • Mike loves a super-evergreen, a plant that not only has year-round foliage but flowers too. Which of these is a super-evergreen?
    Mahonia japonica, Viburnum tinus, Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Variegatus’, Sarcococca hookeriana, Nandina domestica 

 ROUND 4 – Greengrocer Knowledge

  • What is pomology the study of?

  • What fruit comes in varieties Oro Blanco, Ruby Red, Thompson and Pink?

  • Which fruit has main varieties slicing, burpless, and pickling?

  • Apples, pears, plums, apricots, and peaches are members of what family of flowering plants?

  • Often used in salads, what has the botanical name nasturtium officinale?

ROUND 5 – Dead Common

  • What are these plants’ common names and what links them?

    • Ilex aquifolium

    • Picea abies

    • Hedera helix

    • Helleborus niger

 ROUND 6 – General Knowledge

  • Containing the temples of Apollo and Flora, which garden is sited at the source of a 61-mile river and was created by Henry Hoare II “the Magnificent” in the 1740s?

  • Which flower is also the goddess of the rainbow in Greek Mythology?

  • Most species of eucalyptus are native to which country?

  • Who is the patron saint of gardeners, horticulture, florists, brides and brewers?

  • What is a whip?

 ROUND 7 – ON TV

  • Name the cynical snail in The Magic Roundabout?

  • Who popped her head over the garden wall in Hector’s House?

  • Parsley the Lion starred in which children’s TV programme?

  • Who was the first lead presenter of Gardeners’ World?

  • Bill and Ben were flower pot men, but who was their herbaceous friend?

  • Who was Diarmuid Gavin’s co-presenter on Home Front?

  • In which series did gardening sleuths Felicity Kendall and Pam Ferris star?

ROUND 8 – Who’s Wearing What?

  • What colour top was Ian wearing as he pointed at the Clematis rectus in Mells? Red, blue or green?

  • Sally wore a jumper the colour of which vegetable at the snowdrop propagation evening? Beetroot, Lettuce or Potato?

  • Lucy won Wendy’s Snowdrop cake from the Collett Festival Raffle – was her top the colour of a snowdrop’s leaves, stamens or petals?

  • At the AGM Zena’s scarf was the colour of which of these roses? Munstead Wood (Crimson), Lady Emma Hamilton (Peach) or Graham Thomas (Yellow)

  • Were Charles Dowding’s trousers the colour of summer morning sunbeams, a wintery white landscape or autumn storm clouds?

Quiz by Simon & Dominic