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Well hello and welcome to this week’s blog-ette which as it happens concerns itself with gardeners' concerns.

And those concerns were aired in the elegant surroundings of the upstairs room in Portadown Town Hall, all sweeping staircase, plush velvet seats, twinkling lights and people in search of knowledge. A heady combination on a frosty night or any night, come to think about it. It just so happens that the night in question was frosty and chill so the bright warmth of the hall was all the more welcoming.

We were there as the guests of Portadown Gardening Society, who had also invited members from Gardening societies in Armagh and Waringstown. The atmosphere was buzzing with unasked questions and Brendan Little and Neil Porteous our expert gardeners on the night, were the very men to provide the answers.

Before we heard the questions we left the audience to Neil and Brendan’s tender mercies while we slipped into a side room to record a short interview. Portadown’s Chairman, Reverend Bertram Livingstone told us a little of the societies’ history while Andrew White talked about Portadown’s famous rose-growing son Sam McGredy, of whose achievements local people are still justifiably proud.

So with moments of local knowledge happily recorded for the top of the programme, we made our way back into the hall to hear what gardening challenges were besetting local gardeners.

And they included:

* how to identify the dreaded and much talked about Ash die-back and what to do should a much loved tree succumb?

* when should a peony be lifted and replanted to encourage flowering? is five years too long to wait?

* comfrey, nettles and seaweed have good fertilising qualities, what is their chemical breakdown and when is best to use them?

* how to use green manure on a vegetable patch and what are the benefits?

* why are my parsnips great but my carrots a disaster? * can you recommend a pruning regime for a tub grown Pyracantha growing against a north facing wall?

* how to treat plate sized patches of unsightly fungus on the lawn.

Questions duly asked and answered and one un-edited episode of Gardeners' Corner in the bag waiting to be honed to perfection and made ready for transmission, we retired from programme making for the evening and gratefully accepted an invitation to supper, which was, I have to say fantastic.

So thanks to all who baked, iced, sliced, prepared, served and poured and to the members and friends of Portadown Gardening Society, thanks for your warm welcome and we look forward to our next visit!

Oh and the answers to all the above questions may of course be heard on this week’s programme or via the Radio Ulster homepage where you can download the podcast or listen again to your heart’s content.

Unfortunately you’ll just have to imagine the supper.