A few years ago, I got some ‘lost label’ roses from David Austen, and planted one outside the Shared Earth Learning polytunnel.

It was in flower on 5th January. That seems very unusual, and actually a bit unsettling. The UK just had a very warm start to the new year, with the weather feeling more like April than January.

I’m wondering if this rose, which was sold cheap because of its lost label, might have been a variety called ‘warm wishes’

Warm Wishes

And I’m wondering if we’ll start to use ‘cool wishes’ to send our best in future.

Shared Earth Learning and volunteers have continued work to restore part of the hedgerow by the Mendip Way. One of our volunteers was delighted to discover that half the baby trees she had planted last year have made it through their first year.

Some of the trees that were planted in 2019 planting are doing really well, and it’s not an easy spot for a sapling to get established.

The forest school students have been making signs to mark out the trees in the hedgerow. We are adding extra varnish to this batch of signs.

Volunteers have added more saplings, some of them collected from our neighbours, and we’ve got some free baby trees from the Woodland Trust coming soonish, probably in late March.

We might end up popping them into a nursery bed to grow on for a year or two before putting them out, we’ll see how big they are.

At home, I’ve planted out some flowers that my mum and dad gave me and Ki for Christmas – a couple of beautiful white hellebores, and a ‘Simply Pink’ hesperantha, from the Lakeside garden centre. They brighten up the bit by the front door.

That’s it from me for now,

happy new year!

Jx