16 February 2019

February can be a difficult month, at this time last year we were snowed in, events were cancelled and the motorways and trains in turmoil! In contrast, this year we were practically sunbathing, enjoying the hottest February day on record. The last time we enjoyed such a warm February was in 1976, which as many of you know, was the year of the extremely long hot summer. I am starting to pray for rain already!

We spent the morning preparing areas for planting in March and April. The wild-flower area has been extended, and I am tempted to paint double yellow lines on the ground around it to prevent cars parking in front of these new areas as I’m sure they will look so beautiful.

We are continuing to fill in the beds with perennials, bulbs and shrubs, always adding to the structure and colour of the garden. At the moment the swathe of dwarf daffodils is looking exquisite. I do love yellow daffodils; they are the most cheering of sights.

I wonder if any of you have plants surplus to your needs that we could usefully add to the Memorial garden? Instead of putting them on the compost heap you could recycle them into our garden. It gives me such a lot of pleasure to look at the donated plants, and I always remember the generosity of the person who gave them.

There was a good turn out today, and it was lovely to welcome Dorothy back. I am looking forward to the next working party, and I hope that the numbers of folk who come along on the third Saturday of the month will increase as people who use the hall see that the garden is developing into a more beautiful space every day.

Jane Jewitt