Claire Marrack writes … The mild weather continued throughout most of November, but with it came torrential rain. In contrast December brought snow and icy conditions. As a result the gardening group has been unable to do any work apart from sweeping up the leaves, and we are grateful to Gill and her son for completing this strenuous task. Instead we met up for coffee and conversation at the nearby garden centre, and we hope to continue meeting up throughout the winter months. We may even manage some gardening if we get some fine weather.

Due to the warm weather many plants have continued to flower longer than usual, including the wall flowers, salvias and verbena. The new Acer tree has provided a magnificent display of bright red leaves in the far corner, the myrtle is now covered in bright purple berries, and the holly tree is at its most beautiful at this time of the year. Even some of the roses were still producing new buds during November. The seed heads of poppies and erysium continue to provide winter interest.

Sadly the honey fungus has returned with a vengeance and will have to be monitored. The paulownia tree has now been removed, and we hope to use some of the wood to create some seating around the garden. It has left a large gap in the far corner, but this will provide new opportunities for planting in that area. Please let us know if you have any suggestions. The tree stumps also need to be sealed in order to preserve them, and we would welcome any volunteers to help with this.

We are grateful to everyone in our meeting who has contributed to maintaining the burial ground during the past year, and look forward to new developments in the coming months.