The List

November the first was a longed for day in this household and I suspect I wasn't the only gardener anticipating it. For the rest of you folks it was a day like any other, but for us of the green fingered persuasion it meant the release of the RHS seed list. This is a brilliant scheme whereby all the RHS gardens collect their most promising seeds and make them available to us members. The choice is large and mostly unusual, you can't pick up many of these babies from an average nursery, the only problem is that out of 475 possibles you can only choose twenty packets, what a dilemma! So for the last week or so I've been scrutinising my selected categories, annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, and trying to decide what I shall grow. Bearing in mind the size of my garden (small), my soil type (OK but a bit on the heavy side), and my growing facilities (non existent). I wont bore you with the details as most of these plants are new to me, but I have decided to attempt to grow some Metasequoia glyptostroboides, that's the Dawn Redwood, bonkers I know given the size they grow to but I just can't resist the challenge. If I succeed Giles says he will give one a home down by the lake at Norton Conyers, that pleases me enormously to think that long after I'm gone a magnificent tree may stand in a special place all because of a slightly eccentric plants woman!

It also strikes me that to be remembered and improve the lives of others long after ones death must be the highest honour one can aspire to, so I dedicate today's blog to the lost generations of the worlds conflicts. Lest we forget.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides, a fast growing deciduous conifer with fibrous reddish bark. Soft green leaves turn yellow, pink and red in autumn. Grows to over 30m (100ft)