I woke this morning with great anticipation. I had 6 volunteers coming to help for the day. I had been praying for good weather because I was wanting to paint some large planters bright red and stain some weary old benches. The weather was cold, but beautifully sunny (a rare thing here in Wigan!).

They were due at 9:30am. By 10am I was wondering what had happened. I checked my work email, only to find out that due to illness they weren’t coming. Feeling a touch disheartened I set about the task on my own. The planters were in an inner courtyard. It was whilst there I discovered a stunning plant, which instanteously changed my mood. I decided that I had to share this plant and came up with the idea of “Jim’s Plant of the Week”.

So Jim’s first ever plant of the week is…. “Pieris Japonica Katsura”

The bright, glossy maroon leaves are just gorgeous and mesmerising. Sadly they turn a rather dull green in due course, but hey ho, you can’t have everything.

I didn’t end up painting the planters, but I did paint 5 benches instead. The planters can wait for the volunteers to get better.

Thank you Pieris Japonica Katsura for cheering me up. I wonder what will be my next plant of the week?