Today I have been in Room 101, literally. I have been working at the hospice now for just over a year. Each year we have to do some mandatory training (ie H+S, manual handling, data protection etc). The time had come for me to redo mine. So I went to a room with a computer and started the online training. I laughed out loud when I looked down at the phone and saw that I was in Room 101 (Room 101 being the torture chamber used in George Orwell’s 1984). Mandatory training, very important as it is, can seem somewhat tortuous, especially on a sunny day!

I feel that I am also in a slight metaphorical Room 101. Over the last few days my back has been getting increasingly stiff and more sore, a fear that all gardeners dread. By lunchtime I decided that it was best to stop working and rest up for the next few days, in the hope that the pain will ease off. I am also being referred to a back rehab clinic.

It is now just over two weeks since the Garden Opening. For a few days afterwards I was exhausted. We had a quick debrief afterwards, and were very pleased with how the day went. We have decided to open again next year, this time a bit earlier. So on July 15th 2018, Wigan and Leigh Hospice will be open again to the public.

Last week suddenly went very autumnal. The leaves were dropping off the trees quicker than I could clear them. Is it me, or are they falling earlier this year than in recent years? Mushrooms have also started appearing in the lawns. Mushrooms, and fungi in general, remind me of autumn conditions – cool and damp. The mushrooms in question are called Bay Bolete.

The Imleria badia (syn. Boletus badius), as it is officially known, is bay brown (chestnut) in colour and grows up to 15cm in diameter. On the underside they do not have gills, but rather pores. And despite being named ‘badius’, they are actually edible, although I haven’t dared harvest them to give to the kitchen to cook up, just in case I have mis-identified them! They are mild tasting, and according to one website they smell “mushroomy”!

Another highlight of the garden this week are the kaffir lilies – Schizostylis ‘pink princess’.

They are so pretty and delicate, and a real treat to see in flower, in a month which can feel a bit depressing as the days start to get shorter, cooler and more damp.

Hopefully I’ll be back in work next week, as there is plenty to do, and not just picking up leaves!