One of the good things about being interested in plants is that, wherever you go, there are generally a few bits of greenery around to brighten the day.
This might only be the house plants at the doctor's surgery or the different hedgerow shrubs to be seen while sitting in a traffic jam, but plants can usually be relied upon to add interest whatever the situation.
I was reminded of this during a visit to Chester Zoo last week with my son and one of his friends.
I was expecting the animals and birds (which were wonderful) - I was not expecting to find a good display of summer bedding, a well-laid out grass garden, and peacocks wandering about among beds of half-hardy perennials.
In one bed we came across a plant that I had not seen before - an Aquilegia with yellow stamens and bright scarlet-red petals tipped with orange.
Most columbines flower in early summer, and most are in shades of blue, pink, white and yellow; this late-flowering variety would be an interesting and colourful addition to the autumn border at Brockhole.
Although I have looked through my reference books I can't find anything similar - if anyone can identify it for me I would be most grateful (the wispy white bits in the photo are willowherb seeds blown in from further along the border).
As fashions in the horticultural world come and go, so plants are introduced to and lost from our gardens regularly.
Many old and unusual varieties of flowers, fruits and vegetables are now lost forever, remembered only in people's memories and old nursery and seed catalogues.
The National Council for the Protection of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG) is a body set up to stem this tide of losses and to help save endangered garden plants.
It runs a National Collections Scheme, where individuals, nurseries, parks and larger gardens are encouraged to adopt a species or genera, and to collect and grow as many varieties of those plants as possible.
The North West Group of the NCCPG has organised a lecture by the celebrated plantsman and explorer Roy Lancaster, a speaker who I have heard before and can highly recommend, both for his enormous enthusiasm and wide-ranging plant knowledge.
His talk is entitled Where Our Garden Plants Come From, and it is in the lecture theatre at Myerscough College, near Preston, at 2.30pm on Saturday, October 5.
Tickets cost £5 each and they are available by phoning 015393-68222 or 01254-247469.
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