For years now we have kept some of our more tender plants in situ over winter and given them protection against the cold and damp. But up until now we have only done so in the relatively sheltered Walled Garden West. This year we have decided to try it on a larger scale, and a more exposed position, with the subtropical border, where in the past we have always lifted the tender plants and overwintered them under glass.

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We have just received some very good news. I am pleased to tell you that Guildford Borough Council has given the Heritage & Environment Award 2007 for the best New Building Design to the RHS for the Bicentenary Glasshouse. Details of this and other awards can be found on the Borough's website:>

http://www.guildford.gov.uk/GuildfordWeb/Planning/Conservation/HeritageEnvironmentAwards.htm Read More...

One of our most popular autumnal attractions is coming into its own right now. On Seven Acres, you can't miss the broadly conical tupelo tree Nyssa sylvatica 'Wisley Bonfire'. In October it reliably shows spectacular autumn colour for a short period of time, and draws many visitors to that part of the garden.

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What a busy time of year.  I barely know where to start. October is such a busy time at Wisley and I wouldn’t miss being here for anything.

This Friday on BBC2 at 8.00pm we can all sit down in front of the telly, put our feet up and see a new series about life behind the scenes at the RHS. This is episode 1 of 8, and the series was filmed at Wisley and elsewhere over the last year. Amongst others, this week's episode features one of our 2^nd year trainees, Laura Crowe – a music graduate with a life long passion for horticulture – learning the highly important skill of tree-climbing using ropes and pulleys. The trainees spend 3 months in each garden department as they learn about practical horticulture over a 2 year course, and Laura is currently working in the Alpine Display House, part of the Woody Ornamental and Alpine Plants Department

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This week the Fruit Department are painting…. with apples. For the last few years we've held a competition with schools to come up with a design that can be 'painted' using the restricted colour palette of apples. I'm always amazed by the imagination of children and the astonishing variety of ideas they come up with. This year's winning design of a tractor is by 8 year old Jodie Francis from St Barnabas School, Market Lavington, near Devizes in Wiltshire.

To begin with the design is marked out in chalk by Kirsty Summerhayes and 2nd year trainee Yannick Lepage, and others from the Fruit Department

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In the plastic tunnel above the Trials Field Mario de Pace from the Trials Department has been looking after cherry tomatoes over the summer. These tomatoes are still cropping now and are being harvested at intervals for display at the shows at Malvern, Vincent Square in London, and soon for our Taste of Autumn event at Wisley.

Tasting is part of the assessment here, with the Vegetable Trials Subcommittee being the lucky tasters, although other criteria also come into play

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