Sunset viewed from near Ditchling Beacon earlier.

The new PFE portfolio book is here and ready to go for #IPMEssen next week!

IPM Essen next week - see you there? Sambucus SNR1292 Laced Up has been nominated for the best new plant award! Columnar habit, dark finely divided leaves and pink flowers. Entered by Zu Jeddeloh Pflanzen and Kordes Jungpflanzen, variety management by Plants For Europe Limited.

Is it rude to lift up Helleborus flowers to look at the reproductive parts?

SOUND THE HELLEBORUS SEASON KLAXON! One of the lovely seedlings in the PFE HQ garden - nice markings on the petals, and very dark nectaries (although the nectaries are a little too small to be showy).

The temperature graph is going downhill and somewhat steeply! If anyone asks, I'm with the cat, by the fire!

Happy New Year everyone! It's ghastly outside (in every sense) so here's a reminder of summer - Passiflora caerulea in the PFE HQ garden.

I hadn't reckoned on being in the office today, but there are a bunch of urgent things to do. At least I was reminded to refill the office bird feeder for the coal tits. Best wishes to everyone for the holiday season, our office reopens on Friday 3rd January.

Plant From A Conversation - Spiraea Walberton's(R) Magic Carpet WALBUMA. Winner of the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit. A truly great plant.

Today's Plant From A Conversation - Helleborus Walberton's(R) Rosemary WALHERO. An outstanding plant, demand always exceeds supply.

Euphorbia martinii Ascot Rainbow - a great year-round plant.

At Wisley today for a meeting and spotted a Plant From A (recent) Conversation - Rubus cockburnianus. Possibly currently out of fashion?

Golden light on the oak against a brooding sky.

Today's Plant From A Conversation - Polemonium Golden Feathers. We've seen one or two lurking in garden centres, left over from the summer stock. But why don't retailers stock this all year round? It still looks great in winter, holding its variegated foliage really well.

Today's "Plant From A Conversation" (might become a regular Bluesky feature!) is Pennisetum advena Chelsea - great habit, excellent leaf colour, super for a pot and British bred! Talk to us about availability.

We've been talking about Coleus Skeletal in the office today, so here's a picture of this great plant from earlier this year, grown by our friends at Kernock Park Plants.

After the frosts last week turned a lot of things to mush and Storm Bert wrecked some of the standing grasses over the weekend, today is sunny and we spotted the first Narcissus poking through.

Hello BlueSky! We're here! It might be a little slow until we find our feet, but please repost this so that our friends can find us - or simply enjoy this photo of Geum Totally Tangerine in flower on a lovely warm sunny day (it's neither warm nor sunny here today!).