November News From The Garden
It's remarkable to see how many flowers are still in bloom this week, despite it being November... Foxgloves in a second flush, geraniums still sprawling across the pollinator path, marigolds lighting up the edible forest alongside Autumn crocuses, popping up in unexpected places. Lots of fungus too, with our favourite Jelly ears spotted last weekend :)
November's Community Gardening Session is THIS SATURDAY 10am-12 noon and everyone is welcome, even if it's just to stop by for a few minutes to say hello to neighbours and get your nature fix! We planted 1,500 bulbs ready for Spring in last month's session and this weekend we'll be welcoming an exciting addition to the Tea Garden - Camellia sinensis var. sinensis - aka the green tea plant. We'll also be planting the winter garden and making a tulip lasagne. Plus, there'll be a BIG STICK HUNT as there are lots of fallen branches to be found and transformed into dead hedges and living edges along the side of our woodland paths. If leaves are your thing, we got plenty! You can rake and bag to your heart's content on Saturday, knowing that the leaves will then be strimmed, inoculated, watered and looked after until they metamorphose into a magnificent leaf mould, which we'll use to protect the plants and bring the soil microbiome back to life.
Italian Clerkenwell Guided Walk: Fran has very kindly opened up a few more places on the walk so if you'd like to join us for a leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood aka Little Italy on Saturday 15th November 10am-11am, RSVP to this mail and we'll add you to the guest list.
Family Adventure Trail: it was lovely to see so many children and their adults following the Halloween trails around SJG during half term, cracking hidden history codes and solving spooky riddles, while walking like zombies and spinning like witches on a broomstick. Huge thanks to Claire for coming up with such a fun idea and bringing it to life in the garden. You can read all about it on the website here and A Christmas Adventure Trail is already being planned for Sunday December 7th and we cannot wait!
Clerkenwell Pollinator Path: A MASSIVE THANKS to everyone who very generously sponsored my 50km ultramarathon last month in aid of the Pollinator Path. It was an incredible experience, running through the New Forest and along the Jurassic Coast, and together, we raised £2,000, which will be used to buy pollinator plants and habitats next Spring. Pollinator Ecologists will be sharing their recommendations for 2026 at 5.30-7.30pm on Monday 8th December at The Charterhouse. This will also be an opportunity to catch up with each other and share ideas for how we'd like to put the recommendations into practice next Spring. Which plants will best support our bees and butterflies? What if I have a shady site? Where will the pollinators nest? How can I get involved? How will we spread the word about the project? Everyone is welcome to join and free tickets are available on Eventbrite here. the event is almost at capacity so sign up now if you'd like to come along! If you're unable to make it in person, the presentation part of the event will be livestreamed at 6pm on Instagram @stjohnsgarden.ec1.
SHADE: The challenge, the book, the bed: Like many parks and gardens in Islington, St John's Garden is a predominantly shaded site, beneath a towering canopy of thirsty plane trees. The shade is super important for keeping us cool in the city and mature plane trees are critical for mitigating flash floods, cleaning the air and sequestering carbon. BUT finding pollinator plants that thrive and bloom in these conditions can be challenging, so it was an Eureka moment to discover the brilliant SHADE book, written by Susanna Grant, a trustee of nearby Arnold Circus Gardens. We're taking suggestions from Susanna's book and creating a 1m x 1m Demo Bed for Pollinating Plants in Deep Shade & Dry Soil. If you're around tomorrow morning (Friday 7th November) 9am-10am we'll be in the garden planting up the bed, everyone is welcome to come along and say hello or grab a trowel.
Book club anyone? It's so inspiring to learn from authors like Susanna - and even more enjoyable to share ideas with others. If you'd like to be part of a nature/gardening book club, meeting up once a season max to discuss and share our favourite Nature/Wildlife/Gardening books, with a side of coffee and cake, mail us at stjohnsgardenec1@gmail.com. Testing the waters here, so do shout if you'd like to come along or shape what an SJG book club looks like.
And finally... While you're in SJG this month, look out for the rather beautiful ground-nesting bee habitat we designed and installed this month, with a tonne of help from Pollinating London Together and QMUL - let's hope the bees like it too! Spin around 180 degrees like a witch on a broomstick doing a U-turn and see if you can spot the green manure coming through in the Edible Forest. It's a mix of clover and ryegrass seeds sown in October to fix nitrogen and improve soil structure over the Winter, ready for growing season 2026.
And REALLY finally...The Winter Calendar is now available on the website (thanks Analisa for the stunning design!) so you can get some dates in your diary before the Christmas rush begins! Have a great evening everyone & we hope to see you in the garden soon
Sarah, Susanna, Analisa, Liz and Ian
(Friends of SJG committee)