“You make me feel so young, you make me feel like spring has sprung” - Frank Sinatra.

Someone said to me today that it’s starting to feel like spring. I love the sun and really enjoy sitting in my garden in the summer months, looking at all the plants I’m not allowed to touch. I like to see all the plants growing and the colours are always so lovely, but I don’t know a hydrangea from a hosepipe!

I’m not a very good gardener, so I am relegated to grass cutting and watering - that way I can’t kill anything in the garden. I am good at grass cutting, apparently. 

Every summer, the Orders of St John Care Trust hold a Trust in Bloom competition, where all the homes in the Trust compete to have their garden looking the best. 

This year, the theme is “gardening for the senses,” and we can choose to have a section of the garden dedicated to one, or all, of the five senses. 

Judging will take place in three rounds over the summer, starting on the week of the 7^th July, and will be judged by our senior managers and trustees. 

We have already talked to the residents at Avon Court about the garden and the Trust in Bloom competition, and everyone has been sharing their suggestions. We would love to hear your ideas too about how we can stand out in the competition, and in particular we would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions about how to make this special for people living with dementia. 

The budget for this is not huge, so if you have anything you would like to donate, or if you would like to help out in the garden yourself, this will be hugely appreciated. 

We have until the end of March to submit our application. 

We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Either message the team on Facebook, drop me an email, or pop into Avon Court and share your ideas in person. 

It would be wonderful for us to win this competition, and I promise I won’t touch any of the plants!

Until next time, Les.