Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
14th March 2026
Rose Gold
With Mother’s Day approaching (15th March), I highly recommend giving a named rose as a gift that keeps on giving. Named plants are one of my favourite gifts to give, and Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion. There are lots of suitable names to choose from and you still have time to order online or check your local garden centre.
Choose from actual names like Elizabeth, Isabelle and Sophie’s Choice or something a bit more ‘motherly’ like Special Mum, Mum in a Million, My Mum, and even, Love You, Mum all from www.englishroses.co.uk. David Austin also has a superb collection of roses for all occasions and they are renowned for their quality, having won 29 Gold Medals at Chelsea Flower Show. I love the named rose, Tottering by Gently, (suitable for many Mums I suspect) with the simplicity of its single yellow flowers in open sprays on a shrub, making it suitable for most beds and borders.
Or how about the pink floribunda rose called ‘Thank You’, blooming from early summer to autumn and fragrant too. From www.roses.co.uk
For many of us, a beautiful ‘memory rose’ may be a suitable choice.
Rosa ‘Remember’ is an award-winning Hybrid Tea Rose, with classic white scented flowers with a hint of very pale pink. These appear continuously from June to September and are good for cutting, which is another great way to remember a loved one.
The plants are compact in habit with the new leaves emerging red tinged and turning to a bronzy dark green and glossy later in the season. I’ll be planting one in memory of Mum next weekend.
Maxed Out
Last week I read about ‘looksmaxxing’. Apparently it has been around since 2010 but has been mainly confined to various social media platforms but was suddenly brought to mainstream media last week by Paris Fashion Week. Looksmaxxing is the process of maximizing one’s own physical attractiveness by any means possible.
And if that doesn’t make you ‘tut’ and shake your head, I’m sure this will. Softmaxxing is a form of looksmaxxing where people perform fairly common body care routines in an effort to improve physical appearance. This could be moisturising, going to the gym, or getting a new haircut. There’s nothing very new about that, apart from the title, but look out – there’s a new max on the block – Hardmaxxing.
Some practices associated with hardmaxxing are just too obscure for me to mention, but one method, known as bone-smashing, refers to the act of hitting one’s face against objects such as a hammer in order to create a ‘chiselled look’. Don’t try this at home, readers.
It’s all a bit bonkers for me to understand, but whilst talking about it in work, and the fact that some people seem to age better than others, my brother made an unusual complimentary remark. “Yeah, but it’s OK for you”, he said.
Now I thought he was suggesting that I had aged well, until he added, “You don’t care what you look like”.
I’m still laughing – and blaming him for all my ‘laughter lines’.
On a (Side) Quest
Another new phrase I learned last week is ‘side questing’. Originating from computer games, I am told, side quests are fun activities that disrupt our normal routines to make life more fun and fulfilling.
Unlike a hobby, which is defined as something you do regularly, a side quest is something that’s sort of out-of-the-blue for you. Some examples might include volunteering, taking a new class (like sewing, breathwork or languages), cooking a new recipe, mending or ‘adapting’ clothes, and exploring somewhere new.
Side questing has the potential to improve confidence, mindfulness, creativity and well being as trying new things increases our confidence and curiosity, which in turn stimulates important areas in your brain.
And on that note, did you know that embedded in the Latin roots of curiosity is the word ‘cura,’ meaning care, cure, and healing. So, curiosity sort of means cure. I find it all fascinating. All these new things and connections and everything – apart from looksmaxxing – I find that disturbing.
May be Scorchio
Every now and then my i-phone randomly pings up old photos as a (sometimes painful) reminder or memory. Last week it sent me a photo from the beginning of March 2018 with lots of snow and drifts around the cottage reaching the roof in some places. And then in 2021 temperatures in March reached between 20 and 24 degrees for a couple of weeks, enabling people to enjoy their gardens during the COVID lock down.
This year, Thursday 5th March was the warmest day in Wales so far, with a temperature of 18 degrees recorded by the Met Office, but things soon cooled down again.
The Met Office have also just released their latest 3 month seasonal forecast, which is surprisingly upbeat. It predicts a more than double the normal chance of spring being warmer than average with the rest of March, April and May all looking likely to be drier than usual too. April could feel particularly humid as temperatures climb after a long, wet winter and May could be erring on ‘scorchio’. And all because of ‘Climate Whiplash’ apparently. Cue another tut and head shake.
I do love the thought of warm, sunny days, though. Once the weather gets warmer, I’ll be unstoppable. Until it get’s too warm and then I’ll be stoppable again.
Oil Be Damned
The birds have noticeably started to nest this month. The UK bird-nesting season generally runs from March to September with peak activity between March and July, and some birds, like blackbirds, starting as early as February in milder weather.
During this time, it is illegal under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 to intentionally destroy active nests, eggs, or chicks. So it is advised to avoid cutting hedges, trees, or scrub during this period. If work is essential, do have a thorough look for nests first. Signs of nesting include birds carrying nesting materials, (and later, food) and constantly flying to one specific area.
The garden around the cottage is like a bird crèche every year. I have already noticed a couple of wrens making a nests, three blackbirds making separate nests and a blue tit scouting out a popular shelf in my porch. Whilst you will read that garden birds don’t use the same nest twice – it’s more ‘one-and-done’ – I do have a sparrow re-lining lasts year’s nest on an old beam with fresh moss. They obviously haven’t read the one-and-done rule.
Inevitably I will have to make adaptations somewhere and some time to accommodate and avoid disturbing the nesting birds. Last year I couldn’t use the front door as a wren had nested on a shelf next to it, the year before, I couldn’t use a shed as there were sparrows nesting in the entrance and one year I couldn’t have the oil tank filled as a blackbird had nested between the filling cap and the wall behind.
She can nest there with confidence this year as it looks like I won’t be able to afford to fill it for a while.
Wow! a sensory overload this week. ALL amazing facts though.we are now in a Blackthorn Winter.
But it never lasts long