Portugal poison

We have identified another mystery plant in our potential garden:

It's a Portugal laurel, and very pretty indeed with its red stems and contrasting green leaves. K took a cutting a couple of days ago and has been playing around with it in the kitchen since then trying to find out what it is. Well, now we know. We also discover that if the leaves are crushed or burnt, it releases cyanide into the atmosphere which may of course explain why I felt so exhausted last night and had to go to bed early! Though I suspect that's just me in all honesty. Suffice it to say we won't be crushing or burning it, and we certainly won't be eating the berries it's supposed to produce at some stage ... But it is very pretty.

So, what with the huge amounts of rosemary bushes in the garden (which are also poisonous if taken in large quantities, especially for pregnant women I believe), we are developing our own little version of the perfectly marvellous Alnwick Poison Garden - we just don't have the cascading water features or the style, yet ...

But there's still time! We've had a look at some Beginners' Garden courses at Wisley and they look like fun. If only they'd put the brochure for the second half of the year up, we could really get excited, but at the moment it only goes as far as July, groan. I've sent them an email (well, I am a member, you know ...) but have yet to hear.

Anne Brooke