Sarah’s Diary January 2026

It is blog time again, and crisp, frosty mornings have been welcoming me back after the festive break and my adventures in snowy Norway. The landscape there was breath-taking, and it has firmly cemented my plan to return one day to see the spring alpines in their natural setting. For now, though, it has been good to settle back into the familiar routines of RBGE, wrapped up against the cold and easing gently into the new year.

With the darkness still lingering through much of December and January, mornings at RBGE take on a slightly different rhythm. Until there is enough daylight to head out into the wider garden, we gather indoors for presentations every Tuesday and Thursday morning. These talks are open to everyone and offer a chance to share projects, research, or recent travels with the rest of the outdoor team. This year’s programme has been wonderfully varied, with talks covering horticulture in Chile, a study tour to Himachal Pradesh, a visit to Peter Korn’s nursery in Sweden, and an honest look at the challenges faced in micropropagation. I was also asked to give a presentation on my year so far as an AGS Trainee. It was a real pleasure to reflect on the experiences of the past months and to share them with colleagues. The fact that people laughed in all the right places felt reassuring, and I took it as a good sign.

While much of the collection remains dormant at this time of year, the slower pace has allowed us to turn our attention to some overdue repotting. Several of the weedier pots of various Trillium, Polygonatum, Scoliopus and Lilium were tackled, carefully teased apart and refreshed with clean compost. Thankfully there were no signs of root aphid, although I did manage to disturb a fair number of impressively fat yellow underwing caterpillars tucked away in the pots, which were gently relocated.

In the alpine display house, winter interest has been carried largely by foliage for much of the month. Species such as Cyclamen graecum, Rosmarinus eriocalyx and Arum pictum have been quietly doing the work of holding attention while many of the flowering plants rest. As the weeks have gone on, though, colour has begun to creep back in. This month has brought a welcome flurry of blooms, with Adonis amurensis ‘Chichibubeni’, Iris reticulata ‘Sunshine’, Dionysia ‘Judith Bramley’, and Crocus sieberi ‘Albidus’, Narcissus romieuxii ‘Julia Jane’ all stepping forward to remind us that the growing season is slowly stirring back into life.

It’s hard to believe a whole year has already slipped by. With just six months left, it feels like time to keep cramming my brain with any missing skills I can, while also sitting down with the calendar to plot out the botanising adventures and conservation trips still to come. Alongside that excitement, I’m quietly starting to keep one eye on what might follow in terms of employment opportunities, and how all these experiences might begin to shape the next step.