Wow!  If you've got someone in your life who LOVES cheese, then take a look at Pong Cheese.

Pong Cheese have some of the very best cheeses produced by the leading independent and artisan producers, together.  They have a huge range, just the thing for anyone who loves cheese and has everything, and they've also got a cheese gift subscription  as well so your loved one can get cheese every month to enjoy and tuck in!  (You can choose from 3, 6 or 12 months' subscription.)

Buy a cheese gift subscription!

Why not send a cheese hamper?
Take a sniff at them here!

How about "A Heart-Shaped Box" for Valentine's Day?
For £32.00
It includes Neufchatel AOC, Godminster Vintage Cheddar,
Coeur du Berry Goat's Cheese, and Tracklements Sticky Fig Relish.


There's The French Cheese Selection Box
for £29.95.
It includes three different styles of cheese from Northern France
all made using cow’s milk.  

 Visit Pong Cheese here to see all their mouth-watering delicious baked cheeses!

If you’re looking for a gift that’s connected with beautiful flowers and gardens and the natural world, how about a gift membership to the RHS?

The RHS (the Royal Horticultural Society) is the UK’s oldest gardening charity.  Founded back in 1804, it aims to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.

It does this by a number of campaigns and ways to get involved, such as Britain in Bloom, Wild About Gardens,   National Gardening Week,  and a Campaign for School Gardening, so it really does try to include as many people as possible into the love of gardening and spread the love for it!

As the RHS says,

"Plants and gardens help us to connect socially, feel good physically and mentally, and are good for the health of wildlife and our planet.....

Our vision is a world where gardening is embraced as a way of life – a source of joy and fulfilment, building healthier lives, stronger communities, and thriving environments. To achieve this, our mission is to be there for everyone on their lifelong adventure with gardening."

Their strategy leading up to 2030 is a A lifelong adventure with gardening and the six priorities are:

1. Champion the essential role of gardening
2. Opening up gardening for anyone, anywhere
3. Grow our story to share the joy of gardening
4. Deliver science solutions for people, gardens and nature
5. Build horticulture for the future
6. Unlock our potential

To do this, they’re putting more emphasis on activities across these priorities to:

• Be more urban
• Involve more young people
• Support more beginners
• Garden more sustainably
• Go more digital (hence the new RHS app) 

You never stop learning as a gardener, from the time you start.  My auntie Joan was a very keen gardener, and on my last visit with her in her care home, we did some gardening together on a plant she had.  A fond memory indeed!   She always had tips, and her favourite saying was “if you put enough plants in your garden, there won’t be room for any weeds”.  She spent many happy hours in her garden, tending to her flowers - she even  used to shake the raindrops off her roses after a downpour! 

Visit the Paradise Gardens at RHS Bridgewater

One of the lovely things about the RHS is that you can meet like minded people at events such as these flower shows, visiting gardens and attending courses and workshops.  Of course the RHS is probably most famous for its flower shows, especially Hampton Court and Chelsea.   I took my parents to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Festival and we had the most fantastic day out.  (I booked a table for them for lunch, so that they could have a good rest half way round.)   And RHS members get reduced ticket prices! 

At Hampton Court Palace Flower Festival, it was wonderful to meet garden lovers and share stories of successes – and failed attempts to grow things! – and to share our love of beautiful places and things.   There were lots of people on hand to talk to and get advice from.   I call my garden, “Garden Surprise” because it’s amazing what pops up in places where I didn’t know I’d planted things e.g. potatoes and wild geraniums. 

There's a new flower show, the RHS Flower Show Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire,
from the 16th to 20th July 2025


Find out all about it here.

The five RHS Gardens (Harlow Carr, Rosemoor, Wisley, Bridgewater and Hyde Hall) and their partner gardens (230 of them according to the RHS website) are a wonderful showcase of what can be done – over 3 million people visit these gardens every year. 

The winter seems to have been going on and on, so it's nice to think about what you're going to do in your garden, balcony, patio or houseplants this year.  Whatever size you've got, outdoors or inside, the RHS has LOTS of advice and helpful information on its website.   They’ve got information on Grow Your Own, Wildlife Gardening,  House Plants – and a useful section on Inspiration which helps you plan your garden.   They’ve even got a section on planting trees for loved ones you lost during the pandemic, ways to grow a low-carbon garden, how to help birds in your garden and “What can I grow in a shady spot?”

Did you know that they have a wide range of courses and workshops?  You can learn a new skill, or improve an existing one and really develop a new passion for gardens and flowers, shrubs and trees!  Some of the courses and workshops are for children and families, which is really good because they are the gardeners of the future, so it’s great to get them involved.  Kids love getting their hands dirty and the nice thing about gardening is that they can see the results of their efforts – and even eat some of them!  But there’s plenty for adults too!  They’ve also got information on careers in horticulture.  

And, by the way - the RHS has green alternatives to red roses for Valentine's Day!  Take a look here.

So what does an RHS Gift Membership give the lucky recipient?

• There’s unlimited entry to the five RHS Gardens for the member and a fahttps://www.rhs.org.uk/joinmily guest or 2 children (4 children for joint membership)
• Free entry to over 230 Partner Gardens for the member (or the main member in a joint membership)
• Reduced rate tickets to RHS Flower Shows, garden workshops and family friendly events
• Monthly advice and news from The Garden magazine, worth £59)
• Gardening advice from the RHS experts
• Easy access to tips and advice on the RHS The Garden app
  
  

Give a membership to the RHS or treat yourself to a membership!

And there’s a limited time offer – receive a £15 voucher to spend in RHS cafés when you purchase a gift pack.

Buy a Gift Membership to the RHS today!  A gift membership is £78.00 – it’s very good value!

And if you want a membership for yourself – there’s 25% off for your first year at the moment (you need to pay by direct debit to get this offer and it doesn't apply to gift memberships), so grab the opportunity to join today!

How about a plant subscription for someone who loves plants? 

Now, Flying Flowers are based in Jersey, in the Channel Islands (the island famous for Gerald Durrell, the conservationist) and the beautiful, gentle Jersey milking cow), and they've been delivering flowers for over 40 years.   

So how did it start? Back in 1981, some holidaymakers in Jersey stopped sending postcards home and they began to send carnations instead.  They were a great and colourful way to send love to family and friends back home and to let them know that they were being thought of! 

And as well as flowers, they send plants - and they've got a choice of three plant subscriptions -  3, 6 or 12 months - and they choose one of their favourite seasonal house plants each month.  They are each delivered in their own container.  And you choose the start date!

This beautiful plant will bring lovely colourful cheer to your home!
It's January's plant.  

This is a lovely gift idea to give someone a surprise for however many months you choose to have your subscription run - just imagine their faces when they open the door!  And plants arrive in a co-ordinating container, so the recipient doesn't have to go rummaging for pots and so on - they can just decide where to put them and sit back and enjoy them!

This was December's plant

Take a look at the Plant Subscriptions from Flying Flowers
from £68.00

Keep the love flowing month after month!

I love the Wildlife Trusts.  They are a grassroots movement of people from all sorts of backgrounds and they are on a mission:  to restore a third of the UK’s land and seas for nature by 2030.

Each Wildlife Trust is an independent charity.  Those involved (in whatever way) want to make a difference to wildlife, to nature, to our climate. 

There are now 46 Trusts throughout the UK, from Alderney Wildlife Trust in the Channel Islands to the Scottish Wildlife Trust, from South and West Wales to Suffolk, from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to Northumberland.  So wherever you are, or wherever the nature lover in your life is, there should be a Wildlife Trust in their area you can tap into and get involved with.

The Wildlife Trusts together have over 900,000 members.  There are 600 Trustees, over 32,500 volunteers and 2,500 staff.  That’s a lot of people who care about nature and who want to make a positive difference.  If we all work together and we are committed to making life better for nature and wildlife – and for people, too – we can achieve much.

Members are helping their Trust to look after wildlife and the natural places in their area, and they receive a welcome back, regular magazines and lots of information. It’s the sort of thing where you can get as involved as you want; if you are really manic with life, you can at least know that your membership is helping your Trust continue with its vital work.   

Membership benefits

Because each Trust is an independent charity, the memberships will vary on cost (most are about £3 a month) but generally they include a welcome pack of goodies, regular magazines full of news and features, access to beautiful nature reserves, talks, walks and events – these are a great way to meet fellow wildlife lovers who care about the natural world – and chances to campaign for wildlife.

Many Wildlife Trusts have half price membership offers (or similar) in January 2025, (most to new members only)!

So this could be a great opportunity to treat yourself or a loved one to a reduced price membership, be it half price or anything else for that matter, and to support wildlife at the same time!

For example:

Devon Wildlife Trust

Durham Wildlife Trust

Surrey Wildlife Trust

Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

Radnorshire Wildlife Trust

Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Shropshire Wildlife Trust

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Kent Wildlife Trust

Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Manx Wildlife Trust

Ulster Wildlife Trust

Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trust

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust

North Wales Wildlife Trust

Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Dorset Wildlife Trust

This is not an exhaustive list so click on this link here to find your local Wildlife Trust if it isn't listed above! 

Give a gift membership to a Wildlife Trust here

Take Action and Support your Local Wildlife Trust

Take a look at your local Wildlife Trust, you can find yours here – and sign up.  It’s a great way to show your support for nature and to help Wildlife Trusts reach the 30x30 target - that's 30% of land and sea protected by 2030. 

The Wildlife Trusts are aiming to put nature in recovery, making more space for it and connecting habitats on a large scale so that wildlife can pass safely through to new territories.  The Trusts want to restore nature so that ecosystems can function again - the UK natural world is very much depleted now.   

The Trusts are also hoping to inspire us all to act for nature and rewild our neighbourhoods, working with our communities.  I am a member of a couple of Wildlife Trusts and love to receive news of how I can get involved and make a difference - and also to see success stories.  Together we can all drive change and actually help nature help us - nature is vital for our wellbeing. 

So give a gift membership to a Wildlife Trust and you'll be giving a gift that helps nature, wildlife and people and is a win-win for nature lovers all round!