Long time no read, eh? It's been quite a busy time for me in my first year of teaching, culminating in needing to interview for essentially my own job (you'll be pleased to know I got it). There have been some tough decisions to make, namely
withdrawing from my PhD and winding down the Ethical Palaeontologist blog. Science and education posts, along with my personal thoughts, can be found at
Stages Of Succession, my new blog and the replacement for the Ethical Palaeontologist.
So what's going on in the garden? The plants are taking over, that's what!
Magnolia delavyii has mahoosive leaves:

The
Ginkgo biloba is now back up to last year's
dimensions.

And
Dicksonia antarctica is very happy in its galvanised pot, far away from the squirrels:

But it's
Tetrapanax papyrifer "Rex", the T-Rex, which is going for it. I was warned by a friend that it might have put its roots through the pot and into the ground, but it is actually still in the pot and sitting on top of the paving slabs.

What do you reckon Hubster is saying? I must have caught him in the middle of saying something, but what exactly I do not know. No prizes, but feel free to come up with some captions for this one...