Great excitment this morning – wandering idly round the garden with the dogs, I found a mistletoe seedling growing on the trunk of our old Bramley apple tree! This has not arrived by chance – every New Year for the last seven years, I’ve rubbed berries from our Christmas mistletoe into the apple bark, in the vain hope of getting the seeds to germinate. Last year I didn’t bother, having decided that we must be too far north for the successful growth of this fascinating parasitic plant. And now, here it is, just as we are about to move. I’ll have to start all over again, but at least now I know it’s possible, and the new owner of this house will have a ready supply of Christmas decorations for the years ahead…