ALMOST 15 years ago, a friend of a Tedburn St Mary lady gave her a shoot from a particularly pretty tree in her garden, saying she doubted if it would grow.

Dot Woolland disagreed. “She just ripped it off the tree, I stuck it in the ground - and it grew!” said Dot.

“It flowers every year and has done so for about 10 years. I’m trying to get it to make an archway.”

The tree is a Chilean Lantern tree. One book describes it: “Incredibly eye-catching, Crinodendron hookerianum (Lantern Tree) is a fabulous medium-sized evergreen shrub native to Chile.”

Dot’s book says it can grow 10-30 ft, introduced to this country in 1848, an evergreen shrub which in time and very mild areas will become a small tree. It can be grown as an informal hedge and is described as one of our choicest shrubs.

Sue Read