Snow Balls and Ilex aquifolium

Well our last wednesday in Clonakilty came and went in a flash of plants names and snow.After a very nerve wrecking trip on the icy Bandon roads we made it to the college which was covered in an extra thick layer of blinding snow,the best thing to help calm the masses on a very stressful day.After a quick nip round the greenhouse(religiously naming the plants,Teraxicum officinalis,Phormium tenax,Lavendula,Mentha x spicata...)we got stuck in to the written part of the exam.Two years of learning that carbon dioxide and water under light/chlorophyll makes glucose and oxygen definately came in handy and made for a pretty good test.The flowers on the other hand were shall we say somewhat tongue tieing,even after a good study of the plants i found that under the pressure of a moving line of people and the exam situation it was difficult to recall the many flower names sprinting through my mind.Nevertheless the test could have gone a whole lot worse and i was happy to end the day with a snow ball fight and saying goodbye to the cows at the college:-)