Adapt, retreat or die.

The sign is on the Myrtle Forest walking trail, just a few kilometers up the road from Weldborough, where placards depict the slow demise of rainforests and the gradual ascendancy of flowering plants over conifers and ferns. Warmth and bright colours don't always suit and, while flowering plants have the upper hand, conifers and ferns cling to the edges and cooler high places.

We have two Californian Redwoods growing in the cottage yard. They tower over the landscape and whisper in the wind. The trees were planted when there was a primary school at this location, some time in the early 1900's.