OUR MISSION
OUR MISSION
The Bristol Rainforest
Planting a rainforest one classroom at a time
Bulb Bonanza goes Beyond Belief
The Bristol Rainforest had the most amazing Christmas present last year. A few days before Christmas, we received an unexpected, large parcel. On opening it, this is what we saw...
750 flowering bulbs from one of the top Dutch bulb producers. Completely free of charge for us to share with our community. So, almost the very first thing we did in this new year was to roll up our sleeves and plant them.
There was some urgency. They all had to be under soil before the end of January!
What looks like a messy corridor at first glance is actually the start of something carefully thought through. This was a bulk bulb-planting session, working with a large mix rather than neat, labelled packets. The aim was simple. Use scale, repetition, and variation to create excitement later, not control every outcome now. Soil everywhere, pots lined up, bulbs spread out on the floor. This is what real planting looks like when you stop pretending gardens are tidy processes.
Rather than separating bulbs by type, we deliberately shared the mix between pots. Each container became its own little gamble. Different heights, flowering times, and colours all living together. Some will come up early, some late. Some will surprise us. This approach mirrors nature far better than rigid planting schemes. It also makes each pot a story rather than a specimen. You are not waiting for one moment of perfection. You get weeks of change.
The best part was doing this together. Practical, physical work. Hands in soil. Decisions are made collectively and quickly. No overthinking. By spring, these pots will look nothing like they do now. That’s the point. Bulk planting done well is about trust. Trust in the process, trust in diversity, and trust that beauty doesn’t need micromanaging. You set the conditions. The plants do the rest. Bring on the Spring!
Plant Love Cafe
at St. Paul's Learning Centre
Saturday 10th January 2026
Plant Love Café this time was about getting hands dirty together. Children, parents, volunteers, and staff gathered around boxes of bulbs, compost, and pots, opening deliveries, reading planting lists, and figuring things out collectively. There was no stage and no spectators. Everyone took part. The work started simply: unpacking, sorting, reading labels, asking questions, and learning by doing. Plant Love Café this time was about getting hands dirty together. Children, parents, volunteers, and staff gathered around boxes of bulbs, compost, and pots, opening deliveries, reading planting lists, and figuring things out collectively. There was no stage and no spectators. Everyone took part. The work started simply: unpacking, sorting, reading labels, asking questions, and learning by doing.
What stands out is how naturally intergenerational the space became. Young children handled soil, carried buckets, and planted bulbs alongside adults. Dirty hands were worn as a badge of honour. Tasks moved fluidly between indoors and outdoors, from planting at tables to shifting compost and preparing larger containers. Responsibility was shared, not assigned, and confidence grew visibly as people realised they could do this.
Plant Love Café continues to show that community wellbeing does not need complex programming. Give people plants, time, and permission to work together, and something meaningful happens. Skills are passed on quietly. Attention slows. A sense of care forms around living things and around each other. This is not a workshop in the usual sense. It is practice, repeated, in how to be together well.
A Brilliant 1st Plant Love Cafe
Sat 13th December
We had great reception of our 1st Plant Love Cafe at the Learning Centre in St. Pauls.
Just a few of the happy punters at the Plant Love Cafe with their ''Take Away' Pomegranate and Guava seeds, which they planted today.
Our volunteers that made the Plant Love Cafe happen
Michelle, Wendy, Amrish & Kieran
Wishing all our readers a fruitful 2026 with many wonderful plant growing journeys to come.
Saturday 13th December
Our Blog
100s Wowed at UWE's Family Fun Day
The Bristol Rainforest wowed 1600 families at the UWE Family Fun Day with pomegranate seed planting sessions so all could take away a baby tree of their own.
Then there was an exciting reveal of our fabulous vertical Wall of Veg.
Our beautiful rainforest trees looked amazing in the building and our visitors were in awe that these magnificent trees were all grown from seed or cuttings, right here in Bristol.
Saturday 28th June
You are invited to
The Family Fun Day @ The School of Engineering
University of the West of England
We'll be planting our first wall of veg there and running our Pomegranate Experience where you will leave with your own Pomegranate tree. Click below to see the journey you can start.
Saturday 31st May
You are invited to
A talk on the Concepts behind Eastern Healing and how to prepare yourself to be an active partner in our healing journey.
Followed by aGong Bathing taster session.
Finishing with a discussion on taking charge of all aspects of your own wellbeing.
Children & Trees Growing Together
We are a group of volunteers on a mission to put rainforest trees in classrooms all over Bristol and beyond. As well as raising trees, we want to raise the ambition, self-esteem and confidence of all the children that learn under our trees in their classrooms.
We are working with school children, showing them how they can grow nutritious vegetables in their own school playgrounds.
In this way, we are helping to address the access to fresh vegetables and level up food disparities in our society.
Friday 15th November
You are invited to
Please Let us know in the form below if:
- If the film has Inspired you
- makes you feel
- gained new awareness or knowledge
- given you opportunities to know more about how we can serve our commmunities
- gained new friends
- taught you things she didn’t know before
- encouraged you to become more involved
- confidence- in doing what?
- friends who now she has cone together to form WSF
Please ask how you can get involved
Connect With Us
TEACHERS
host a tree in your school
INDIVIDUALS
host a tree in your home
BUSINESSES
host a tree in your office
VOLUNTEERING we have many interesting activities you can contribute to
With enough rainforest trees in our homes, schools and workplaces, Bristol will have a rainforest of its own.
