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of the prolonged cold remains to be seen, yet I’m convinced that the aphids starting breeding earlier than ever this year. My dwarf runner beans, growing in massive pots, were the first victims, followed by the overwintering geraniums and pelargoniums

't enough aphids for them to eat. There were hundreds of them - mating adults, eggs, larvae and pupae ready to hatch. There were native two-spots and seven-spots, and the foreign harlequins in their many guises. It was like one giant ladybird party

, and the compost kept moist. Our resident mouse massacred a couple of the seedlings and the aphids inevitably moved in to attack, so I blitzed them with soft soap solution. The plants looked rather miserable for a while, their leaves still curling from the toxin