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On New Year's Eve, my family looked to the future for brightness, cheer, health and happiness. I'm not sure I had a single negative thought in my mind. But 2010 was to start with some enormously sad, ungraspable news: John Cushnie, a friend

This week at the Chelsea Flower Show there are thousands of gardeners admiring out of season daffodil blooms in the show gardens and floral exhibits.In order to get their daffodils blooming at this time of year, growers force the bulbs to grow using

the chitting seed potatoes, seed trays, pots and propagators. It also forces me to throw things away. So, out go the weird, wonderful and unused gadgets. Out go the seed packets that I've kept for years on the assumption that I might one day sow the contents

because the birds don’t expect the strawberries to be there, or maybe there are plenty of other fruits to get their beaks around.The same can’t be said of the molluscs, which are out in force, enjoying the unusually mild and moist conditions. The slugs

, which have now been added to Pippa's blog. These are, starting from the top:1. Pupa of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis.2. Larva and pupa of the harlequin ladybird. Both larvae and pupa are very much brighter and larger than other UK species.3