Search - Articles

that there are so many UK travellers roaring over the continent. And it is no surprise to discover ‘new’ European mainland insects arriving back with them into Britain.The rosemary leaf beetle, Chrysolina americana, was first found in the UK in a Kitchen in Disley

In East Dulwich, this year, the garden ornament of choice is ... the animal skull. Now this might seem a little macabre, but I find something rather aesthetically pleasing in the form, shape and texture of old bones.It all started several years ago

My two compost bins are being very productive. As well as yielding their first crop of usable compost, now spread over back and front gardens to great effect, they are also home to a heaving mass of wildlife. Every time I open the lids a great cloud

it was more of a slug hunt rather than a bug hunt, as the cold drizzle set in for most of the day. So when a local gardener brought out her bottle of beetles, she was just joining in the fun of it all. Of course, they were rosemary leaf beetles, Chrysolina

. It was on one such former orchard that my hosts had put their house. I spent many happy hours between pre-wedding social engagements, mooching about outside. The 'garden' was little more than a cleared paddock, roughly mown by tractor-drawn brush cutter a few

(gardeners insert your own reasons here), and, I'm afraid, to bemoan the fact that not enough funding or political clout is given to insect study and education.I'm one of a number of 'international entomologists' who has been invited to blog about their daily

of the patio plants. A mouse nibbles seed heads in one of the borders. There is a Mediterranean bouquet garnis smell in the hot air. Lots of garden thyme in tonight's risotto.Thursday 12th A nuthatch visits the breakfast patio, but I cannot make out what