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Fungal rusts have been pretty prolific this year, which is not surprising, as they thrive in damp and muggy conditions.The film of moisture left on foliage after rainfall provides the perfect conditions for rust spores to germinate. Infections such as rose rust and hollyhock rust...

I'm an animal lover. I love them all - be they wild, domesticated, farm animals, even pests. My vote always seems to go with those naturally decked in fur or feathers, scales or indeed exoskeletons. It's not always easy; I try to eat a fair

and the leaves of the plants. With my perverse interest in pests and pathogens, I find blight quite interesting. And this year has been especially interesting, as both the crop and the disease thrived. Next year, Suttons Seeds is launching a new tomato called

), the compost, the feed, the potting-on compost, the containers, in some cases the pest-sprays, the lighting and heating sometimes too. And that is not including the man-hours - probably the most unreliable, stressful and costly element in the equation!The other

the dreaded pests and diseases can look good. Cuckoo spit usually appears from about June onwards and inside the fascinating glob of 'spit' are immature (or nymph) frog hoppers, most commonly Philaenus spumarius. They sit in the wonderfully protected frothy