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At last, the warm weather has kick-started the season, and blossom is finally appearing.What a difference a year makes. Checking back at my diary, in 2012 the first 'Victoria' plum blossom opened on 28 March. One year on and the same plum tree only started blossoming last week, o...

, and they’re showing signs of downy mildew infection, please help FERA and send samples in to: Dr Phil Jennings, The Food and Environment Research Agency, Plant Protection Programme, Sand Hutton, York. YO41 1LZ.To make sure that the samples are in good

coating on their leaves and flowers is easily marked.Traditionally, auriculas are grown in 'theatres', which enable them to grow outside while being protected from the rain. I suppose our garden is a bit like an auricula theatre; it's flanked by two walls

, but the discovery in 2011 that small tortoiseshell numbers had gone down by 68% in 10 years was pretty shocking. It has always been received wisdom that common generalist ‘garden’ species, like the small tort, were protected from some of the frightening declines

. Early sowings are most vulnerable to attack, so delaying sowing of maincrop varieties until later in June will help protect them from root fly.For an early crop, you'll need to take other measures to prevent carrots being filled with holes and maggots