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It rained on Sunday, so what better way to spend the day than planting roses? Well, I went and played Power Rangers in the bushes in Dulwich Park with 3-year-old, while my partner did the planting. She'd ordered them at Chelsea, and we'd almost

We have a rambler rose just outside the back door, 'Félicité et Perpétue'. No matter how hard I cut it back, it still fights vigorously with the wooden slats of the featheredge fence, tries to smother the garden table and viciously rakes at my

I always get a real thrill when I find the telltale marks of the leafcutter bee on the leaves of my roses and wisteria. Sometimes I catch them in action, cutting out a circle of leaf, or flying around carrying it. It doesn't bother me to find plants

into trouble. Especially as last weekend, I did a bit of, well, tidying in the garden. It was limited, however, to clipping a few stray rose branches that had suddenly shot out at eye height. And I picked up a few windfall apples to see which ones I could

on hawthorn, blackthorn, rowan and plum. Plenty of those in nearby gardens. I let it out of the back door at 10 o'clock at night and it rose up into the darkness, its ghostly colour flickering off into the void.

is there for a gardener than the reward of having wildlife use the habitat created for them? Two pairs of blackbirds regularly dart about my lawn feeding, chasing and protecting their territory. I'm not sure where their boundaries lie or whether they're happy

, because I think these creatures are rather beautiful. The normally grey rough woodlouse (Porcellio scaber) sometimes takes on a lovely rose tone; if it were a plant it would be given its own special cultivar name. And I'm always thrilled to find a

This morning we went for a walk first thing as the sun rose through the autumn mist. The fields were heaving with young partridge, a small mouse looked impertinently at us from the compost heap, a flight of ducks got up from the pond and the trees

thrives where summers are hot and winters are cold. It's ideal for rock gardens or container displays. Flowers in late-April. Height 20cm.Tulipa linifoliaA sweet-scented and early-flowering variety. Flowers from March to April. Height 10cm.Tulipa humilis

I'm always looking for ways to make wildlife in my garden feel more welcome and at home. After all, it has just as much right to be there as I do. Of course I question the big things (can I justify having a lawn and patio, or would creatures prefer