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Despite the weather's attempts at snow over the Easter weekend, everything is now on the move in my garden. The rhubarb and peony are vying with each other to produce the longest and reddest shoots. A wren seems to be taking special interest

Blustery crisp days and cold nights, north winds, sleet, hail, snow and cold rain. It's amazing with this mixture of weather that plants manage to plod their way into spring.I was very excited this week to notice that one of my favourite herbs

It's been a chilly week down here. Every morning we've had frost, not to mention snow, sleet and hail, followed by glorious sunshine. I'm not complaining, but this weather has come as a shock after the balmy temperatures of the past fortnight.I can

to have passed. All was relaxed and gorgeous.I've always loved under-planting with drifts of bulbs and was bowled over by a stunning, snow-like drift of narcissus beneath a flower-packed cherry. The effect was breath-taking. Having worked for the RHS

by the snow.I regularly find queen wasps curled up, with their wings folded and tucked down underneath their bodies. With metabolism turned down to barely tick-over, they are immobile and can be closely examined (but not picked up) without risk of startling

with tulip bulbs. Better to err on the side of caution.Before the recent snow, when the weather was milder, I removed the trays from the pots. I did this to prevent emerging growth being squashed, and to stop shoots becoming etiolated as a result of low light

A short while ago I was driving past Peckham Rye, when my eye was caught by a series of white halos on the grass under some of the trees. It looked as if several small snow storms had targeted some of the larger and more handsome specimens across

The first really hard frost hit this morning. The garden was so white it almost looked as if it was covered with snow. It was gorgeous to look at but pretty miserable for some of the less hardy plants. But when I went into the greenhouse to grab

There’s something wonderfully irrational about clearing snow in order to dig up vegetables. One of our Christmas rituals is to leave the wrapping paper behind and take a walk to the allotment on Christmas day to harvest some parsnips. I don’t know

and stand it on the patio instead.I remember the Big Freeze of 1963 very well - enjoying deep snow as a young boy - and do recall finding dead pigeons in our garden that must have frozen to death! Quite how any birds survive outside during such cold weather