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that we gave away with our April issue.Very dry spring weather made it quite a challenge getting sweet peas established this year, and regular watering has been essential. Dryness at the root through summer is one contributory factor to the powdery mildew

site. It might spend the winter in the compost bin making the whole heap smell of mouse, ready for nest-searching bumblebee queens in spring. I hope so.

. The National Trust's Bodnant Garden near Snowdonia was a delight. Widely appreciated as a spring garden for rhododendrons and azaleas, the garden is keen to promote its year-round appeal, and certainly looked wonderful in August.A calm overnight sailing

.I love the way home-grown salads start off as a meagre collection of leaves in spring, then steadily grow as tomatoes, broad beans and other ingredients are ready to harvest. The watercress growing in my pond is always the first leaf crop I pick, followed

raised bed, as you need to consider drainage issues and the additional weight put on the shed. But it can be done without buying expensive kits. And, while the plants won't put on much growth before spring, I think the roof looks great. The shed has

flowerheads in summer. It will perform equally well in a sunny border or a container.Jarava ichuThis easy-to-grow bearded iris, with butter yellow and lavender petals, will flower from late-May to mid-June.Iris 'Lullaby of Spring'This short, smoky yellow iris

the fruiting stems. New shoots will soon emerge, and next year's fruit will be produced on these one-year-old, ripened canes. Autumn varieties fruit on this year's new growth, so cut these back in winter, and they'll generate new wood in spring

poppies appears early in the year, forming neat rosettes. It is overtaken by spring performers such as tulips, anchusa and sweet rocket.But suddenly, without warning, the poppy thrusts up fat buds, wreathed in hairy cases until, one morning, the first case

:Bluebell, bugle, crab apple, daffodil, flowering cherry and currant, forget-me-not (Myosotis), hawthorn, hellebore (Helleborus corsicus, H. foetidus), pulmonaria, pussy willow, rhododendron, rosemary, viburnum, thrift (Armeria maritima).Spring flowers

are inaccessible to insects, or have low amounts of nectar and pollen, sometimes even none at all.Although many insects are inactive in winter, some will still seek nectar late into the autumn, or on a warm spring day. Having a selection of plants flowering