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plot, the cabbage white caterpillars have joined in. A number of my calabrese plants are barely alive, having been stripped down to the leaf ribs; they're crawling with the (admittedly rather pretty) yellow and black stripy caterpillars of the large

Despite the attentions of the cabbage white caterpillars my Brussels sprouts are doing really well. I think the calabrese acted as a kind of sacrificial crop, as the cabbage whites have gone for these first, the cabbages second and the Brussels last

to the serenity of the place.So I was very pleased to see a pair of goldfinches this morning. I'm not a birdwatcher, but even I know the unmistakable red face, white sideburns and yellow wing flash of these pretty creatures. They were not in my 'wildlife haven

At this time of year hedgerows bristle with elderflowers. Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a native tree with white flowers in midsummer and bunches of small black berries in autumn. It is a bit of a weed but, like many weeds, it has both a purpose

of the event. I did the macho lumberjacking bit, in my suitably butch steel-toe-capped boots and very bright white hard hat. My partner did much of the shredding into eco-bags for recycling (it was all her fault I got involved - she's a governor at the school

Sown now in the greenhouse, dahlia seeds will produce young plants ready to plant outdoors in late May to flower this year. Seed companies sell a range of quick-growing bedding strains that are suitable for growing this way. You can also use this method for sowing seeds saved fro...

and work well as part of a mixed border - I have a lovely white iris called Iris sibirica 'Snow Queen' and a blue one called 'Emperor'.These are fine, but they pale into insignificance compared to the huge, complicated flowers of their bearded cousins. Each

will already have bought their bulbs. I may be too late to help this year but these are my top tulips. To be perfectly accurate these are some of my top tulips as there are too many to fit in here. Tulipa 'White Triumphator' - the shape and colour of angels T

at that". Bob Flowerdew and I were particularly enthusiastic about the sight: a two or three foot tall mound of foliage which, at first glance, was covered in what appeared to be elegant white flower clusters. It looked gorgeous. But as soon as our

Up to town today, and while waiting for the number 12 bendy bus, 12-year-old and I examine the trunk of a lime tree overhanging the stop. There's a whole ecosystem in just a few square feet of bark.Most prominent are the white waxy remains of horse