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tortoiseshells this summer, but hardly anything special. It wasn't until I spent a few days in the Cotswolds recently that I spotted a red admiral feeding avidly on a white buddleja. Even then it was just one solitary butterfly, hardly the numbers you'd hope for

, but I'll leave them on display for as long as possible.I've combined mine with a compact gaultheria with pure white berries, snipping away its green shoots to neaten up the display. All these plants are quite cheap to buy, so could be discarded

by our seasons.Any late-flying insects in the garden aren't complaining though. When the sun shone last weekend these white globes of bloom attracted insects from far and wide. I can't say the most desirable insects were among them (in fact there were

business, but I remember pouring over old Kelways catalogues, crammed with colour plates of pristine fields with row upon row of pink, purple, white and red peonies. How I would love to have seen them. People must have travelled miles for a peony pilgrimage

long, gradually fading with age. 'Roma' adds a lovely pink to the display, but there are lots of other equally generous astrantias available in greens, whites and deep reds. Some even offer variegated foliage, but this isn't really to my taste

spathes in pale shades of pink, yellow and cream through to white, and lance-shaped leaves. Elliottiana hybrids have wonderfully speckled leaves and bright, brash spathes, while the rehmannii hybrids have mainly deeper green leaves and often deep purple

will hopefully be as big as theirs!I think some varieties have rather wishy-washy flowers, like 'September Charm', whose blooms are pale pink; I prefer either a pure white flower, like 'Honorine Jobert', or something providing a deep, rich, colour. 'Pamina

, and keep my fingers crossed. Will I be cutting into sweet, juicy melons later this summer?Just one problem has come to light this week. One of my melon plants is developing the characteristic white patches of powdery mildew on its leaves. If this spreads

see your face in, and you bite through it into pure snow-white flesh. They're always crisp, sweet, and have a really excellent flavour. And they do store well, so my bumper crop will certainly keep the doctor away for a few months.We're lucky