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I’m going to plant my bulbs earlier this year, to avoid disturbing any hibernating creatures in colder weather. I've just bought 20 winter aconites, 20 Nectaroscordum siculum, and the Gardeners’ World magazine offers: 100 free alliums and 160

In January I blogged about 'winterkill', after letters, emails and blog comments flooded in from gardeners who'd found dead frogs in their ponds. One commenter, Wishful Thinker, suggested I blog about winterkill before winter, so people can take

flush of leaves, having lost them during the autumnal summer. It's nice to look at, but I do wonder how it will get on in spring, as it doesn't appear to have any flower or leaf buds left. Will it lose its leaves again or take them through winter

. Some you will like, others you won't. It's nature. Like us, they snuggle down in winter, but often do so in what we consider 'mess': among dead stems, beneath fallen leaves and log piles. Then along comes the gardener, who chops up the stems, sweeps up

food at the end of the day so there's nothing left for rats to hoover up at night. Some people think compost bins attract rats. My mum's did, but they'll use any warm, quiet shelter in winter. To make your compost bin as univiting to rats as possible

There's a park near me. It's a great place to escape the urban sprawl. There, I've spotted eight species of bumblebee (including a winter buff-tailed colony), plus honey, solitary and feather-footed bees. I've also seen butterflies, great spotted

magnet for bumblebees.There are a few green manures to sow now, suitable for a range of soil types:1. Grazing rye (Secale cereale) improves soil structure. Sow from August to November and dig in the following spring.2. Winter field bean (Vicia faba

and May, so to give my bare, new garden a splash of late-winter colour I bought 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation'. This is a bright yellow, trumpet-flowered daffodil, which promises to be in flower from January. I thought Narcissus bulbocodium 'Golden Bells

and snowberry, but what about the Mexican snowball, Echeveria elegans? It needs a sunny spot in well-drained soil and should be kept dry in winter. And it doesn't like very low temperatures. Hmm ... does anyone have one that's still alive?I now realise how lucky

. But others haven’t been so lucky.I asked Jules Howard at Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) what was going on. He explained that because male frogs often lie dormant at the bottom of ponds during winter, they’re prone to dying when the ponds freeze over