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The loose bark on old logs is one of the most important hibernating sites for all manner of insects. Here they can remain sheltered from predators, and also from their main enemies during winter: frost and damp. This week they will be sorely tested

I've always been a great fan of bulbs, in all their shapes and sizes. I couldn't get through the winter without snowdrops, and the prospect of daffodils, heralding spring. But right now, in (a rather cold and wet) May, alliums are centre stage

!Now I'm busily into planting up all the winter and spring crops - all my brassicas including kale, cabbages and purple-sprouting broccoli. My young purple-sprouting looks glorious - really well grown and leafy, though I do say so myself. But I always

Spring is in the air, and plants are beginning to shake off their winter dormancy. The birds and bees are making a cautious appearance, along with my fellow allotmenteers.My neighbours Ron and Mrs Ron were hard at it last weekend - they've got three

I used to see foxes all the time. Whenever I looked out of the window there was almost certainly one sniffing about in the garden or strolling nonchalantly down the street. Winter nights were alive with the unearthly yelps and screams of the males

I really love Christmas - it's the only thing that cheers up winter for me (except snowdrops, which give me something to smile about in February). 'Bah humbug' is simply not in my vocabulary. And the kitschier and more traditional Christmas

Last year I wrote about autumn tidying and the effect this can have on wildlife. I left my garden untouched over winter, leaving hibernating creatures snuggled under a duvet of fallen leaves and rotting stems. None of my plants died or were ravaged

I have a confession to make. After raving about the arrival of the purple sprouting broccoli and extolling the virtues of winter veg in my blog last week I realised that I had forgotten to mention red cabbages. Not only are red cabbages easy to grow

. The wonderful scent of wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) was almost overpowering and there was a fantastic winter-flowering clematis, (Clematis cirrhosa) which put mine to shame. There were crocuses galore, hellebores, dwarf irises and - a special mention

What a wonderful welcome to the new year to discover these beautiful seed pods on my Iris foetidissima. They really are a winter bonus, their bright shining seeds last for weeks. Apparently they are not attractive to birds; they don't appear