I love nature (and I’m guessing you do too, or you probably wouldn’t be reading this). The sounds and colours, the sheer wonder of seeing other-worldly-looking critters, the delight of finding a toad living in my potato grow-bag, the amazement of how tiny, flimsy wings can enable a huge bumblebee to fly ….just fantastic. My scientific knowledge is almost non-existent, but then I figure that doesn’t matter – it’s what I do to give nature a helping hand that counts.

it’s really funny to see them shimmying about!

A lot of my garden is a little piece of wild, and today I’m having a good look in the pond and the mason bee housing to see who’s appreciating my efforts. The bees have had a good time this year, with lots of the tubes already capped with sand and mud – already more than last year’s total of 9. They buzz around my head but don’t seem to mind me standing a few inches from the tubes, several bees are coming and going. Sometimes they fly up, crawl into the tube, then back out, turn around and go in backwards – it’s really funny to see them shimmying about!

On the way to the pond I see fat bumblebees and other unknown types of bee hanging off the lilac heads of the phacelia around the veg patch. They seem almost drunk with happiness, shouting ‘way-hey it’s playtime’. I find their fluffy yellow and black bodies really beautiful.

The pond is covered over with little dots of something green, so I swipe some away and see dozens of tadpoles swimming about – I can’t wait to see teeny-tiny frogs hopping about on the lawn. And finally, there’s a dragonfly with a vibrant light blue spot at the end of its body – just magic.