Good to see my tomato seeds have germinated. Suddenly spring just seems around the corner and I am beginning to taste those succulent tomatoes straight off the vine. Yes I know there is a long way to go yet and I am wishing my life away but don’t you feel better on a Monday morning in February when you have something positive to look forward to?

The snowdrops were swelling their buds last week and now some have actually opened. I have watched these little beauties spread each year. You know what the best thing is? They did not cost me anything. There was a small clump in the garden when we arrived here and over the years I have split and transplanted them and now they put on a great show.

We had a new visitor in the garden last week. A bird was flitting around inside my Mahonia Charity which is not unusual as the blue tits seem to find the petals very tasty. However once it showed itself it turned out to be a blackcap. I certainly have not seen this bird in the garden before and apparently in years gone by they would not visit until about April but with the climate warming they have started to stay all winter. They are normally insect eaters so he is very welcome to stay just as the long tailed tits do now.

While on the subject of insect life in the garden it is sad and worrying to read that honeybees are having such a tough time and that they face a bleak future. Let us hope that we can help these wonderful friends.

• What’s up with the bees? - echinbee.jpg. Bee and Echinacea watercolor, 8.5? square 2007. A few weeks ago, I asked a beekeeper at the Portland (Oregon) farmer’s market whether his bees were ok. “Yeah, they are,” he said, “but I get that question a lot. ...

• My Garden is My Space

• » UCSF scientist tracks down suspect in honeybee deaths? Har! This ... - Published on April 27th, 2007. Posted by John C Dvorak in General · UCSF scientist tracks down suspect in honeybee deaths — I pose this question “are they kidding us?” because this supposed new discovery is over a year old everywhere ...

• Garden Diary