Karen Youngs is on the lookout for nature’s collectibles during a sunny spring walk

As the long nights shorten, Mounton House garden quietly emerges from winter with delicate sprinklings of white narcissi, Scilla siberica and crocuses through the lawns. Daphnes fill the air with frag

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Find out which early species to watch for, how to make your patch more butterfly-friendly and where to record your sightings for science

To hide my new garden’s nakedness, I planted trees. Damson and mirabelle plum, ‘Discovery’ and reinette apples, two pears, a quince and a ‘Nottingham’ medlar. There was a purple-leaved filbert, a ‘Che

Purple punctuates the planting: here an acer, verbena and some pinky-purple crinum, or swamp lily, stand out