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

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

This is the month of horticultural happiness, and with everything looking fresh, green and lush, even the burgeoning weeds become – briefly – delightful additions to the garden. Selfheal sprouts gaily

When writer Sheila M Averbuch and her husband moved into their Pencaitland home in East Lothian over 20 years ago, the garden was little more than a flat upper lawn with a steep slope down to the bung

Nadia Shaikh goes synaesthetic for the start of spring, almost tasting the orange tang of an early butterfly

Handsome, chunky and often brightly marked, shieldbugs emerge in spring, quietly shaping the life of hedgerow and garden