The joys of the countryside

With returning swifts screaming across the rooftop and golden buttercup pollen gilding his Wellingtons as he strides across the cow meadow, John Lewis-Stempel marvels at the many pleasures of May

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/VIKTORISHY 1 W e can dim the ...

Fragrant and frothy, elder blossom is a highlight of May and June. The flat-topped flowerheads turn together to track the sun each day and attract a host of invertebrates, especially hoverflies and ti

I t’s the summer solstice, and the mountains ...

SUMMER has really arrived in my garden, where I’ve picked the bunch of sweet peas and inhaled the soft and sometimes spicy scent of these generous blooms. There’s something about fragrance which trigg

Jenny Ackland spots an explosion of colour this June as wildlife gears up for the start of summer.