A view of the garden tonight taken while having a cup of char watching the Bees working their way around the Foxgloves on the left. It’s all starting to kick off growth-wise now!

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed today as it’s been a busy old week but it was only while listening to Wilko Johnson being interviewed on Radio 4 who was sounding well chipper even though he’s terminally ill that put all my moaning into perspective! I’ve never been a massive fan of Dr Feelgood but did see them at the Lanchester Polytechnic in the late 1970’s. A bloke who was doing the sound that night told us the band were really late arriving and so drunk they were turned away by the door staff thinking they were a gang of cockney blokes on a stag-night. It was only when a fan who was in the queue told the bloke on the door “You can’t do that mate, they’re the band!” Brilliant!

A big shout to our good gardening friend Scarlett (who also writes the excellent Heavenly Healer blog), who sent us an excerpt from her “Attracting Beneficial Insects” factsheet which she has kindly let us reproduce here. The following list applies to Bees and other beneficial insects.

• March/April – Bluebell, Rosemary, Bugle and Dead-nettle
• May/June – Aquilegia, Geranium, Campanula, Chives, Sages and Thymes, Wallflowers, Vipers bugloss, Birds foot trefoil and sweet peas.
• July/August – Lavender, Cornflower and Centaurea, Marjoram and Scabious.

In general all insects love Sunflowers and Hollyhocks. Comfrey is great for the Bees (and for making liquid feed!) Monarda didyma, Linum, Agastache, Marjoram and Oregano, Astrantia, Thyme, Yarrow, Sage, Borage, Fuchsia, Geum, Cosmos, Poppy, Mallow, poached egg plant (Limnanthes douglasii) as well as climbing plants such as clematis and honeysuckle, are just a few examples in an exhaustive list.

Scarlett also let us know of a great exhibition currently at the V&A called From Club to Catwalk. Great stuff and great photo! Thanks for the list and the exhibition info. We’ll pop down over the summer for that. Talking of the summer, can we have the sunshine back?