Dear Readers, after what feels like months the lavender, which has been on the verge of flowering, has finally started to attract its first bumblebees, and I could not be happier. A few days ago there were just a few common carders, and now the buff-tails and white-tailed bumblebees are here. I hope you’ll forgive a few photographs of them getting stuck into all that nectar. And the front garden smells amazing, although I shall have to don some gloves and clear out the worst of the green alkanet now that it’s gone over.

This being nature, danger also lurks in the form of a quite well-grown spider, who is optimistically slinging her net between the Bowles mauve wallflowers and the lavender. I think she’s still too small to snare a bumblebee, but the honeybees had better watch out…

The bottlebrush plant that my Aunties bought for me is coming into flower – strangely enough the bees are ignoring it, though in the past they’ve always been quite partial. Bottlebrushes are normally bird-pollinated however, as their colour indicates – birds love (and can see) red, while bees seem to prefer the blue end of the spectrum (though of course the flowers can look quite different under ultraviolet light).

And finally (because after four days hunched over my computer catching up with all the stuff that needed to be done after my exams my back could do with a break), here are the flowers that I featured over two weeks ago, and look! I cannot imagine a better advert for buying British flowers. What’s interesting is how many of the blooms have actually changed colour as they’ve gotten older. I have been meticulous about changing the water every two days, and I imagine that might have helped.