Apologies to the lovely Lilac

Once you are into your gardening, have you noticed that every day, even in the midst of winter, seems to throw up something garden-related to think about.

Yesterday it was a seed catalogue that fell onto my mat.

The day before it was a gorgeous red sky at dawn telling me that more rain was due - can my garden cope? (My water butts certainly can't!)

And at the weekend there was a short dry spell in which I was able to get my fruit trees pruned - I have a wild pear, a pear, an apple and a crab apple, which all went under the secateurs as now is the prime time.

But today I downloaded my photos from Christmas, which reminded me that I needed to apologise to the lovely Lilac.

The thing is, as regular readers will know, that a few weeks ago I berated the Common Lilac on account of its apparent uselessness for pollinating insects - all that scent and I've rarely seen any insect showing any interest whatsoever.

But when I visited my parents for Christmas, I was reminded that pollen and nectar are far from the only things that are required to give nature a home.

Have a close look at this photo:

Can you see them?

In the photo are four Blue Tits. Honest! The dense, intricate growth of the lilac is a perfect labyrinth as a retreat for them. The Blue Tits visit my parents' bird feeders, grab a seed, and then go and hide in the Lilac to peck it in safety.

My peak count was eight, all in there nibbling away, quite safe.

Yes, shelter and security are key parts of the wildlife gardening equation.

But any shrub that can offer the combined benefits of shelter AND nectar AND berries is still going to win my vote any day. So, sorry Lilac, I remain a Hawthorn man any day!