It was a grey day yesterday down here in West Sussex, with a mizzly drizzle that wasn't forecast but just didn't abate. It seemed to sum up the cloud that we are all under at the moment.

I needed some of nature's tonic, so took myself into the garden, camera in hand.

There were no insects to be seen or heard, and the birds were largely lying low. So it was down to the flowers to catch my eye. Every day now, another plant in the garden is tentatively unfurling its first bloom, signaling that spring is on its way. All it will take is for the sun to come out and you just know the bees and butterflies will emerge.

For half an hour, I lost myself in the beauty of the moment, the world adorned with the fine pearls of raindrops, strung across every leaf and bud.

Thalia, one of the most beautiful of all the daffodils

Forget-me-nots

Greater Stitchwort

  

Dandelion seedhead

And just at the moment I was about to come in, there was a warm buzzing noise, and a roving queen bumblebee lurched across the garden and onto a single Borage flower, her pollen baskets bulging.

I hope you, too, get the chance to go and lose yourself in the garden, today, tomorrow, and whenever you need to in the weeks to come. I'll be following spring in my garden here on this blog, and hopefully we can all find special moments in nature while we're waiting for the sun to come out.

If you want to drop by my RSPB wildlife gardening blog, it is updated every Friday, and I'd love to see you there - www.rspb.org.uk/community/blogs/hfw