In my day job with the RSPB, I spend much of my time out in the communities local to the projects I'm involved with.

And this week, I was delighted to visit the home of a parish councillor, who not only is a joy to work with on a major project creating the new RSPB Medmerry nature reserve (the largest realignment of the open coast in Europe, I'll have you know!) but also has a lovely garden in which he does loads…

For a long time, it was accepted 'knowledge' that the best plants for wildlife to grow in gardens were 'native' plants.

It was the Biodiversity in Urban Gardens in Sheffield (BUGS) project, driven by the uncompromising Dr Ken Thompson, that began to challenge that assumption. After all, what plant do we all consider the best for nectaring butterflies? Yes, Buddleia, from Asia (although now there are concerns…

With every passing year, I get ever more of an emotional response to the signals of the seasons. It's that bittersweet acknowledgement - and comfort, it seems - in recognising in nature the rhythms of time. Do you get that feeling too? Tell me it's not just me!

The emergence over the last week (down here on the south coast at least) of spring butterflies really got my hormones sloshing around in that excitement…

How many times in life do you get something for free?  Sometimes it’s something you don’t want, like flu or woodworm.

But here’s something for free that you’ll probably welcome – wildflower seeds.

The opportunity is because of a project called Grow Wild. It is being led by the good people at Kew, but the RSPB is a willing and committed partner.

The idea of the project  is to get…