The first part of the month was beautiful, with warm, sunny weather. By the middle of the month though, the weather had become unsettled, with a cold northerly wind and scattered showers. Friday 15th was a dreadful day, with torrential rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon, and Saturday 16th wasn't much better! Better weather returned by Monday 18th, although still on the cool side for the time of year. The temperature steadily rose again as the month progressed, with a positive heat wave during the latter part of the third week. Things cooled down a bit though, and the last week of the month was just as it should be - warm and sunny, with a pleasant breeze! Hardly any rain this month, apart from the 15th and 16th, so I've had to go out with the hose or watering can frequently! Maximum temperature 32°C (87°F); minimum temperature 5°C (41°F).

Although Laburnum is a common enough tree, I just love it when mine is in flower! When the sky is that beautiful pure blue, (a rare enough sight in England!!), I love to look up through its branches laden with long yellow racemes. When I'm standing near the tree, there is a constant low buzz of hundreds of bees, who love to visit the flowers. There is also the added bonus of the scent of the flowers, of course! My tree is the variety 'Vossii', whose flowers are longer than the usual variety, and is worth seeking out if you are looking for a Laburnum.

This is an interesting little plant which grows in an alpine trough on the patio. I love its furry leaves and stems, and it also has the added attraction of lovely sunny dandelion-like flowers which really light up the plant!

This is a view of one of the newly planted borders on the patio, just to the right of the new pond which was installed in April. It is looking lovely just now, with pink Heucheras and white Libertia grandiflora in flower, and the Hostas looking really lush! The Hosta at the bottom left-hand side of the picture is 'Krossa Regal', and the white variegated one towards the centre-right of the picture is 'Patriot'. The purple with pink edges Phormium in the centre is 'Maori Sunrise'.

This is a great shrub which is in flower at the moment. It is the Moroccan or Pineapple Broom, Cytissus battandieri. It's called Pineapple Broom, because of the scent of its flowers, which really do smell mouth-wateringly of pineapple. The shrub also has the most beautiful silvery coating on the new foliage, which turns green-grey as it ages. Not totally hardy, it needs a sheltered position. I have mine in a large pot on the patio, against a south-facing wall.

I have several insectivorous plants, which grow happily together in a large tub on the steps outside the conservatory. They grow in pure peat, and the container is kept topped up with rain water. There are several Sarracenia species, and Darlingtonia californica, (Cobra Lily), and they have proven hardy in my garden. I also have a Venus fly trap (Dionea muscipula) which is also hardy, but this is in a separate container. In the conservatory, I have a Nepenthes, which is getting quite large, and is busy producing pendulous pitchers to lure unsuspecting insects to their doom! I am very fond of these strange plants, which need hardly any maintenance, other than to clear away any old pitchers which are looking a bit battered after the winter. At the moment, the Sarracenias are in flower, and there are red, yellow and terracotta coloured flowers on the different varieties. The only drawback with the flowers is their horrible smell (they're pollinated by flies) - so don't grow them on your window sill if they're in flower!!

I've been really pleased this year to see this plant, Iris foetidissima 'Citrina' in flower for the first time. I grew it from seed several years ago, but the plants stayed in their pots for a couple of years, because of lack of space! Last year though, I found a small patch just by the steps leading from level 2 to level 3 of the garden. Once in the ground, the plants romped away, and this year - flowers! This variety has larger and more yellowy flowers than the usual variety, and I'm hoping for the beautiful red-orange seeds which cling to the open pods later on in the year.

Butterflies seen this month - Peacock, small Tortoiseshell, Fritillary, and Large White.

Birds seen (s) or heard (h) in or around the garden this month - Blackbird (s), Blue Tit (s), Bullfinch (s), Chaffinch (s), Collared Dove (s), Crow (s), Cuckoo (h), Goldfinch (s), House Sparrow (s), Jay (s), Long-tailed Tit (s), Magpie (s), Robin (s), Rook (s), Seagull (s), Starling (s), Swallow (s) Thrush (h), Tree Sparrow (s), Woodpecker (h), Wood Pigeon (s), Wren (s).

Getting older is no problem ... You just have to live long enough.
Groucho Marks