For many years Hugh Johnson has written a garden diary (initially as the editorial column of the RHS Journal and, since 2008, as a blog)Free to turn his attention to whatever is happening in the natural world at that time, or simply something that piques his interest, his subjects are as diverse as London''s trees, the first crocus of spring, the joys of a greenhouse and what cyanide has to do with a robin''s choice of berries.

Month by month, Hugh''s beautiful, evocative writing is filled with an eclectic mixture of topical, whimsical and humorous anecdotes that will delight not only gardeners but anyone with an interest in nature in all its manifestations.