Wysseri

This year has been a little better than last in terms of buttflies, at least for me. Last year I didn't see a single Red Admiral until October when we had a mini warm spell! Didn't once see a Peacock and I lived right next door to Meersbrook park! I've moved now and have already seen common blues, orange tips, large skippers, speckled woods, cabbage whites and a peacock. So not doing too bad so far! I seem to have far less ladybirds and hoverflies though. But still have a fair number of bees around. But already mentioned, I too have very little flowering at the moment, so perhaps this is the issue.

Yep, he was outside alfie and bellas, chatting to people and then did a bit of filiming before leaving. I got some photos of him by his car, as luckily I happened to have my DSLR at the time... They were asking for diners last night and tonight, I suspect now it may very well be a full house tonight!

Generally chasing them away whenever you see them will also put them off coming in, I simply walk up to where they are and they've got the picture. Especially as they don't like being caught in a hidey spot. Cover any entrance areas, make it more difficult for them to get in so they avoid the area - I successfully did this at our last place, it's not possible now though, but I will be doing what I can to put them off. Also, in terms of crapping in your plants, buy some of those gardeners green sticks, snap them into 15cm lengths and stick in the ground, you need to place them at most 15cm apart. The idea is they get a surprise when they try to sit down to poo. It's worked for me here and the last house. Although I don't see why I have to spend the time and money making sure other people's cats come into my garden. How about I go round all the streets and ask for the owners to cough up? Didn't think so.

I collect mine and then throw them in the bin, at least they get to live in the lap of luxury for a while on all my weeds before going off with the bin men. Obviously it doesn't completely work, I still have some problems but not a massive amount. However... I have never been able to save the coneflower from them!!!! One year I will, one year... My plan is next year plant it in a new pot and put copper tape round and maybe I'll manage to actually have one in the garden then I haven't had to buy in.

Megazorb is fine for hamsters, lots of people use it. As already said you can get it from horse and rider in crookes, also a place out at penistone sells it. Also paper is fine, try using purely kitchen towels ripped up. They'll love collecting it and shredding it up for their nests. Another alternative is Aubiose, it's a hemp bedding and can be bought in large bales from horse centres for around £6. This can be quite fibrous though and I find it can irritate my nose as I have hay fever but for small animals it is fine and I currently use it for my Gerbils. Obviously as both Megazorb and Aubiose come in large bales you have to make sure you have the space, keeping it out in a shed is fine, just decant into bin liners and freeze for a day or so and allow to defrost before use to make sure any possible bugs are killed. A bale can last me around 2/3 months and I have 9 Gerbils and 7 tanks, so I imagine for the one Hammie it'll last the best part of 6 months to a year! (depends on how large your tank is that you keep it in) Who could argue with £6 for a year's worth of bedding?

Why not just keep your cats in over night? Allow time for any fledglings to wake up and make their way out of bushes etc before allowing them out. For the sake of a couple of hours a day I think it's well worth it as they're more likely to be caught then rather than in the middle of the day.

I'd also say a willowherb, best get it out now as they send underground shoots and the next thing you know is you'll have at least 50.

Oops forgot: Masterwort (just about flowering) Chives Thrift Weigela My Fritillaries have been and gone

Got a few things in flower but mostly things are still buds... Dicentra (three different varieties, one has millions of flowers on it!) Aquilegia (three different varieties again) Hardy Geraniums - a few varieties Bellis Viola Allium - a few types Oxalis - two types Forget-me-nots pinks Marguerite and the dreaded dandelions and buttercups!

The dwarf almond I have was prunus Tenella, if you'd like to look it up... As far as I know I didn't notice any perfume to be honest, but I believe it's the leaves/fruit/nuts that contain the hydrogen cyanide (this gives almond its distinctive flavour) I found it at Dukeries nursery in Worksop - shoved right to the back, I guess they didn't expect anyone to want it. But the blossoms just really stuck out to me and I had to fight my way to it. I have a magnolia stellata in a large pot and a fuji cherry in a relatively small pot.

There are quite a few different types if Blossoms for example; cherries, crab apple, plum, nectarine, almond, magnolia, quince. So get one that suits your needs. I have a fuji Cherry, it's very small and I don't think it'll get too big either, then there's crab apple red sentinel that will only get to 2/3m, magnolia stellata is great for smaller gardens. I have a wonderful dwarf almond too that I bought a month or so ago, it's more shrubby but has fantastic flowers on them...

My neighbours' Lilac seems to be a bit poor, with probably less than 10 flowers on it... However we have lots of other lilacs in the area, some a very full with flowers, others not so. Seems a bit mixed, unless of course some are having a quiet year and will hopefully be amazing next year. I've only just moved into this house, so I don't actually know what they were like last year...

If you could get photos it'd be much easier... Males are obvious, if you had a male then you'd know it as they have an obvious bump at the base of their tail. As already said, both males and females will hump like this, as long as the other Gerbil doesn't mind then they'll be fine. Watch their behaviour to be sure they're ok.

Things like ferns will do well in north facing gardens. You could try: http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/vid.186/ I've searched by orientation and used north, there are quite a few ranging from trees, prennials, bulbs etc. Of course, whether or not they actually do well I couldn't say. I've had good experiences of even petunias and fuchsia growing in a north garden, but I did have them in the back at first and put them on the front windowledge in a trough over summer. I have successfully grown toad lilies, digitalis, hostas and even gladioli in a north facing garden. The Gladioli were massive, taller than me so they were fine! My neighbour had heather too on her front. Around where I am now, I've seen people growing dicentra and Hydrangeas in their north facing gardens, and seem very happy. A few options for you there.

It's suspected that the supplier they use is importing stock from Europe to meet the demands of the stores. Note, I said suspected. I say this because certain things are cropping up that are problematic over in the Netherlands where there's very large commercial breeder bases and it's odd that suddenly they've been found in the UK now too. Also, regarding their 'house rabbits' aren't they just the finnish Giants but with a much larger price tag than if you went to a breeder?