In my garden

Garden re-wilding Ground-level close-up of Cat's ear, Hypochaeris radicata , in our garden lawn in south-west Sheffield. Many gardeners would be horrified by this, as they would consider it a weed, invading their pristine mono-culture green sward. But we love its cheerful brightness, and the bees and butterflies do too! Good viewed large on black!

Garden re-wilding We have a small patch at the rear of our garden in south-west Sheffield which has been left to its own devices for a few years, with the minimum of management. It is now a species-rich environment which bees, butterflies and other insects love. In this patch we have the following plants as a minimum (sorry - just English vernacular names) Agrimony Antirrhinum Apple Betony Bird’s-foot trefoil Bistort Bluebell Cat’s ear Clover Clematis Columbine Comfrey Crane’s bill Feverfew Fox-and-cubs Foxglove Greater celandine Herb Robert Heart's ease (Wild pansy) Knapweed Marjoram Mint Oak Ox-eye daisy Purple toadflax Red campion St John's wort White campion Wild strawberry Vervain

Garden re-wilding We deliberately keep much of our small garden in south-west Sheffield as a meadow, which we keep under control with the minimum of management: mowing a few interesting 'lanes' on the 'lawn'; and some tidying up and cutting back some of the dead, tangled foliage in the autumn and before the spring re-growth. Many gardeners would be horrified by this, as much of what we have they would consider weeds. But it is species-rich; my wife has documented 67 soft-stemmed plant species, not counting trees, shrubs, and mosses. We love it; and it is a haven for insects and other wildlife.

A bee visiting a flower on our Clematis montana rubens , which climbs nicely on a trellis in our garden. Makes a lovely display and delicious scent for a few short weeks in Spring.

Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum . Strictly speaking, this is not in my garden but overhangs our garden fence from our neighbour. I loved the contrast of the translucent red leaves against the blue sky.

We have a lot of Greater Celandine Chelidonium majus growing in our garden. The bees love it and it is a useful medicinal plant.

Experimenting with focus stacking to give an increased depth of field. Cultivated Spanish bluebells Hyacinthoides hispanica , with Greater Celandine Chelidonium majus leaves in the background. The Spanish bluebells were here before we moved into the house, otherwise we would not have planted them ourselves; they escape into the wild too easily and hybridise with the real English bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta .

I love the vibrance of Marigold flowers, especially the original medicinal variety Calendula officinalis .

Not really a fan of Leylandeii shrubs, but we have a few in our garden. I was struck by the bright green and yellow margins of the new growth contrasted with the intense blue northern sky on this sunny spring morning.

A Hornet hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) on Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) in my garden in south-west Sheffield. Despite its fearsome appearance, this harmless insect is a true fly (Diptera) and not a hornet which it mimics wonderfully! At just over an inch (2.5 cm) long, this is the largest hoverfly found in the UK. It's range seems to be extending northwards in recent years.

Autumnal colours of the Virginia Creeper in my garden mingling with scarlet Geraniums. Best viewed large on black.

Autumnal colours of the Virginia Creeper in my garden mingling with green Leylandii and Ivy.

The fungal rust spots on the pear tree leaves remind me of the pleochroic halos often seen in biotite mica crystals in thin sections of rocks prepared for petrological microscopy. www.ucl.ac.uk/%7Eucfbrxs/PLM/zircon.html

I liked the colours and textures made by these old dried stems of Golden Rod, awaiting a bonfire in my garden.

The Silver birch tree in my garden looked lovely in the bright sunlight against a blue sky and white cumulus clouds.

Snow on the trunk of the Silver birch tree in my garden.

Red berries and snow in my garden;

Snow patterns on a garden table.