As late winter segues to the first touches of spring, so perfectly expressed in Edward Thomas' 'But These Things Also', one of the greatest pleasures in the garden is the interplay of light and shadow. The thin, lemony light of winter adds to its palette a silvery hue that strengthens and shimmers, resonating with the bracing breezes blowing through the leafless branches of the trees and shrubs, or playing with the foliage of the stipas.

Life, all about, is stirring, and it's all systems go in the greenhouse to ensure the later seasons' annuals and new perennials get the best possible start. The odd unseasonably warm day brings memories of past summers, and promises of those to come: the mood is buoyant and the air brimful of birdsong.