To quote Elvis Costello – ‘It’s been a good year for the roses’. Roses of all varieties, shapes and sizes are currently blooming marvellous and laden with flowers. Experts say it is down to a hot summer last year, followed by a long winter and damp spring (allowing root systems to develop well) and then the half term heat wave added to the ‘perfect conditions’ for perfect, and prolific blooms. One client said this week that in all of her years gardening, she thinks roses are the absolute best value for money and the perfect ‘go to’ plant for any garden. So much so that we are going to plan and create a dedicated rose garden for her during the coming winter. Formal rose gardens used to be really popular, and I think possibly went out of fashion as people think they are high maintenance. I don’t think they are and hope more and more people will include them in their gardens. They don’t have to be formal – I much prefer ‘informal’ – and you definitely don’t need to include the clipped box hedges that were associated with them.

There is literally a rose for every garden and every aspect, whether it’s up against a wall, as ground cover, in a tub or for the front, middle and back of a border. They also make great hedges (we planted a 50 yards long one for a client about 20 years ago and it’s still stunning.) And you can visit specialist rose gardens like Peter Beales and David Austin to have great fun choosing your rose. Or roses.

David Austin Roses is in Albrighton, Wolverhampton and has six themed gardens, each telling its own story through fragrance, colour and form, and has over four hundred varieties of English Roses, all available as potted plants throughout the year. Peter Beales Roses is in Attleborough, Norfolk and has a two acre site full of blooming beautiful roses, displayed in every conceivable way. You can book a number of garden tours and dining options and both gardens are free to enter.

I saw my first earwig for years last week. In my childhood they were everywhere and possibly made more noticeable by the fact that my granddad told us that they were called earwigs because they crept into your ear when you were asleep.

Earwigs are mostly nocturnal, often hiding in small, moist crevices during the day, and are active at night, feeding on a wide variety of insects, particularly aphids, which is why probably why granddad loved seeing them.

Most people will easily recognise the insects by their pincers on their rear end – although less people would know that female earwigs usually have straight pincers whilst the males are curved. The pincers are harmless to humans although they may be raised in self-defence and are mainly used for protection from predators and during mating rituals.

As a young kid I can remember getting earwigs mixed up with woodlice and I’m sure some adults used the names interchangeably. To make things easier, I insisted on calling woodlice ‘baby armadillos’ which seemed a much cooler name - as is their other common name of ‘wood pigs’. Interestingly, woodlice are not insects but ‘terrestrial crustaceans’ – also very cool - making them close relatives to crabs, shrimps and lobsters. They are great recyclers and essential for breaking down vital nutrients in the garden.

Woodlouse is the singular with woodlice being the plural, which gives me an ideal opportunity to share with you that this week, I read that ‘spaghetti’ is plural whilst a spaghetto is a single strand of pasta. I love words.