Up until last year, a portacabin (now shifted to a different patch of ground a couple of hundred yards away) stood on this site, outside the Botnar Research Centre (part of the department where I work). Sometime soon the ground will be broken on building an extension to the Botnar and this area will be cleared. Walking to a meeting this afternoon, I wanted to capture the amazing variety of plants that has sprung up in the intervening year.

Sometimes I look at my garden and think I am doing pretty well. In truth though, most of my effort is just in editing what comes naturally and making it possible for less well-adapted species to get established. Left to its own devices, nature is equipped with a rich and healthy palette of its own!