images (8) I have been collecting lots of seeds from the garden recently… there are so many at this time of year!

It’s always a challenge to work out the exact time to gather them, and in previous years I’ve put it off thinking that it would be best to leave them just that little bit longer – only to be caught out by the unpredictable English weather and end up with soggy, damp seed heads which go mouldly and stubbornly refuse to dry out even when I bring them into the house and treat the little darlings to a nice warm sunbathing session on the window sills.

This year however, I have been lucky – and the sunshine has baked the seed heads to perfection. I’ve gathered several different types, including sweet peas, nigella and alium – as well as my all time favourite – aquilegia.