91Èȱ¬

In the news….

Celebrations this week after the government abandoned plans to sell off the nation’s forests. This weekend’s planned protest meeting at the Forest of Dean has , and campaign leaders thanked the 533,877 people who signed their petition. Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman told 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4’s PM ‘we got it wrong’ - while refusing to say that the actual policy was at fault (19 minutes in) - yet wonders why the Government failed to anticipate how deeply we value our woodlands. Lesson learned, I’d say.

It’s February, so it must be spring - but after years of hand-wringing over super-early spring flowers, many of us are now wondering . Even the country’s crop of purple-sprouting broccoli has (yet another reason to grow your own).

But studies are still telling us spring is arriving, on average, , and in Devon and Cornwall the National Trust said spring blooms were 17% up on last year’s annual stock-take. So which is right? The Woodland Trust : they’re running collecting dates of the first signs of spring to build an accurate picture of how it was for you this year.

Elsewhere on the web…

The fabulously talented have been getting all romantical this week: their collection of photographs taken for Valentine’s Day is breathtaking. Many were snapped in the back garden: among my favourites is the pair of rodents unspecified on a hot date nabbing the peanuts off the bird table.

And thanks go to for drawing attention to this week’s best watch: and former RHS curator Matthew Wilson sorting out a native pond for wildlife gardening specialists , bravely soldiering on in the teeth of tribulations including leaky waders filling rapidly with sludgy water and colleagues more inclined to laugh uproariously than fetch the duct tape.

Out and about…

It was this week - and there’s still time to brush up on your birdbox skills at . They’ve got a local expert on hand today for advice and help in siting and managing your des res for garden birds; and at in Devon on Tuesday, take the kids and learn how to make a birdbox at their half-term workshop - hopefully producing something to take home with you at the end.

Other ways to keep your kids’ green fingers busy this half-term: the Chelsea Physic Garden in London is letting little ones loose with a paintbrush in on Thursday, Ryton Gardens, run by Garden Organic in Warwickshire, has a ; and at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire there’s the chance to make homes for minibeasts and create clay animals in their . Head to the bee garden at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire on Tuesday and learn all about how bees help in the garden while : just pray for rain so you have a good excuse to take cover in the glory of the world’s biggest single-span glasshouse.