Hedgehog evenings

The weather has got dramatically warmer over the past few days - temps in the high teens and quite mild evenings. In these conditions I sometimes see a hedgehog in my garden and I've even begun to wonder if it is living beneath my old greenhouse - something has been digging in underneath it anyway.

It's great to have a hedgehog visit - I believe they need a territory covering roughly 10 urban gardens so I'm lucky to see it when I do. It's especially good to know that hedgehogs have survived such a punishing winter.

I've been trying to naturalise the garden since moving here 2 years ago (an excuse for lazy gardening some would say), by for example leaving leaf litter and allowing a corner to grow wild. That should help create a habitat that encourages wildlife in general. I collected some wild flower seeds last autumn (Red Campion and Tufted Vetch) and left them in pots outdoors over the winter (the recommended way - they dessicate and die indoors). So far the Campion had sprung into leaf but is way behind its fellows in the countryside, which are in full flower now. No sign of the vetch at all yet, but plenty of time I hope.