Oh no!

A poor start to the day, but rain turned to sunshine and now, at 6.15, it's beautiful.

One of the annoying things about being a professional gardener, even a retired one, is seeing what people, and councils, do to plants! This group of shrubs outside the new Screwfix in Oban are cut into cubes every year - you should see the poor rhododednron trying to flower! So much better to use the time for weeding and leave the shrubs to do their own thing! I spoke to one of the council 'gardeners' once and he said that all shrubs need pruning, so who was I to argue!

I'm not sure what is worse - hacking shrubs or dyeing heathers in bright, artificial colours!