I was walking the dog through the wood at the back of the house this morning. The sun was shining and it was a wonderful day to be alive!

The wood was looking fantastic with dappled sunlight forming pools on the woodland floor. Then I was suddenly overwhelmed by the most wonderful sweet heady fragrance. For a moment I could not work out what it was and then I saw the honeysuckle in full flower above my head. I started looking round and about and I realised the wood was full of honeysuckle flowers, scrambling over all sorts of trees and ending up high in the woodland canopy. This warm and dry spring seems to have been very good for his fabulous native plant Lonicera periclymenum is a common woodland plant but none the worse for that. The other common name for honeysuckle is woodbine and it is the most glorious thing. In the autumn it also produces red berries. It is a very important plant for wildlife supporting several rare species including the White Admiral butterfly which we certainly see in these woods. Bumble bees love in too.

This all goes to show that when you go for a walk in the countryside, you need to pay attention and not just with your eyes and ears but with your nose too!