As the weather turns colder and the days grow short the temptation for as all to curl into a wee ball and find somewhere warm and dry to sleep is strong.

With that in mind, please remember our local hedgehogs when you're planning any autumn bonfires (should the rain allow!). They love a big cosy pile of sticks and kindling so if you have pre-built a bonfire, please make sure you have a good check inside before starting the fire. Even better, build it on the day.

Thanks to the wonderful Dom Black for illustrating this point so well for us!

Check out Gardener's World from 3rd October to see Granton's Asheigh Whiffin enthusing about meadow planting and the changes made at the National Museum's Collection Centre in Granton. She gave us a wonderful day out at the site in September with artist Natalie Taylor.

The news isn't great. Although it was great weather for butterflies this year, the numbers were much lower than hoped. Have a read through the results and find out how you can help butterflies at the Butterfly Conservation website. Thanks if you were one of the 125,000 people who submitted their butterfly counts!