To those of you who garden, how wise of you. To those of us who let life's fast pace distract us from it, how foolish of us. Some months ago, our garden editors (affectionately known as Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men) said I should plant the hundred or so BH&G bulbs I'd had for ages, down at the farm, anywhere. The bulbs had been sitting in the fridge for over a year and, previous to that, just bundled in the laundry for another year. So I planted them and expected nothing of them because of how long they had been neglected.

But like a miracle, the first small flower appeared this month. How exciting! I sat with it, stroked its little bobbing head and gazed into its exquisite detail. And for a short moment there, the woes of the world were miles away. As I did this I realised that's what gardeners experience all the time: a beautiful refuge away from the madness of life. How very sane of them.

So this issue we're delivering you pages of sanity. The gardening ideas go on forever. And even if you don't bury your hands in the soil, enjoy the pages. You non-gardeners take my advice. Or if nothing else, stop a little this spring and gaze into a bloom, the pleasure is intoxicating. Enjoy!