The mercury (and wisteria) is rising

(SUSANNAH IRELAND)

The sun was the perfect way to show off the springtime wisteria on this building in London, where temperatures soared to 25C yesterday. The warm weather is set to continue for much of the UK over the Easter weekend, according to weather forecasters, and with a couple of weeks still to go there is already speculation that this month could prove to be the warmest April on record.

This is good news for the nation's gardeners. Wisteria is a particularly hard plant to grow, often taking several years to establish itself before flowering and needing large nails to hold its main stems in place against the walls that it is traditionally grown against. The results, however, can be magnificent.

The plant has even managed to inspire the most unlikely advocates. In his song "Nature Boy", the usually dark songwriter Nick Cave rejoices at love at first sight amidst its blooms, singing of how his knees went weak on seeing his future lover "standing there, green eyes, black hair, up against the pink and purple wisteria".