Jennifer Juniper

We've been greeting the female labyrinth spiders at the entrances to their tunnels in the golden prostrate juniper bush by the lake every morning for a while. Today was different. Rain overnight had transformed their lairs into crystal mazes and this female had welcomed a suitor. See how she's towering over him. There's plenty of grasshoppers and crickets around for them to eat so he should survive mating with her without being eaten. She will hide her egg sac deep in her labyrinth and stay to look after it. If she dies before the incubation phase is over the corpse will be eaten by the young on hatching.

Juniper is in the news. Buckingham Palace has produced its own gin flavoured with botanicals from the gardens. Juniper though is the pine-like scent at the heart of every gin. Since I read this I've fancied a gin and tonic but we haven't any. :(