I HAVE had such an intoxicating week. I don't mean alcoholic overdoses as part of delayed birthday celebrations, or the UK getting some points on the Eurovision board this year, or the fist-full of invitations that I have to the Chelsea Flower Show (although all are worthy of a good toast).

No, I am referring to the recent run of beautiful weather we have been having. The sunshine brings the British countryside and all its gardens to life and awakens the winter-dulled senses.

It all started with the swifts, returning to our midge-laden skies for their annual summer sojourn. They seem to be having such a great time floating around on the thermal currents, rising higher and higher and then swooping down with a playful shriek. The swallows and martins arrived a few weeks ago and are already settling down to some serious nest building.

The skylarks have begun their melodious courtship in the fields, hovering and fluttering above the thigh-high cereal crops. This truly is a sound of summer sunshine happiness. Nearer to home, the blue tit box is buzzing, with activity and sound. The male is on a non-stop, creepy-crawly collecting mission - good news for the more delicate garden plants - while the female, who is beginning to look a little bedraggled, tends to the ever-open mouths of the many chicks that they have crammed into the tiny nest.

Most of the large trees are in full leaf now. The chestnuts and the sycamores were the first to produce full crowns, with oaks and the ashes bringing up the late comers. Fortunately, the oak leaves have emerged fractionally before those of the ash, which, in old weather lore, means that we are in for a fairly reasonable summer (if it were the other way round, it would indicate a wet one).

The bird cherry, which goes completely unnoticed for most of the year, is announcing its presence with an enticingly sweet perfume. The small, dainty white flowers go on to produce tiny, insignificant, black berries, which make a flavourful autumn treat for the birds.

Best of all, though, is the gorse.

All through summer, autumn and winter it remains a simple green prickly bush, often sworn at by short-attired walkers. In mid to late spring however, it bursts into life with an explosion of bright yellow flowers. It is not just the flowers that catch the attention though, it is the scent, and what an unusual one it is. Usually, when you catch a whiff of coconut on a warm breeze, you're more than likely to be on a sunsoaked, sandy, foreign beach.

However, you could also be in the middle of the moors on a sunny spring afternoon surrounded by blossoming 'furze' (the old English name for gorse).

The sights, the sounds and the smells of a fast approaching summer remind you that when the weather is good, there isn't much out there to beat the beauty of the bountiful British countryside.

Mrs Johnson from Bishop Auckland has sent me a list of questions.

1. Can a two foot high, sevenyear-old yucca be planted outside?

Yuccas do survive outside this far north, but they need to be in a fairly sheltered area of the garden, away from frost pockets and wind tunnels. I would suggest putting it out for summer and autumn, still in its pot, and play around with finding a suitable spot. If you go ahead and plant it, always have a piece of fleece ready to throw over it if cold weather is forecast. As a precaution, take some top cuttings, and get them underway, so that you have a replacement should anything untoward happen.

2. Can a pip-grown six-year-old lemon tree be planted in the garden?

I would have to say no, it wouldn't survive our winters.

3. Can bran flakes be used as a slug repellent?

Yes, anything with bran in it attracts slugs, who eat so much that they swell up internally.

These can then be eaten quite safely by garden birds, frogs and hedgehogs. The toxins in many slug pellets carry on down the food chain, so that birds who eat pelletted slugs are likely to die as well.

4. Can an orchid that was given as a Mother's Day present be planted outside?

Again, I would have to say no. It does depend on which type of orchid, but the usual ones that are sold around Mother's Day need a warm, moist and not overbright environment.

5. Will two five foot apple trees grown from pips ever bear fruit?

Again this does depend on the variety, but if you have two of them, then they should pollinate each other. The chances are that they will in time bear fruit, but you may have to be patient to wait for them to mature enough to do so.

POST SCRIPT Brigid presents 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday from noon-2pm on BBC radio Cleveland. Send questions to be answered in The Northern Echo to or write to Brigid at brigidpress@hotmail.com or write to her c/o Nature's World, Ladgate Lane, Acklam, Middlesbrough.