We are into another hot spell in Abingdon, and the grass in the Abbey Gardens has faded to the same sandy colour as the path.

The Indian Bean Tree, with its oversized leaves and exotic flowers, has just finished its brief flowering. The trees are still green and contrast to the dry grass below.

Canna lilies are beginning to flower, rising above the snapdragons in the formal beds.

In the wilder corners on both sides near the hotel, there’s a drift of taller plants and flowers that insects clearly prefer to the formal beds.