Weeding the Web

Gardening cartoons: the delight of H M Bateman

Cartoonists are visual poets. They speak volumes with an economy of expression.  It hasn't always been like this. Nineteenth-century cartoons, à la Punch, tended to be illustrations to lengthy jokes, captioned beneath.

Henry Mayo Bateman (1887-1970) helped change all that and the exhibition that's just opened at The Cartoon Museum goes a fair way to proving their claim that he was "the first modern master of twentieth-century cartooning".

I've been familiar with Bateman for many years - especially his painfully observed strip "It's All in the Game", of a cricketer self-importantly arranging his wicket only to be bowled out (and over) on his very first ball.

Husband knew nothing about Bateman, and was bowled over himself, when we visited the museum last week. Bateman has an acute feel for society's mores and characters.

Spring garden photography competition

I'll bet a fair number of gardeners can't resist rushing for the camera when they encounter something pretty in the garden. It's harder than you think, isn't it? The eye's very good at editing bits we don't want to see; take a photo and suddenly all those extra leaves, dead sticks and blown flowers become very noticeable.  I can't be the only one who's spent half an hour picking extraneous material out of the sight lines, only for the sun to go in when I've finally arranged my prize-winning picture.

However, here's a chance to test your photography skills. Don't miss Vitax's Your Garden in Spring photography competition over at their new website Garden World. Send them any subject by 11th May - flowers, fruit, vegetables, you and yours out in the garden - for a chance to win a hamper of garden goodies.