Toad under the Pots (gouache style)

The common toad has dry, warty skin in shades of brown and olive, and striking copper-gold eyes. It's broader and squatter than a frog and tends to crawl, with only short hops. Glands behind the eyes make a bitter secretion, so most predators leave toads alone, although grass snakes still eat them. Their spawn comes in long double strings wrapped around pond plants, not the clumps that frogs lay.

Toads spend winter tucked into log piles, compost heaps and the gaps under sheds, then set off for their breeding pond on mild, damp nights from late February. They return to the pond where they were born, and many cross roads on the way, where volunteer toad patrols help them over. In the garden, they hunt slugs, snails and beetles after dark. A shady stack of pots or a log pile makes a good daytime refuge. Check the compost heap before forking it, and don't use slug pellets.

This toad shelters among stacked terracotta flowerpots, with ferns and moss growing around it. It's the cool, damp sort of corner toads seek out by day. The picture celebrates an overlooked spot, the forgotten pile of pots, because that's exactly the kind of place that makes a garden useful to a toad.