Ordinary moss is very common in gardens and woodlands. moss provides shelter for many minibeasts, so encourage it to grow in your garden by providing logs, stone piles and untidy areas.

The marsh hair moss is the largest moss in the UK. Look out for it in damp woodland and on boggy heathlands where it forms large, green and spikey 'cushions'.

Sphagnum mosses carpet the ground with colour on our marshes, heaths and moors. They play a vital role in the creation of peat bogs: by storing water in their spongy forms, they prevent the decay…

The starling is a familiar garden visitor that has a beautiful purple-and-green sheen to its black feathers. It is famous for its wintry aerial displays - massive flocks can be seen wheeling over…

The stinging nettle is a familiar and common plant, often firmly rooted in our memories after our first, hands-on experience - a prickling irritation that's not forgotten easily!

This flightless relative of the scorpionfly roams across clumps of moss in winter.

This brilliant red and white sea slug would make the perfect nudibranch for a Christmas card image or perhaps a football team mascot!

This dazzling moss grows in dark places, catching any faint light to glow a golden-green.