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Balling is triggered by cool, damp conditions, often in a partially shady site, where water-saturated outer petals fail to dry out before being scorched by the sun. The mushy plant tissue dries to form a stiff straightjacket around the petals, preventing the flower from opening. ...

Clematis wilt is caused by a fungus that enters the plant through a wound made by an insect or an abrasion, such as rubbing from a plant tie. It's spread by water splash, and blocks the uptake of water in the stems, causing instant collapse. Infected foliage must be disposed of i...

Climbing flamesAs summer progresses, late-flowering clematis come into their own, and for me they're as much a part of summer as long, balmy evenings and cricket.There are few plants that give me as much pleasure or colour for so little work as late-flowering clematis. Given thei...

Learn how to grow your own crop of delicious, juicy dessert grapes, in this video clip featuring Monty Don. Monty recommends some high-quality, disease-resistant varieties and shares tips on soil preparation and planting depth.spring to autumnMore advice on growing fruitMake the ...

Follow Joe Swift's step-by-step video guide to creating a lightweight garden pergola using yachting cable, with tips on choosing the best climbers.all year roundMore on plant supportsTips on using plant supportsConstructing a metal obeliskBuilding a

to cut and bend, so a whole clutch of cone hanging baskets can be made in under an hour.1 50cm x 100cm aluminium sheet per cone1.5m of thin galvanised wireFelt pen and stringMetal cutters and a small bradawl50cm x 100cm piece of bubble wrapIvy and ferns

The climbing glory lily, Gloriosa rothschildiana is an ideal choice for growing in a warm conservatory, where it will scramble up support canes or wires to a height of around 1.2m.An exotic summer-flowering plant, the glory lily requires warm

variety of evergreen climbers

Nesting female bees cut out immediately obvious elliptical shapes from the edges of a leaf to make their cells for laying eggs. Since one female might need 20 or so cells, that's a lot of leaf cutting, particularly when the bee keeps returning

The rose leaf rolling sawfly injects a chemical into young rose leaves to cause them to curl protectively around her eggs. Within a week the eggs hatch into green caterpillars that start to eat their home. In mid-summer, leaving behind skeletonised foliage, they crawl down into t...