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friend who has a plot in the heart of the city centre.Like lots of allotmenteers, she lives in a flat with no garden, so her plot is always a riot of colour, with spring plantings of tulips, daffodils and wallflowers, followed by cottage garden

tree called 'Fondante d'Automne' which has lovely flowers, fantastic autumn colour and not very good fruit. Still two out of three is OK, I suppose.These are the catkins and buds of Betula jaquemontii and, finally, lime buds. Lime leaves (Tilia x

under cover at night following planting, until all risk of frosts has passed. Then stand this container in bright sun so the purple heart positively pulsates with colour.AdamBe careful when handling brugmansia as all parts of the plant are toxic

. I was struck by its bright iridescent green body and red head against the drab colours of the autumn sward. Like many non-ornithologists before me I was confused by the considerable lack of wood for such a bird to peck, way up on the chalk hillsides

Autumn is upon us; leaves are tumbling gently down to provide excellent composting material (I am particularly keep on those leaves that fall into the chicken run as they are then mixed up with chicken manure and therefore provide a double whammy

companies is that most of the varieties come as mixtures. That means a packet contains a kaleidoscope of colours, and you can't tell what colour a plant will be until it actually flowers - fine if you want a flower bed reminiscent of Joseph's Amazing

to keep wearing the same size trousers. I could fly off somewhere hot, but sadly that's not terribly practical. Instead, my cheap and easy solution is to talk about summer flowers, with the only proviso being that they can be any colour at all except white

favourites. How much is each packet? How many seeds am I getting? Which ones offer the best value for money?Ptilotus exaltatus 'Joey' is an exciting new plant that I first saw at the Four Oaks Trade Show I visited in the autumn. Let's just call it 'Joey

size as the frame.Paint the timber with wood stain to preserve it and add colour, then leave it to dry.Set out the lower half of the timber frame on a flat surface and place the mesh on top.Screw the upper and lower parts of the frame together

and distorted, or swollen and cracked, that features small red or white pustules.Use secateurs to cut out all infected growth. Infected branches show dark staining of the creamy coloured wood inside, so prune back to healthy wood that shows no sign of staining