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the plants from which you will breed your hellebore. Choose a mother plant - the one to be pollinated, which will eventually bear the seeds - for its vigour and a good, even flower shape. Choose a father plant - which will supply the pollen - for the colour

One of our cats sat motionless on the edge of the pond today, head drooped down almost touching the water as if he were asleep. But the occasional tic gave him away: he was watching newts. The bright sunshine lit up a corner of our triangular pond, just where the water is deepest...

of the prolonged cold remains to be seen, yet I’m convinced that the aphids starting breeding earlier than ever this year. My dwarf runner beans, growing in massive pots, were the first victims, followed by the overwintering geraniums and pelargoniums

What's the point of having a compost heap unless it's to breed fruit flies. That's the way my entomologist's mind works. During the summer great clouds of them billowed up every time I dumped the kitchen waste. They got in my eyes and hair

Alliums are spectacular plants and it's worth saving a few seeds to sow in the spring to grow some more for the garden. The seeds will germinate quickly and reach flowering size in a couple of years.SecateursPaper envelopesSeptember - October20 minutesCut the seedheads from your ...

The first offspring of a cross between two cultivars, bred under strict conditions to create a uniform, high-yielding crop. Seeds gathered from such hybrids don't breed true.

The problem looks worse than it is. Miniscule mites secrete chemicals that cause blistering or blotches on the new leaves, which gradually turn blackish-brown. Although the mites breed prolifically, producing several generations over summer

The culprit is Trionymus diminutus, a 4mm sap-feeding mealybug that breeds relentlessly when the weather is warm and isn't killed by winter frosts. It deposits a white, waxy substance at the base of the sheathed phormium leaves. A mild infestation

one. The large one would have a few fish in it.The theory is that the small pond would be perfect for breeding frogs, the medium-sized one would attract newts, and the large fishpond would provide the best conditions for toads. Dragon- and damselflies

, moving to a host plant to overwinter. They breed at an alarming rate - females can give birth to live young when only a week old. They are sap-sucking pests and the excess sap is excreted as honeydew. This sticky residue falls on to the lower leaves