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Saving seed from your garden plants is easy to do and will provide you with plenty to sow next season. Leave a few seedheads on your plants after they've finished flowering, removing the rest to conserve the plant's energy. Alternatively the seedheads may be highly ornamental and...

Sweet peas are some of the the most versatile plants you can grow. Train them up a trellis, pergola or obelisk, or support them with canes in large pots. They bring height and colour to borders and their scented blooms can be used as cut flowers. Sweet peas dislike root disturban...

Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed and should germinate within two weeks. Compact cherry varieties can be grown in pots and hanging baskets, while larger, cordon types are more suited to being raised in the ground or in growing bags. Tomato seedsSeed compostPlastic potsVermiculi...

its way through the frozen ground and came in to bloom, all on its own. I have planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs in the same spot, but no others have shown even the slightest hint of appearing quite so early. It has been out, looking delicately

lightening - which actually made the house shake. Then came huge hailstones, which temporarily flattened the hellebores and spring bulbs. Luckily, because there was very little soft new foliage about, nothing seems to have been seriously damaged

This week at the Chelsea Flower Show there are thousands of gardeners admiring out of season daffodil blooms in the show gardens and floral exhibits.In order to get their daffodils blooming at this time of year, growers force the bulbs to grow using

-fruiting winter cherry, a mini skimmia and some beautiful silver-leafed cinneraria. A trip to the garden centre added to the loot with winter flowering pansies, some small variegated ivies and a job lot of spring bulbs.I don’t really like winter cherries, worse

Gold', which seems to produce flowers from January onwards. I also plant tulips, ideally the richer-coloured varieties, which seem to be less readily available to buy by the bunch. Daffodil bulbs are unbelievably good value, especially if you buy them a

we had far too many, so I've been careful to plant fewer bulbs this time.I'll also pickle a fair few. Paul and I love eating pickled onions so this will be a special treat.Of course, this late decision to rearrange what's growing in each bed has

year.They've got so much to offer, and I'm always amazed by what my friends and neighbours can produce in their back gardens. Current shows will be showcasing the last of the daffodils and tulips with other spring-flowering bulbs, annuals, and some