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bulb was planted straight away in its own 20cm pot. These were grown on in my unheated greenhouse for a few months as I watched each produce a tall stem tipped with flower buds, before I planted them out in a group. The resulting lily 'forest', pictured

that really need to be planted in pots of compost rather than directly into the garden. Coming from warm and tropical regions of the world also means they enjoy warm growing conditions, so a greenhouse or conservatory really is helpful to provide

Although it's been a mixed summer weather-wise, I've still given my collection of succulent plants a 'holiday' outside, lining them up along a path to create a simple display. These tender succulents - aeonium, sedum and echeveria - spend autumn

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

The same thing happens every year. I buy my bulbs in good time, and then don't make time to plant them! I've got a huge bag of tulips and other bulbs to be planted, but it will soon be December.Other things got in the way during October, and then I

. The recent wet weather has left just about everything in my garden covered in water, and as temperatures have been mild, algae has spread.The soil here is clay, which I've spent many years improving with garden compost, manure and leaf mould. Algae and some

I love early September: the sun is still hot but the nights are not stifling. The majority of plants have flowered and faded away but there are still some, particularly the dahlias, that are flowering their little heads off. There was a time when

at the coldest time of year – they don’t really rock my boat.But could I become a galanthophile? Does a certain sort of person become fixated with a particular plant, or are we all susceptible? If I spent more time in the company of a real galanthophile, getting

There's nothing wrong with instant gratification. Who can resist the appeal of primulas at this time of year? Certainly not me.I visited the garden centre a couple of weeks ago to buy seed-sowing compost (much better than multi

most of them a second thought. Well, that's why I planted them in the first place – to be reliable performers that look after themselves.The problem with leaving perennials alone is that the central parts of plants grow less productive over time