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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

.The flower stems are strong and tall, up to 1.2m (4ft), and each supports a single magnificent bloom, blood red and boldly imprinted at the base of each petal with a jet-black splodge. The stamens, arranged in a broad circle around the dark, central knob

leaved shrub for a sheltered corner. I first saw this at the marvellous Stone House Cottage Gardens. The flowers are exquisite, like an underwater pincushion (and if my new garden is somewhere warm I will get fruit as well).Persicaria polymorpha

of different leaves don't immediately jump out, but offer a more gentle surprise as you come across them in the garden.May - JuneJune - August45 minutesPelargonium 'Lady Plymouth' 6cm pot x1Begonia 'Illumination White' x3Helichrysum petiolare 6cm pot x4

we are making the changes we are making. We are simply going to refocus to satisfy the needs of our core audience."However, criticism of the programme continued through 2010, leading to the announcement last week of further changes for 2011

and sunny spot, or with pretty campanulas spilling out of the pockets, as here, for a cottage garden in partial shade.Roll of lead, 45cm x 300cm, from any builder's merchantMarine plywood, 30cm x 85cm18 clout nails (large-headed, galvanised nails)3 pots

Ask any seed company to name their Top 10 bestselling flowers and you'll regularly find sweet peas in first place.Sweet peas are the gardeners’ favourite for climbing colour and delicious fragrance, bringing a touch of cottage garden nostalgia

coverage of the support and they're extremely fragrant.The cottage garden-style display is enhanced with trailing Sutera cordata 'Snowflake' and the variegated leaves of Felicia amelloides 'Variegata'.sow sweet peas in February, pot on in April, plant out

: I was told it by Kim Hurst from the Cottage Herbery at the Malvern Spring Show last year (the 2009 show, by the way, runs from 7-10 May; I hope to see you there) . Those of you sensible enough not to let mint run loose in your flower beds will have

combined with Phormium 'Bronze Baby' for height, along with nasturtiums and purple basil for good measure.Top container annualsCoreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany Midget'The cottage-garden feel of these daisy-like flowers adds a sense of informality and movement