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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

many hours. The change from one of the loveliest perfumes I know to one of the deepest-drain-grim stenches I know, is phenomenal. But of course it's the regular picking - largely by my children - which has allowed the plants to keep producing more

, and then watered sparingly from the base only to prevent any mould spreading. I recommend filling the saucer with tepid water, allowing it to be taken up by the plant for a few minutes and then draining off any excess. That, combined with cooler windowsills

, yellow, pink and purple in between.They grow in most conditions, but thrive in well-drained, humus-rich soil, out of direct sunlight. Avoid moving or dividing them once established.Hellebore varieties include:Bears clusters of saucer-shaped flowers

. With minimum care, they'll flower year after year, and many will bulk up into clumps after a few years.Like cultivars, species tulips prefer growing in free-draining soil in full sun. Plant them in drifts for swathes of colour, dot them around a rockery

to have done by now. A box of tulips is sitting under my desk (along with two pairs of shoes, the overspill from the waste paper basket and a pen top whose presence I have been missing for a while). They should have been planted at least a month ago (the

. If you have light, free-draining soil, you can start planting potatoes outside. I have very heavy clay soil in my garden, which is still a bit too wet for potatoes, so I’m putting it off for a little longer.I’ll sow some hardy annual flower seeds outside

year when I got really obsessed trying to grow the very best sweet peas – just like the show growers. To produce flowers with really long straight stems you need to grow plants as single stemmed cordons. Each plant is only allowed to produce one shoot

New plants at Chelsea 2008The plant marquee is packed with new, and often awe-inspiring cultivars. Here are some of our favourites from this year's show.Jarava ichu, or Peruvian feather grass, forms mounds of bright green foliage with showy, silver

in these conditions. You can even find plants that suit really difficult situations such as shady watersides or areas under large trees whose roots suck all the moisture out of the ground in summer. If you have borders of moist but well-drained and humus-rich soil