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We've had to cut down most of the Clematis montana. It had already done some damage to the featheredge and was threatening to bring down the entire fence. Oh well. It was a fast grower when we first planted it and has provided us with a huge drift

different. Having seen drifts of oleander flowering relentlessly on visits to the Mediterranean in the past, I was tempted by a really large specimen I discovered in a garden centre last spring. Costing about £12, this made the perfect subject for a large

prefer a plant or two that few others have.One that caught my eye when it was first introduced by Hillier's 14 years ago is Sophora 'Sun King'. A chance seedling turned up in Hillier Arboretum, growing into this new garden-worthy shrub, and what a stunner

. 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

of colour, so rose hips come as a welcome lift.Some plants have naturally perfect skeletons - grasses like Calmagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', herbaceous plants like Echinacea purpurea and shrubs like Ceratostigma willmottianum. Others are more

, leafless Himalayan weed sound as entrancing as drifting through a Venetian lagoon, while fireworks light the sky and nubile attendants serve rare delicacies from their navels. Roy is an outstanding writer (he just won Journalist of the Year at the 2008

I’m going to plant my bulbs earlier this year, to avoid disturbing any hibernating creatures in colder weather. I've just bought 20 winter aconites, 20 Nectaroscordum siculum, and the Gardeners’ World magazine offers: 100 free alliums and 160

In the bright heat of this week's baking sunlight, a buzz of black and orange fur announces the arrival of what I think is one our cuddliest hoverflies. Merodon equestis is a large (12 - 15mm long), stout, bumblebee mimic, and although not quite

blanda prefers a sunny spot, and looks best planted on its own. Soak the corms overnight, then plant them a few inches apart in small groups or in bold drifts. They're reasonably priced, so you don't need to spend much to get maximum impact. Height 15cm

many of the little beggars are cockerels (it is notoriously difficult to sex a newborn chick). Cockerels do not lay eggs, tend to fight amongst themselves and must, therefore, be used for other purposes - if you get my drift.Currently we have 11 hens