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display is lovely, but there is a problem I need to address. The soil along the drive is thin and inclined to get compacted, and some clumps are rather congested. A few bulbs are producing leaf and no flower, a phenomenon known as  'blindness'. But, if I

.This year I’m growing a couple of different varieties. One is rather straggly, but does crop phenomenally well. Its massive golden flowers are set against a backdrop of pure green leaves. Unfortunately I don’t know the variety name, as the packet is long

, the prickly pear, which are often dotted with fruits.The bird of paradise flower, Strelitzia, always seems at its most vigorous and vibrant in Madeira, too. I always find hard to avoid the temptation of buying a packet of the seed while I’m there. There

they produce. You get huge height, fabulous, huge flowers and then a mathematically desirable fibbonacci series display of sunflower seeds that will now be enjoyed by wild birds for weeks to come. Many of the seeds have already been eaten by my daughter

cyclamen' or 'winter hardy cyclamen' or something similar. With its classic, dark green foliage richly patterned with silvery white decorations and stunning flowers, it certainly holds a lot of appeal. But how hardy are they? Although I live in the south

at that". Bob Flowerdew and I were particularly enthusiastic about the sight: a two or three foot tall mound of foliage which, at first glance, was covered in what appeared to be elegant white flower clusters. It looked gorgeous. But as soon as our

-glory style (yes they are related!) flowers makes them a great ground cover crop, but early this morning I stuck a fork in under one for the first time. Simply couldn't wait any longer. They're not huge (they do need more sun and warmth than they got

to while away the winter months, and if you find one you can be sure there will be a lot more in that protected hiding place too. Check under loose flaps of bark, behind stacked spare paving slabs, around unused flower pots, around the back of planters

to have passed. All was relaxed and gorgeous.I've always loved under-planting with drifts of bulbs and was bowled over by a stunning, snow-like drift of narcissus beneath a flower-packed cherry. The effect was breath-taking. Having worked for the RHS

were planted out and in flower. Admittedly it was during the mini heat wave and I was experimenting to see just what I could get away with. But this year there's no way I'd dare put half of my young vegetable plants out into the wilds of the garden. Who