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petals to be sprinkled over a dish of salad leaves. No, I don't think they provide any additional flavour or nutrition, but they look great.I've eaten day lily flowers before. Eat hemerocallis flowers when in tight bud and they have a satisfying crunch

Last year I ripped out an old strawberry bed as the plants had gone past their best. As if by magic, I was sent several new strawberry varieties to trial. Of course, my son soon had his eye on the plants and suggested he grow them instead of me

proportions.However, the recent soggy, damp weather - which infuriatingly doesn't involve 'useful' rain, which actually penetrates to the plants' roots - has meant that all the later flowers on the courgettes and marrows have quickly rotted. The rot from

have been a real triumph. It hasn't been an easy growing year, with very hot, dry spells followed by regular downpours, but the pelargoniums have been in flower since spring and are still going strong.One amazingly vigorous variety, 'Calliope Dark Red

Although I started planning what crops I'd like to grow this summer well before Christmas, my plans have just been turned upside down. The February issue of Gardeners' World Magazine contains a feature on '100 Best Veg' varieties, an inspirational

If I only had one container or window box, I would fill it with herbs. Fresh herbs are a joy to cook with, they smell good, their flowers are loved by bees, and most perennial species can tolerate a bit of neglect.Having said that, my perennial herb

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is always a good place to look for new 'grow your own' ideas.  The Growing Tastes Marquee this year was better than ever: my highlights for 2010 were garlic and blueberries.I could smell The Garlic Farm's beautiful

, with blossom opening so much later, hopefully there’s less risk of the cold weather returning and ruining the flowers, as fruit trees are most susceptible to damage at blossom time.Days are longer and brighter, but there’s still a risk of frost. I keep a close

instead of flowers.But the rebel in me only goes so far. I do like a straight line, so within the triangles I still grow the veg in rows. It's practical, and makes things easy to plant and harvest. But most of all it just looks so satisfyingly good.I use

trumpets bursting open at tip of yellow courgettes are pure beauty – and yes, they are good enough to eat (deep fried in a tempura batter sounds appetising).Flowers adorn climbing beans, squash, tomatoes, aubergines, chillies, garlic chives and many more