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mind by lunchtime on Monday.  Find out if James's predictions were correct by viewing the Chelsea Flower Show 2008 medal results.

-bottomed voluptuousness, but as the summer wears on and autumn looms this look fades away and everything is so much more relaxed. Most plants that flower at this time of year have more of a 'what-the-hell' attitude. Imagine that your garden was a pair of ever changing

it is unlucky in that its flowering coincides with the flowering of daffodils and by that time I have had enough of yellow.I adore tulips. The photograph above, by the way, is of a species of tulip called tarda and is there, not because it is ugly but because

Although the time for roses is long past they can be remarkably resilient. Here we are at the beginning of December and I have two flowering in my garden at the moment - Rosa 'The Prince' and R. Moonlight. It is true that neither bloom is much

This is prime iris season: a few weeks when these hugely flamboyant flowers come into their own. I grow two different sorts of iris in my garden: the Siberian iris and the bearded iris. Siberian irises are smaller flowered, have thinner leaves

At this time of year hedgerows bristle with elderflowers. Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a native tree with white flowers in midsummer and bunches of small black berries in autumn. It is a bit of a weed but, like many weeds, it has both a purpose

foolish as to think that spring is here - we are more than likely to get whacked by frost or snow before then - but at least it is showing willing.One of the best things about this time of year is scent. Flowers are pretty rare but there are a few plants

, your safest bet is the white double Dianthus 'Mrs Sinkins' which smells like the wrists of wood nymphs. It's one of the old garden pinks (great scent, short flowering season, most of them about 30cm high) and was originally bred in 1868 by John Sinkins

).But I digress: back to blossom. The purpose of blossom (as I'm sure you know) is to attract pollinators and therefore to produce fruit. However, it's also very lovely in its own right. Not all of the trees are yet in flower, but at the moment we can

. This is a very vigorous climber, better known as Russian vine or mile-a-minute. Only the very brave will plant this in a small garden as, although it's undoubtedly attractive and flowers for a long time, it has an unquenchable curiosity. Many years ago I