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is strictly necessary. I am writing this while outside the Tatton Park Flower Show, sluiced with yet another torrential downpour.But rather than whinge I feel the time has come to point out the few cheering things that have come about as a result of the rain

, but the reward is instant - a neat, tidy display revealing the full beauty of the blooms without the distraction of dead flowers.Now I'm contemplating propagation, so need to delve down to try and find some healthy non-flowering shoots to use as cuttings

(Patron Saint of Gardeners) never impulse shopped in nurseries. I had not seen the plant before, all I knew was that it was quite large and had been planted in the middle of my carefully planned flower bed. Hmmmm...some designers would have thrown a bit

them from the very cold nights that we have been having. We are also using this fleece on our Chelsea Flower Show plants to protect them and give them that little extra warmth which will encourage them to start producing new growth.We always remove

-looking rhizomes that can be planted up in February or March in a heated propagator, planting several in one pot to create a bushier display. Later in the year you may find young plants for sale, possibly flowering ones.When I edited a magazine called 'Greenhouse

, but I like the upright ones with big double blooms packed like petticoats with swirling layers of petals.The large flowers are quite heavy, so to avoid plants toppling over I always grow begonias in terracotta pots instead of lightweight plastic ones. I

about hostas. The hosta can be a really annoying plant: pretty flowers and truly glorious leaves that can completely transform a shady corner, but (and this is a big, big but) they have the same irresistible attraction to molluscs as cow pie has

in height its spreading branches cast quite a shadow over the bed below. Being a deciduous tree its full canopy doesn't really develop until later in May, so many early flowering plants have time to bloom before the shade takes over.My star performer over

.Looking at my garden this morning, however, I realised that we're a bit short of colour at this time of year. I know that within a few weeks the place will be alive with flower but right now it's a little flat.I didn't plant enough tulips last year. Right now

-spring, covered in white flowers which, come the autumn, turn into deep red berries, or haws. They also make spectacular trees that reach about 5m in 10 years - although if left alone they can reach 18m. They're fantastically gnarly and twisted and every wild