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I spent all last week at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, where a good time was had by all. I was particularly busy this year, as I had three distinct jobs: filming for the BBC (swanning around, blethering about Henry VIII), compering

at Wisley handles hundreds of thousands of questions every year. This summer I hosted various Gardeners' Question Time sessions at both the Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows and was staggered by the sheer volume of knowledge that the representatives

females) no longer have a burgeoning brood of nest mate grubs to rear in the brood combs. Since it was the grubs that needed the chewed insect protein, the listless workers are now left to forage for themselves, at flowers, fallen fruit and jam sandwiches

Claudia' and 'The Sutton' are ideally suited, the latter being a more compact variety. I'm going for a bit of colour that will contrast with the wallflowers, so I've chosen 'Crimson Flowered' broad beans. I'm also going to try Red Epicure, which have

which is often used by commercial growers.My sister in law never nets her tree and still has plenty of fruit after the birds have had a peck. Morellos flower later than sweet cherries, which is an advantage in parts of the country susceptible to late

(apart from a friendly pigeon), and I doubt there will be until I have grown sufficient foliage (and bought the all-important plum tree) for them to hide in. And it’s going to be a butterfly and bumblebee haven – full of single-flowered, nectar rich

tomatoes against a sunny fence, then part of a flower border and before you know it the garden is disappearing under a tsunami of produce. The next step is either to invade your neighbours' gardens (not something that is generally encouraged) or to find

wigwam. New shoots caught onto the supports, twining their way to the top, and as summer progressed a succession of trumpet-shaped flowers opened on each. Although they weren't as floriferous as some bedding plants they certainly were different.Of course

to be done. Spring is a bit like a rollercoaster: you get very slowly winched up through the long days of winter until you teeter on the top. Then suddenly it is downhill rush as everything starts sprouting and growing and flowering and, unless you

in flower all year round. I've never seen a frog there but I know they're about as last year the pond was full of frogspawn and tadpoles. That was, until the pond was drained in spring.I never found out why the pond was drained. It was filled in again