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(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

: as the name suggests, the green stripey bark is as slinky smooth as Leslie Phillips in his prime. It also has greeny white flowers in the spring and dramatic yellow autumn colour. There are a number of other acers with the same snakey bark, including A

in the ground (on a south-facing wall) didn't even think about flowering until late July, but the foliage still looks lush and green as we edge into autumn. There may be a moral behind this story, but I'm dashed if I know what it is. It all depends whether you

'Green Dream' - looks a bit like a hellebore but taller.Nipponanthemum nipponicum - this last I chose because the name amused me but also because it is really late flowering. It has leathery leaves and pretty white flowers in October.Sadly, things have

My snowdrops are at the point where it is possible to start spotting them among the long grass. Not much longer to wait and they will be in full flower: tiny, green-spotted delights to lift the sombre mood of both recession and late-January. When we

ball sized flowers of A. 'Purple Sensation', the drumsticks of A. sphaerocephalon or the starry heads of A. christophii), I’m particularly fond of the greater subtlety of nectaroscordum.The fresh green leaves start appearing in late February - earlier

I have just got back from five fabulous days at Gardeners' World Live and, yet again, my garden has changed. The more attentive among you will remember my blathering on about the same subject when I got back from the Chelsea Flower Show

grey leaves and slightly curved lemony white flowers. Only for the very warmest and most sheltered gardens. Does well on limey soils.M. grandiflora - a later flowering variety with magnificent glossy green leaves and creamy flowers. Excellent on a large

mass of arching stems and finely cut leaves. The flowers are pretty dangling green catkins - not at all obvious.Fourth is Cephalaria dipsacoides which has very tall slender stems capped with pale yellow, button flowers - like a giant scabious.My fifth

, 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