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I splashed out and bought myself a greenhouse, in fact the greenhouse of my dreams a few years ago. A lovely red cedar affair with a brick base and even a brick path and cold-frames off to one side. It was a total luxury and I love it. It has

. I think they feared being dragged prematurely into middle age. After complex labour negotiations we compromised with playing Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 1.Radios are equally essential for potting shed and greenhouse jobs; pricking out

; for the first time I've been able to run an extension to my greenhouse to power an electric propagator. When temperatures all around have fallen, the propagator maintains a warming 20Ë?C, perfect for germinating most seeds.I always grow an assortment of chillies

I've only just got around to chitting seed potatoes. Many of this year's spuds were given to me for my birthday by my kids in February. I normally chit them in the greenhouse, but after last year's potato massacre I felt that putting the tubers rose

, all of which make ideal pot plants for the home, greenhouse or conservatory.Victorian gardeners believed achimene must be watered with tepid rather than cold water, hence their common name of hot water plant. I'm not convinced this is actually

I've always assumed melons would be far too difficult or temperamental to grow in the UK, despite the Victorians' success at growing them in heated greenhouses.But a couple of summers ago, I visited the Thompson & Morgan seed trials in Ipswich

, and no doubt the mouse that plagued my greenhouse this year will also have a feast, but at that height the birds should be the main winners!

-sized tomatoes.I had vowed never to bother with them again, but last spring I was tempted to sow seeds of a brand new variety sent to me to trial, and set for introduction in the 2008 seed catalogues. A new variety would be worth growing, surely?In short... no

, brought into the warm and protected environment of my greenhouse to ripen in time for Wimbledon. When I came to harvest them, bowl in hand, the fruits were gone.Now it's the blackberries, which are just starting to ripen and will hopefully provide rich

'Hundreds and Thousands', and I was lucky enough to be given a trial pack of seeds. It's a funny variety, with low-growing plants covered with numerous marble-sized fruits. I grew one plant unsuccessfully in the greenhouse and many very successfully