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Shade can be a nightmare if your heart is set on growing summer bedding, fruit and veg, or Mediterranean plants, which need direct sun to flourish. But there are plenty of beautiful plants which thrive in shady conditions.Many people imagine

' as a general catch-all term for those plants that can be grown from dormant bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes. Among my regular favourites are begonias, dahlias, canna lilies and eucomis, the pineapple flower. Then there's galtonia, the summer hyacinth

There is a tendency among some gardeners to look down their noses at bedding. They sneer at the humble petunia, cock a reproachful eyebrow at a tumbling lobelia and positively guffaw at any sign of a begonia. I admit that I used to share

for my attention, and soon ending up with a new owner. Then, having satisfied my desire for lilies, I'd visit another garden centre where other temptations — dahlias, begonias, gladioli — would prove irresistible.Pictorial packs are designed

Slug bustersSlugs may have voracious appetites but they're fussy eaters too - and therein lies an answer to a slimy problem. The good news is that there are a selection of plants that slugs, and snails, will steer clear of.Slugs will avoid any