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time, our damson tree has cropped. This seems to have been the best year for growing stone fruit in ages - the crop is enormous. Just today we were harvesting damsons, filling trugs to the brim with soft, superbly tasty fruits. It was worth the wait

favourite for flavour. 'Brandywine' looks great but it doesn't seem like the sort I'd want to put in a salad. Plum type 'Roma' has had mixed reviews, but I'm tempted to try it as it's has a semi-bush habit, enabling me to grow it in troughs hung from

Good morning and happy 'Grow Your Own' Week to you all.There are, I have to admit, many other gardeners who are hotter on vegetable growing than me. Give me herbaceous borders and I can muddle through and make them look pretty good, but when

in for a closer look. Glorious!Don't be put off by their common name of stinking iris or stinking gladwyn. They really don't smell unless you crush their leaves, but I can't say I've ever noticed anything unpleasant. Iris foetidissima is a strong growing

. Apricot trees (Prunus ameniaca) grow particularly well there because of the south-western aspect and because, before the invention of the gutter, they got lots of rain - apricots need lots of water to prevent the fruit from splitting.I mention this because

bed the glorious 'Patty's Plum'.There are so many exciting, showy oriental poppies which bloom in early summer, but none is more glamorous than 'Patty's Plum'. It has to be the true femme fatale of the group. Her darkness and mystery are further

Ask me to recommend just one vegetable crop to grow for great returns and it would have to be tomatoes. Which other crop can match it for variety? Whole catalogues are available, listing literally hundreds of different varieties of tomato seed

-trained plum. It forms quite a thicket, with stems growing 3-4m long by the end of summer, so it does need a bit of space. Tiny white flowers will form on the stems that developed into fat green pods. Picked small I throw the whole pod into stir fries, but when

Things really move up a gear in May when you're growing your own. With a greenhouse bulging at the seams, I can't wait for the risk of frosty nights to pass so I can plant them outside.Tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other tender crops

Feeling fruityI've hand-picked a few favourites that will certainly whet the appetite - they're all tried and tested for flavour and reliability.When it comes to fruit, I'm passionate about eating and growing as much as possible in its proper season