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Please allow me to introduce you to Rosa 'Penelope'. You may have met her before or, if not her, then possibly one of her equally gorgeous sisters. They are all varieties of hybrid musk rose, most of which were bred by a remarkable fellow called Rev

The sweet pea is a British favourite; not quite as popular as the rose but definitely up there in the top five. However, while there are numerous songs and poems about roses, the poets and wandering minstrels have been a bit sluggish when it comes

unexpected like the tawny leaves of beech with ruffles of ice, or the stems of roses which suddenly grow three times as many thorns.There are all sorts of winter treasures to find out there in the frost - not just in your gardens but in parks, hedgerows

This is prime iris season: a few weeks when these hugely flamboyant flowers come into their own. I grow two different sorts of iris in my garden: the Siberian iris and the bearded iris. Siberian irises are smaller flowered, have thinner leaves

admiringly at roses and bob deferentially to paeonies. One of my favourite combinations is Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' with Stipa tenuissima.As we reach the dog days the grasses step from the shadows and become stars. I could drone on for ages but I'll give you

, the occasional rose clings on, the Sedum has sprawled and the seed catalogues thud onto the doormat (postal strikes permitting).It is the most relaxed time in the garden not just because the plants are semi-comatose but also because there is not a lot to do

), climbers that need support (like roses) and shrubs that can be persuaded to do what you tell them to do (like ceanothus).I decided on the pyracantha (a variety called 'Mojave') and chose to grow it into quite disciplined espaliers. Ten years later

than plant a rose or another wisteria - there might be some unpleasantness hiding in the soil - I decided to stick with annual climbers. We usually have morning glories (Ipomoea species) in pots, so I moved one of them to fill in and it did an admirable

jolly day with some great plants (all of them clearly labelled), then you can't go wrong with Wisley.I was there a week or so ago to watch things grow: the whole garden thrums with the promise of approaching spring. There are, of course, the obvious

, for those of you who have not met it before, is the most phenomenally over-the-top cherry tree. A vast amount of frothy white blossom that is spectacular for a week or so in May.Here are the first leaves of Rosa rugosa 'Snowdon', a wildish rose that I have