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blown away by their scent. I also like Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’, which produces clusters of tiny rose-pink flowers on bare stems from October to March. However, I’ve seen too many viburnums growing in ‘municipal’ settings to want to grow them in my

is an organic method of maintaining a natural balance in your garden, aiding pollination and keeping pest numbers down. Common plant combinations include growing herbs with roses to deter aphids, and planting alliums around carrots to ward off carrot root fly

means they'll never overpower their less-robust companions. There are hundreds of varieties to choose from, and all are tough and easy to grow, which means your choices can be based on colour and form as much as anything else.Planting choicesWilt is a

gently around the plug to ensure the roots spread as the young plant grows.When all the plugs have been planted, water with a fine rose. Keep on a bright windowsill or in the greenhouse for four to five weeks, potting on once for trailing plants, or twice

close second only to roses, according to a recent survey of florists. And as with any 'easy-to-grow' plant, it divides gardeners in the same way that gladioli, dahlias and many others do.Horticultural snobs may give them a wide berth as they search out

garden needn't have fewer plants or less variety than a large garden, but it's important to avoid growing large plants and shrubs, which can exclude light from the garden and compete with smaller plants for water and nutrients. Here, Monty Don and James

coloured flowers, usually with a brilliant boss of yellow stamens at the centre. While many bedding plants remain dwarf and compact cosmos grows taller, swaying above them on the breeze. Seeds are cheap, and these tender summer bedding plants are always

. For the same price as your vase of red roses that within a week are only fit for the compost heap, you could instead grow orchids on your windowsill, which carry a succession of flowers for three months.If that wasn't enough, it will even flower again about six

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

, 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