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yellowed look on the leaves makes me think "get them out quick!" I acted quickly last year, cutting and disposing of the haulms and digging up the potatoes before the blight spread to them. I saved nearly my entire crop so I don't think I'll hang about

, loam-based compost, a warm position, and once they're growing you must make sure their compost never dries out. This is one pot plant I don't think you can overwater.Many varieties have wonderful speckled leaves, while others have dark leaf stalks

.Next is what looks like a tiny animated scrubbing brush; it's the larva of a beetle, Ctesias serra. Related to carpet beetles, it scavenges on bits of insects left by spiders that make their messy webs under loose bark on old trees. Its long bristles protect

on them accidentally and even squished them with my hands when weeding (truly revolting). It makes me shudder to think about it!I've given up on my slug pub (a dish of beer I used to lure them to their death) - it doesn't seem to pull in the crowds in wet

. Best of all they spread.If you can beg a clump of anemones from a friend, then autumn's a great time for transplanting, making sure there is lots of soil attached. They won't miss a bit from the back of their clump, and within a few years your display

!) Growing so easily from seed makes me wonder why I've never spotted it in any seed catalogues before, but there it is in both the Chiltern Seeds and Thompson & Morgan catalogues - a packet containing 150 seeds costs less than a third of the price I paid

- Parrotia persica (Persian ironwood). Its flowers are always a surprise; tiny, deep red threads that seem to slowly push out their buds like hermit crabs squeezing from their shells. Parrotia is part of the witchazel family and makes a very spectacular small

a hedge, invisible from the house. There are a number of metal plant supports widely available that link together, making enclosures for each plant. Wonders can also be achieved using bamboo canes and string. With larger borders it's often effective

or so semi-bonsai topiary trees. Many are sculpted into bobble 'cloud' shapes or manicured to form miniature hedges and climbers around the intricate buildings. They really make the place a magical world and produce a series of spectacular vistas

useful. In grand houses they've often been used to make elaborate patterns and knot gardens; this can work equally well in smaller gardens, especially front gardens. The front garden can be a bit troublesome as it's not somewhere you're ever going to sit