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, it boasts the most spectacular colour. The leaves are 70 shades of scarlet, and they contrast with the extraordinary orange seeds and pink seed-pods. The whole plant makes an eyeball-searing spectacle - almost hallucinogenic.In parts of the USA, Euonymus

. At this time of year, I make sure the bird tables and feeders around the garden are always well stocked. Although peanuts have rocketed in price recently, they’re so popular with my local birds that we bought a whole sack of them a couple of months ago. I put

Thank heavens for winter-flowering plants. These hardy specimens often have tiny, inconsequential blooms, but they more than make up for them with their powerful, sweet fragrance. I rarely notice the flowers of Sarcococca hookeriana, but I’m always

- not the Orkneys. Many of the pots were only a year or two old. They’ve crumbled and shattered and are now only useful for using as crocks in the bottom of yet more pots!We’re all meant to be making more environmentally friendly choices and buying products

I'm always looking for ways to make wildlife in my garden feel more welcome and at home. After all, it has just as much right to be there as I do. Of course I question the big things (can I justify having a lawn and patio, or would creatures prefer

) and cat wrangling (definitely) have their enthusiasts, but there's something about plants that makes people bubble and froth with excitement. This can be lost on a great deal of the population who can't understand what all the fuss is about. To those of us

What makes us take up gardening? Are there really such things as green fingers? Are we born with the desire to tend our plots or does the passion for gardening come with age, or by accident? So much depends on whether the opportunity

I love pointing to a jar of chutney, knowing I've grown all the ingredients used to make it. I don't make too much chutney every year, because - despite living in a house of carnivores - I'm the only one who eats it.  Isn't cold meat, crusty white

I thought it would be interesting to use this blog as an excuse to find out more about the many slightly eccentric people who have helped make gardening as popular and exciting as it is today so this is the first in an occasional series: if anybody

I'm always looking to make my garden more appealing to wildlife, so I've been delighted by the number of peacock butterflies around this summer. My buddleja has put on a superb flower display that's lasted for weeks. If any shrub is going to provide