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Sown now in the greenhouse, dahlia seeds will produce young plants ready to plant outdoors in late May to flower this year. Seed companies sell a range of quick-growing bedding strains that are suitable for growing this way. You can also use

flowers and in shades of orange to burnt amber, but to me a sunflower should be brilliant gold.In the past I've often left the old sunflower heads on the stem to ripen and set seed, providing home-grown bird food. However, many new varieties lack pollen

to bursting with my plants, taking advantage of the safe hiding place under the polythene the plants were growing through.On top of this, the gorgeous mass of yellowy-orange azalea flowers is now no more, having been blown and bashed by the storms.I shall

above), a glorious Clivia miniata. I had one many years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed its stunning display of bright orange trumpets, but this one was different. Among a selection of Clivia with broad green strap-like leaves was one plant with light

enjoyed it. They're juicier than ever.My first apples to ripen are 'Ellison's Orange' in mid-September, and this is one variety that really must be eaten straight from the tree. When you do the apples are crisp and juicy, but sadly they don't stay in good

, your safest bet is the white double Dianthus 'Mrs Sinkins' which smells like the wrists of wood nymphs. It's one of the old garden pinks (great scent, short flowering season, most of them about 30cm high) and was originally bred in 1868 by John Sinkins

, but it's their striking flowers most people are after. Their blooms are really spathes; bright trumpets at the tip of a stem, with a graceful twist and pointed tip unlike the flowers of anything else you're likely to grow.It's surprising that some

enjoy the following:Prunus domestica 'Count Althann's Gage': this tree has grown faster than any other in the orchard. There is nothing better than a warm gage straight from the tree. The little orange-tipped stamens on the flowers are like the antennae

. 'Ballerina' - soaring orange T. 'Negrita' - beetroot coloured T. 'Queen of the Night' - dark and truly gorgeous T. 'Anthraceit' - flowers like the backsides of turkeys (but prettier) T. tarda - early and peppery scentedI could go on for ever but it would

, their foliage is perfect; there's no hint of the telltale raised orange-brown pustules on the undersides of the leaves. Hollyhock rust is caused by the insidious fungus Puccinia malvacearum and only affects hollyhocks and mallows. The fungus overwinters