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Last summer I discovered a twining, tender climber called Lophospermum, or lofos. I bought two varieties, 'Burgundy Falls' and 'Summer Cream' (both pictured left), as plug plants from a mail-order seed company. I grew my lofos under cover, in 7

Some people get a bit snobby when it comes to flowers. Perennials usually come high in the pecking order for the 'must have' plants of the moment, but when did you last hear anyone singing the praises of hardy annuals?Annuals are the unsung heroes

I'm a sucker for summer-flowering bulbs, and at this time of year I always get carried away. March is an expensive month — I'm often tempted to order far too many summer bulbs from both mail-order companies and the internet.I use the term 'bulb

The same thing happens every year. I buy my bulbs in good time, and then don't make time to plant them! I've got a huge bag of tulips and other bulbs to be planted, but it will soon be December.Other things got in the way during October, and then I

plants in spring. Honesty can be established to ensure new seedlings every year, much as you would with other biennials, such as foxgloves.Honesty is well worth a place in any garden – I’d recommend adding it to your seed order right away. You’ll find

Knowing exactly how to care for plants is a matter of judgement and experience. Many plants need treating with tender loving care, but others can benefit from 'mean' treatment.Take my agapanthus. In their 'youth' agapanthus produce leaves and shoots

's these long evening spent leisurely flicking through seed and plant catalogues that are costing me dearly. After a first run-through, the list of 'must have' plants is far too long, so I have to go through again in more detail. This is meant to be a ruthless

It won’t be long before daffodils, tulips, fragrant hyacinths and a host of other colourful flowers signal the arrival of spring, but if we want summer and autumn to provide similar displays we have to start planning and planting now

it isn't.As a bit of a bulb 'nut', I've grown many, many bulbous plants but never tigridia. So, when another photo of tigridia arrived last year I made a note to order and grow some myself. I'll admit that results haven't been that successful, possibly