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gardener needs, but as soon as those big, bold blooms open it's bound to rain and shatter the petals. In the blink of an eye it's all over and I've got to wait another year for them to flower again.My problem is that I love plants, and have to admit

-leaved variety that will light up a shady spot like a 100w lamp. The other is Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace', which has lacy purple leaves and flowers with a slight pink tinge.The most famous contemporary reference to the elder comes in Monty Python and the Holy

family audience).Since then I have used it a lot - especially in slightly shady corners. The insignificant flowers are a pretty insipid pink, and the leaves - though abundant - are never going to inspire sonnets but in October the whole plant

we have the spectacular Tulipa 'Paul Scheerer', T. 'Jackpot' and a few T. 'White Triumphator'. Apart from that there is the lovely early flowering Geranium 'Bill Wallis' and a very pretty pink cow parsley (Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum') but it

garden should have one. There are a couple of varieties that make excellent garden trees. In particular Crataegus laevigata 'Paul's Scarlet', which has spectacular double pink flowers, and Crataegus laciniata which is much more compact.Fortunately we have

long, gradually fading with age. 'Roma' adds a lovely pink to the display, but there are lots of other equally generous astrantias available in greens, whites and deep reds. Some even offer variegated foliage, but this isn't really to my taste

, 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

).But I digress: back to blossom. The purpose of blossom (as I'm sure you know) is to attract pollinators and therefore to produce fruit. However, it's also very lovely in its own right. Not all of the trees are yet in flower, but at the moment we can

? Or the apple that Paris gave to Aphrodite (which decision eventually led to ten years of Trojan War)? Well, anyway, the apples in question were almost certainly quinces. They have the most beautiful coy pink flowers in spring followed by fruit that are about

sheltered area, then there are a couple of exotic trees that are truly spectacular. The silk tree (Albizia julibrissin f. rosea) has large pinnate leaves and flowers like pink starbursts.Also, Weinmannia trichosperma, which is a Chilean evergreen with fern