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, 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

hydrangeas, but this year they are undoubtedly pink.'Blue Wave' has always been so reliable, but now it's not living up to its name.Hydrangeas exhibit a chameleon-like characteristic, changing flower colour according to the type of soil they're growing in

when the plants are less likely to wilt, and pot them up as soon as you can, keeping them out of strong sunlight.PinksCuttings compostGardeners' knifeSecateursSmall potsJune20 minutesSnip 10cm lengths from the tops of healthy, non-flowering shoots

. Then it was mostly about greenery, this time it is about flowers.Everything is beginning to explode into colour. Looking out of my office window there is a sea of pink as the Geranium psilostemon and Centranthus ruber are particularly rampant. There is a lone spike

They've been developing bit by bit for weeks, teasing me with glimpses of their pink petticoats. Finally last week, my first camellia of the year opened fully to show off its golden anthers, set off to perfection against the delicate frill of pink

spinning wheel and fell asleep for 100 years.But I learned about a different type of spindle on a field trip to Kew Gardens, in the autumn of 1984. I remember the moment of revelation very well. At the time I was enrolled on a 10-week gardening course (my

.The flower stems are strong and tall, up to 1.2m (4ft), and each supports a single magnificent bloom, blood red and boldly imprinted at the base of each petal with a jet-black splodge. The stamens, arranged in a broad circle around the dark, central knob

Ensure your orchids last for years with Sarah Raven's video advice on caring for cymbidium and phalaenopsis varieties as houseplants.all year roundCaring for house plantsGrowing hippeastrum.How to grow orchids.Installing an automatic watering system.Creating an aloe container dis...

Learn how to grow azaleas as Christmas-flowering house plants in Rachel de Thame's video guide, with tips on the best watering techniques.DecemberMore advice on growing azaleasPlanting up a pot of azaleas and campanulasLearn how to deal with rhodedendron leaf spotBrowse our colle...

Joe Swift offers step-by-step video advice on propagating water lilies by division, with information on when to do it and a practical demonstration of dividing and potting them on.springMore on garden pondsGrowing marginal plants in a containerMaintaining a garden pondPlanting ma...