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.So, what's left? Thankfully, I was tempted to buy a couple of hardy evergreen ferns from Fernatix while at Gardeners' World Live a few years ago and now, planted in tall terracotta pots, they take pride of place on my patio during winter.Ferns have rotten

: good yields, large cobs, tenderness, good flavour and the elusive two cobs per plant. However, last year I was sent seeds of a new variety, 'Rising Sun', to trial, and it was magnificent. Plants were tall and vigorous, and cobs of equally massive

soon germinate.I do prefer sowing in small pots in my greenhouse, and then planting out seedlings, but if you really don't want the hassle just sow them directly into the soil in May at the base of a support. Once shoots have grown about 15cm tall

Queen Mother. Olga, the new head gardener, is just coming to terms with such an exposed garden, designed in part to provide cut flowers and produce for the house. Tall walls and dividing hedges are essential to create shelter, and new planting projects

Things really move up a gear in May when you're growing your own. With a greenhouse bulging at the seams, I can't wait for the risk of frosty nights to pass so I can plant them outside.Tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other tender crops

counties too. It's an example of how temperature influences so many plants in our gardens, often putting our traditional gardening seasons slightly out of sync when we get an unexpected warm spell.Of course, when it comes to camellias, all varieties

's not go there.The brown tubers look so unpromising when they arrive in the post from mail-order suppliers, but planted with the slightly concave surface upwards you'll soon spot signs of growth as green shoots emerge. Trailing varieties are available

Flowers are not the only attraction in winter gardens. Biennial honesty (Lunaria annua) is a good example of a plant that keeps delivering after its flowers have passed. Once the petals have fallen, enchanting disc-shaped seed-pods are formed

bulb was planted straight away in its own 20cm pot. These were grown on in my unheated greenhouse for a few months as I watched each produce a tall stem tipped with flower buds, before I planted them out in a group. The resulting lily 'forest', pictured

sprout a shoot and become a strong new plant. A few years ago, in a desperate effort to get rid of both bindweed and couch grass from the border, I dug out all the plants and virtually sieved the soil clean of every last filament of weed root I could see