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was cold but Kew was looking beautifully autumnal. We were wandering along trying to identify trees and shrubs, when I was stopped dead in my tracks by one particular plant: Euonymus alatus, the winged spindle or burning bush.I have fallen in love with many

Some of you might remember that Gardeners' World did a bit of filming in my garden last year. Anyway, I thought it would be briefly interesting to revisit the bit of planting I redid for their benefit to see how it is getting on a year or so later

nigra, with black stems, and P. aureosulcata f. aureocaulis. I have used them as screens, specimens in pots and in innumerable planting schemes. However, they are mere minnows compared to some of the Asian varieties that grow to 20m high with stems (or

A client of mine said something curious to me this week, as we were discussing what to plant in her newly-landscaped garden: "I hope you're not going to give me any of those ghastly cabbagey things".Strangely, I instantly knew that she was talking

be dark and droopy and rapidly on its way to becoming complete mush. There is no chance of any more flowers until next summer. So cut down your plants and dig up the conglomeration of dangling tubers you will find underground. Clean off as much of the wet

interesting leaves that are shaped a bit like baseball mitts. They are best planted in a warm and sunny site as the flowers only open properly on fine days; in the past week or so when temperatures have reached 10°C or so they have been flaunting themselves

available.2. Snowdrops: The first sign of life. Best not planted as bulbs, though. They should be planted in about March ‘in the green’. This means that they are dug up after flowering and planted then.3. Iris reticulata: really, really special. A gorgeous

Being a caring fellow, I will ease you gently into a new year of gardening by telling you the story of my pyracantha.Pyracantha - or firethorn - is a much undervalued plant. It's a big spiny shrub, originally from China, and is most usually seen

Spring is in the air. Birds are tweeting. Comfortable nests are being flung together. Plants are sprouting. Frogs are croaking lasciviously. Daffodils are flowering away with nothing less than gusto and the gloom of February fades into distant

, indeed, an extraordinarily fine plant (I have it self seeding in the gravel outside my office). Pretty well everybody also knows about Verbena bonariensis which is one of the finest herbaceous plants ever invented: it flowers for ages (from about July