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by planting an earlier ripening 'Opal' and later ripening 'Marjorie's Seedling', so I'd hoped to be enjoying plums from mid-July until September. My 'Opal' was planted about five years ago, but fruit has been non-existent until this year. Having waited

, the occasional rose clings on, the Sedum has sprawled and the seed catalogues thud onto the doormat (postal strikes permitting).It is the most relaxed time in the garden not just because the plants are semi-comatose but also because there is not a lot to do

the strength of the onion bulb. I know a bit about varieties and have had excellent results planting autumn onion sets such as 'Shakespeare'.So, although I have more to learn, you might think I'd grasped the basics. But no! I recently discovered a gaping hole

providing the lushness and softer colours we prefer.However, as with so many plants, I just had to buy one fatsia and find a home for it, so it's rather crammed into an 'oddments' corner alongside Sophora 'Sun King', Choisya 'Aztec Pearl' and Photinia

of colour, so rose hips come as a welcome lift.Some plants have naturally perfect skeletons - grasses like Calmagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', herbaceous plants like Echinacea purpurea and shrubs like Ceratostigma willmottianum. Others are more

few bits to friends, too. If I wanted more I could save some of the ripe seed capsules and sow them to raise new plants, but I think one clump is enough.Apparently you can find it growing wild in parts of southern England, especially on lime-rich soils

't have to worry about the attentions of cabbage white caterpillars. I still had to protect them from pigeons, though. It's a bit of a happy accident that I ended up growing red cabbages. I bought a few plants towards the end of last summer for no better

terracotta pot for about six years now. Like any permanent planting I used John Innes No.3 loam-based potting compost, as trees need compost with real guts. Even so you'll need to feed them - my acer gets a weekly liquid feed through summer along with all

, tomatoes, beans and peas. Ornamental plants, especially roses and delphiniums, are also affected. This abnormal growth has been attributed to a weedkiller, which is widely used by farmers on grassland to kill broad-leafed weeds, such as chickweeed, fat hen

, as with comfrey, is as a plant food. If you soak the crushed nettles in water for about a month, you'll end up with a liquid feed that should be diluted by one part in ten before application. If sprayed on plants it can also prevent fungal disease. Nettles also