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A wide variety of pots have graced my patio all summer, hosting a wide and varied range of plants from agapanthus and phormium to miscanthus, eucomis, pelargoniums, and an assortment of colourful bedding - to name but a few.I love growing things

James Alexander-Sinclair's blogs on the subject of small trees but wanted to share my own experience - not of growing trees in the garden but in large pots.Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' is a stunning small, slow-growing maple with the most gorgeous palm

. I think they feared being dragged prematurely into middle age. After complex labour negotiations we compromised with playing Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 1.Radios are equally essential for potting shed and greenhouse jobs; pricking out

.Serious potting has started on the farm. This is two weeks earlier than last year as the light has been so good that our wintered cuttings are already putting on new growth.Once the plants are potted they are then covered with horticultural fleece. This protects

With 23 days to go until we build our display at the Chelsea Flower Show, the first buds of pot marigolds, Calendula officinalis, are showing. Their timing couldn't have been more perfect.The marigolds will be in full flower in time for the show

Many years ago I planted a palm in a pot and popped it on the newly constructed steps by our outdoor seating area. It looked great, for a while. The palm was a good size, and so was the pot.But the palm has grown and, sadly, the pot hasn't. Over

, but I like the upright ones with big double blooms packed like petticoats with swirling layers of petals.The large flowers are quite heavy, so to avoid plants toppling over I always grow begonias in terracotta pots instead of lightweight plastic ones. I

this method for sowing seeds saved from your own dahlia plants at the end of the previous season.10cm pot or seed trayMulti-purpose compost Dahlia seedsPlant label and pencilClear polythene bag and rubber band (for pot) or propagator lid (for seed tray

to germinate. Take your guess as to what had them - rot, rodents or slugs - but I think it was probably a hungry mouse. So, this year I started them in pots in a sheltered corner at home, planting them out once they were a few inches tall. It's more work

the garden. It's a bit 'pot luck', but then that's the fun of gardening. If I really wanted to maximise my returns I could collect seed by hand, picking off the pods at the moment they split, but before they've dropped their cargo. Kept on a sheet