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late summer flowering plant that will tolerate a bit of shade (provided it is not too dry). The pinky-purple flowers look like the mouths of giant carp. Gets to about 45cm high.Metasequoia glyptostroboides - the dawn redwood is a deciduous conifer from

.They perform best in a sunny, outdoor position, in a well-drained compost, such as John Innes No.1 or No.2, with 25% sharp horticultural grit for added drainage. A layer of grit should be added to the surface of the compost to further aid drainage

-spring, covered in white flowers which, come the autumn, turn into deep red berries, or haws. They also make spectacular trees that reach about 5m in 10 years - although if left alone they can reach 18m. They're fantastically gnarly and twisted and every wild

, but it's their striking flowers most people are after. Their blooms are really spathes; bright trumpets at the tip of a stem, with a graceful twist and pointed tip unlike the flowers of anything else you're likely to grow.It's surprising that some

more (that's a topic for another day).So, what are the alternatives? There are quite a few annual climbers to choose from actually. Morning glory (ipomoea) is popular, but their flowers are all too short-lived. The purple bell vine (rhodochiton) is nice

, finding a fasciated marsh thistle, Cirsium palustre, somewhere in the flood plain of the River Cuckmere, near Alfriston, Sussex, when I was aged 12 or 13. I thought I had found some exciting new plant, or strange metamorphic phenomenon. I was amazed how

Ornamental grasses at ChelseaUndemanding and very rewarding to grow, we've selected a range of the best grasses, sedges and rushes on show at the Chelsea Flower Show 2008.If you're looking for a grass that performs well in dry shade, try Amenanthele

, the vacuum cleaner man, invented one with a plastic ball instead of a wheel but even that refinement is no longer available at we have gone back to basics. Dyson also made water go uphill in his 2003 Chelsea Flower Show Garden - the planting tried

to pruning. Some of you might remember the Fortnum and Mason garden designed by Robert Myers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2007. The building at the back of the garden was covered with trained liquidambars and very effective it was.There are many reasons you

or Kenya.I sowed the delicious variety ‘Purple Tee-Pee’ 15cm apart in large, 60cm pots, filled with recycled compost from earlier sowings and the dregs of various bags that were lying around. The pot was situated on the path of my greenhouse