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Although the time for roses is long past they can be remarkably resilient. Here we are at the beginning of December and I have two flowering in my garden at the moment - Rosa 'The Prince' and R. Moonlight. It is true that neither bloom is much

On Saturday I turned over a rose leaf that appeared to be stuck up with a mass of silky threads to reveal a bizarre furry blob - the wingless female of the vapourer moth, Orgyia antiqua. Well, she's not completely wingless, she has tiny vestigial

I've only just got around to chitting seed potatoes. Many of this year's spuds were given to me for my birthday by my kids in February. I normally chit them in the greenhouse, but after last year's potato massacre I felt that putting the tubers rose

Rose Shades (from Mr Fothergill's seeds), producing a simple, single rosette in shades of rose pink. They only grow to about 45cm, so I've planted them closely to form a carpet between some standard Bonica roses in a complimentary shade. The marvellous

is so unexpected and so swift that you're only able to take six plants from your existing garden.So which six plants will you choose? Will you go for something big - a favourite cherry or a noble oak? Maybe an evergreen to liven up your winter? A rose

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

The fabulous fine weather of Sunday saw me in the garden trimming back a rose bush that was reaching threateningly across the path at head height. Suddenly something other than a branch of thorns caught my eye - a dark flitting creature an inch long

such as rose rust and hollyhock rust are then quick to establish. At the beginning of summer I was given samples of pear foliage with rust on them. Interestingly, my pear trees haven't been affected this year, which is surprising as the weather conditions have

, 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

), climbers that need support (like roses) and shrubs that can be persuaded to do what you tell them to do (like ceanothus).I decided on the pyracantha (a variety called 'Mojave') and chose to grow it into quite disciplined espaliers. Ten years later