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Sometimes the best things are the subtle or quiet things. A little rustle of wind through a tree, the distant knock-knocking of a thrush beating seven bells out of a snail or, in this case, a modest wildflower lurking among the rough grass beside a

.The idea of wide, slightly quilted, deep bluish-green hosta leaves is captivating, but often the reality is completely different. The reality involves slugs and snails, nightly chewing the edges and perforating the centres of the leaves, leaving them

Slug bustersSlugs may have voracious appetites but they're fussy eaters too - and therein lies an answer to a slimy problem. The good news is that there are a selection of plants that slugs, and snails, will steer clear of.Slugs will avoid any

about eryngiums in the ‘We love’ pages of the July 2011 edition. I would like, if I may, to expand on that a bit and introduce you to a few more.I love eryngiums: they are about the only plants that manage to be architectural, delicate, pretty

It's hard to believe how quickly plants have grown in my garden over the past few weeks. My hostas are doing particularly well. In April I was considering repotting some of my established and congested pots of newly emerging hostas, but they've now

snail' but I just cannot learn to 'love a forsythia'.Please dig them out and plant something else. If you must have a yellow shrub flowering now, then try Chimonanthus praecox; it bears pale, lemon meringue-yellow flowers and a scent that reminds one

, which open to pinky-white flowers in spring.Skimmia japonica 'Rubella'I love this hosta, with its flashes of creamy white on dark-green undulating foliage. Planting hostas in pots helps to protect them from slug and snail attack.Hosta 'Night Before