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changing from pink to blue...a clear illustration of the affect of pH on plants.My garden soil must have got more alkaline, possibly through watering with 'hard' tap water during hot weather last summer, hence the pink flowers this year. I'll need to change

taken down by worms to improve the soil. At this time of year, when perennial plants are putting on such a burst of new growth, I also make sure they don't go short of water. Adding a liquid feed a couple of times a year also helps.It has been

ways. The oldest variety I grow, and the earliest to flower, is 'St Ewe', which I planted directly into my border soil. Now I wouldn't claim my clay soil is ideal for camellias, which enjoy a lime-free and water-retentive soil, but this one has

year when I got really obsessed trying to grow the very best sweet peas – just like the show growers. To produce flowers with really long straight stems you need to grow plants as single stemmed cordons. Each plant is only allowed to produce one shoot

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

crops and bedding plants cleared and composted, and soil roughly turned to incorporate manure. Then there’s fruit pruning to be done, but that’s a job to tackle with some winter sun on your back. Yes, November’s a busy month, so I’m wrapping up warm

So many of my favourite plants come from South Africa, a place that certainly feeds my appetite for bulbs. Moving on from the summer delights of agapanthus, gladioli, eucomis, galtonia, crocosmia and a host of others, I enter autumn with pots

Some plant combinations just work perfectly. When I first saw the wonderful combination of ornamental vine and ivy, I had to replicate it in my own garden. All I needed was a couple of bare fence panels (which many, many gardeners have) and two

I love daffodils. To get the best from these wonderful flowers, I plant up a dozen plastic aquatic baskets with spring bulbs in autumn, choosing varieties that flower at different times. When spring arrives, I pop one basket after another

Flowers are not the only attraction in winter gardens. Biennial honesty (Lunaria annua) is a good example of a plant that keeps delivering after its flowers have passed. Once the petals have fallen, enchanting disc-shaped seed-pods are formed