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A belated happy new year to one and all. May your beans be beauteous, your snapdragons sensational and your turnips on time. As I write this in the blushing dawn of the new year I feel it appropriate to come clean about something that I ought to have done by now. A box of tulips ...

sodden and the best thing I can do is stay well away. If I walk about on borders - which is what I should be doing during spring - then the ground will become compacted and I will be storing up troubles for later in the season. I could use

I can't really let May pass without mentioning the hawthorn (aka Crataegus monogyna). It is after all the May tree.For those of a mystical bent it carries more folklore and strange stories than many trees. It's all bound up with spring, rising sap

March is not really prime garden visiting time: a few gardens with specialist collections are open for the wonderful National Gardens Scheme, but most of them are keeping their powder dry in readiness for spring and summer.However, gardeners still

February is a blessedly short month. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but 28 days of cold wet yukkiness is hardly conducive to horticultural excitement. However, we have to get through it in order to edge our way closer to spring, so

: I was told it by Kim Hurst from the Cottage Herbery at the Malvern Spring Show last year (the 2009 show, by the way, runs from 7-10 May; I hope to see you there) . Those of you sensible enough not to let mint run loose in your flower beds will have

admirable memories and I am terribly grateful). This year I have a few extras to add to my list of favourites.T. 'Doll's Minuet': startling pink.T. 'Burgundy': quite a small flower but a gorgeous colour - like sultry beetroot.T. 'Flaming Spring Green': like

.)Malus 'Red Sentinel': one of the finest crab apples with sensational autumn colour and jewelled clusters of small red apples that cling on long after the leaves have fallen. The blossom is a fine pinky reddy white in spring.Acer davidii, the snake bark maple

and everything will look distinctly brown and soggy. This will be the time to clear the decks, cutting back the borders and adding the discarded stems to the bulging compost heap.I always enjoy this time very much as it means that spring is on the way. As last

? Or the apple that Paris gave to Aphrodite (which decision eventually led to ten years of Trojan War)? Well, anyway, the apples in question were almost certainly quinces. They have the most beautiful coy pink flowers in spring followed by fruit that are about