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What a superb spring it's been so far for camellias. The mild March weather has produced some colourful displays of camellias in my garden. In fact, I think they're the best I've enjoyed for many, many years.My camellias are grown in three distinct

wrong I was.Someone gave me a kit of wooden block templates last spring, so I set about wrapping them with strips of newspaper, and crimping over the base to make small pots. Filled with compost, I sowed peas in each pot, then grouped them together in a

into the soil before planting. I crammed three plants into the end of one of my deep beds, where it can be left undisturbed to flourish. A deep compost mulch and regular watering during last summer's drought got it well established. However, this spring two

or we'd be left with a deciduous desert with little of interest until spring.

sites and situations, from dry soils to deep shade. But while 'Sulphur Heart' provides the foil, it's Vitis coignetiae that adds the colour. Its bold green leaves open in spring, and rampant new shoots spread out in all directions. Then, as cold weather

in particular diving in and out of soil beneath my feet as I fork over flowerbeds.January is the time I like to put up the bird nest boxes, or clean out old ones that were used last spring. I've already noticed a few blue tits around, exploring existing nesting

.While this verbena is often classed as a perennial, most gardeners treat it as an annual. Old plants can be cut down to their base each winter, and new shoots do often develop the following spring. However, for a reliable display (like the one shown in the picture

poodle. While Magic goes ballistic, jumping and barking up at the door, the squirrels just ignore her and continue ferreting in the pots and beds.Burying nuts is one thing, but I know they'll be back in spring to dig them up again. And when those

iris that develops into a tight clump within a few years. Mine hasn't been divided for some time, so when the weather warms up in spring I really must lift the whole clump and split it up before replanting. There will probably be enough to give away a

-sized tomatoes.I had vowed never to bother with them again, but last spring I was tempted to sow seeds of a brand new variety sent to me to trial, and set for introduction in the 2008 seed catalogues. A new variety would be worth growing, surely?In short... no