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are available from mail order fruit suppliers for immediate potting. Kept on greenhouse staging, they quickly grow during spring. It’s important to be vigilant for signs of greenfly or red spider mite, and to treat affected plants immediately. Warm greenhouse

through to late-spring under cover, whether in the greenhouse or on a windowsill. All of them appreciate the extra light outside in the summer garden. For stability, all are potted into terracotta pots, as plants in plastic ones blow over far too easily

of soil conditioning compost or manure costs at the garden centre this spring?

in the Gardeners' World Awards 2010 has highlighted their popularity.The category for 'Best Plant for Bedding' was won by pansy and viola with a very respectable 20 per cent of the vote. They beat summer favourites like pelargonium with 17 per cent of votes

, while ScotiaLass chose Skimmia 'Rubella', honeysuckle, philadelphus and the old cottage garden pink 'Mrs Sinkins'.Lili went for spring-flowering viburnum ("the smell is exquisite"), while Diane recommended jasmine. Others favoured lilies, geum, nicotiana

an incredibly dry spring in my part of the East Midlands, with hardly a drop of rain for months. Farmers and gardeners are getting desperate for a good deluge, and I can openly make that plea now the long holiday weekends are over.The other thing we must all do

the base from early spring, unfurling beautifully. The only other thing I've noticed with new growth in my pots is that it can look very pale, which I put down to lack of feed. So pay attention, and add liquid feed to a watering every couple of weeks

in A-Z beds.Others have come down on my side, like the one garden centre owner, who is quoted as saying: "We agree with Adam Pasco - the majority of garden centres are uninspiring places to visit".I hadn't realised my comments would stir-up a hornets

’re dead, but just that their tops will have been knocked back. Hopefully roots in fairly dry compost, and insulated from cold, will survive and start growing next spring when conditions warm-up.My colleague Lucy on Gardeners' World magazine looked very fed

) – and produced a value for every crop. The main factors she considered were:1.  The length of time a crop is in the ground before being harvested.2.  The number of helpings you'd pick per square metre.Crops that grew quickly and produced high yields received a