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in clean water so probably still a bit risky!A great plant for the edge of a woodland or a large border although it does tend to seed itself in inappropriate places. The American Constitution was written in ink made from the berries of Pokeweed.

irises.I digress; my favourite roses at the moment are the Hybrid Musk roses. They were mostly bred by the Rev. Joseph Pemberton in the early 20th Century and make great shrubs and small climbers. They are soft coloured, like cowrie pink 'Penelope', clean

from year to year; it is not an exact science, but it is 15cm or so tall and about 20cm or more wide at the base. The result of that tiny bit of extra effort in autumn is an early crop of gorgeously succulent garlic, with bulbs that have shown little

months later, and go on doing so for years. My kitchen windowsill now boasts six moth orchids in various colours, so at least two or three of them are always in bloom. The oldest is probably five years old, so must have produced 15 or more flower spikes

the warmth of the kitchen beckons. But I'm not returning alone. A single pure, perfect flower is carefully plucked, to be floated in a small glass bowl of water and used as decoration for the dinner table. The whole family can now admire its beauty without

when I was walking around the farm I found a huge clump of frogspawn in a fast-drying section of the pond, so we lifted it and moved it to a ditch near by which was partially shaded with a good supply of fresh water. This is important as it can take

to be kept watered to avoid drying out. OK, its flowers don't last long. Like its relative the hippeastrum, flowers last for about three weeks from first colour to fall, but these are weeks of pure enjoyment. Once they fall I'll cut down the old flower spike

boxes. I just tear them up into small pieces and mix them in with other kitchen waste and lawn clippings. If the compost heap looks a bit dry then I soak the cardboard in water before adding to help it break down. It's surprising just how much plain

distraction. Last autumn I stopped watering my begonias and left the plants to die down on their own, thinking their tubers could safely overwinter in pots of dry compost. How wrong I was. I've just tipped some out to replant into fresh compost but discovered

to defend them if they are grown in pots (these are some particularly fine ones as grown by my mother) and always make sure that they're not at all stressed - well watered and out of direct sunshine (too much sun reduces the lustre of the leaves