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Are your roses martyrs to disease? Are their leaves covered with black spots or a white overcoat of powdery mildew? Well, I'll come clean and put my hand up on both counts. Much depends on the time of year and whether it's wet or dry - but, most

Breathe deeply as you enter my sitting room this month and you’ll take in the powerful, almost intoxicating fragrance of paper-white narcissi.I planted the Narcissus papyraceus bulbs last autumn, in a glass bowl layered with gravel. All I've done

, and is offered in a range of colours. New for 2010 is the pure white 'Double Click Snow Puff', which has been approved as a new novelty variety by Fleuroselect (a European variety trial organisation looking for the best new bedding plants). Many cosmos come

I'm beginning to wonder whether growing old heirloom or heritage varieties of vegetables is really worthwhile. My tomato 'Snow White Cherry', sold as a heritage variety by many companies, was a real disappointment this year, and I wish I'd grown

've grown something unique, but there are many lovely varieties to choose from. Just to whet your appetite why not try growing:Tulipa 'Belicia', with double flowers that change colour from lemon edged crimson to white with red edges.T. 'Candy Club

tortoiseshells this summer, but hardly anything special. It wasn't until I spent a few days in the Cotswolds recently that I spotted a red admiral feeding avidly on a white buddleja. Even then it was just one solitary butterfly, hardly the numbers you'd hope for

displays, and fruit to enjoy later this year. It's essential to prune wisteria twice a year. Once in the summer, shortening long, wispy new shoots to about 20cm (8in), and again in winter, pruning the same shoots further to roughly 5-7.5cm (2-3in

, but I'll leave them on display for as long as possible.I've combined mine with a compact gaultheria with pure white berries, snipping away its green shoots to neaten up the display. All these plants are quite cheap to buy, so could be discarded

by our seasons.Any late-flying insects in the garden aren't complaining though. When the sun shone last weekend these white globes of bloom attracted insects from far and wide. I can't say the most desirable insects were among them (in fact there were

different. Having seen drifts of oleander flowering relentlessly on visits to the Mediterranean in the past, I was tempted by a really large specimen I discovered in a garden centre last spring. Costing about £12, this made the perfect subject for a large