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, laying lawn edging and root pruning cordon fruit trees (while, apparently wearing a pair of white cricket trousers and a double-breasted blazer!). The best tip is for a slug trap: "take an old photographic negative and a piece of tin. Solidified

of blossom to choose from that it all gets a bit confusing. But my top five at the moment are: Prunus 'Taihaku' - its white flowers have centres the colour of jam stains Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra' - its purple leaves are interesting Prunus 'Cheal's Weeping

(you will see a fair bit of this plant at the Chelsea Flower Show next week as it is perfect for the time of year). Another one that I love is Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum', which has flowers of softest fairy pink that fade to white.* A biennial

of yellow verbascum that has somehow sown itself into a drystone wall and (in the distance) the bristling white plumes belonging to Persicaria polymorpha.Round the corner, the Baptisia australis is spectacular and first opium poppies (Papaver somniferum

and has been a pleasure since the beginning of May. It sends out great plumes of white flowers that fade to dusty pink as time passes.Third on the list is Datisca cannabina: a plant I bought from Marina Christopher at Phoenix Perennial Plants. A towering

'Green Dream' - looks a bit like a hellebore but taller.Nipponanthemum nipponicum - this last I chose because the name amused me but also because it is really late flowering. It has leathery leaves and pretty white flowers in October.Sadly, things have

, which has slightly smaller leaves, each of which has very distinct white veining. At this time of year it is redder than the lips of the vampiest vamp. It is about half the size of P. tricuspidata.The other good one is Parthenocissus quinquefolia, which

of that fabulous scent: the philadelphus, or mock orange.There are a number of different varieties, all deciduous with white flowers and unremarkable foliage. In the first garden I had that actually possessed any soil (the first two were just concrete yards) I

a very pretty white flower. However, all this is about to change as, my friend Cleve West will be forgoing his Christmas dinner, in order that his parsnips are flowering in time to be included in the Chelsea Flower Show garden he is designing

’er delicate White, And taper fingers catching at all things. To bind them all about with tiny rings." John Keats. I found it on the Sweet Pea Society website, along with lots of other useful stuff.** You will detect a slight note of bitterness in the final