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sensibly, still tucked up, waiting for the weather to improve.Pear 'Winter Nelis': this is a late fruiter (although we are yet to get much), with the best blossom of all. Pink and white nuggets like freshly washed babies.There are apples as well, but only

out of silk (between 300 and 900 metres of the stuff). These cocoons are then unravelled and the strands woven into fine fabric that is not only smooth and sexy but also disproportionately warm (silk long johns are by far the best sort of winter

winter.Actaea 'James Compton' - these used to be called cimicifugas. Tall and very, very elegant. 'James Compton' has dark purplish leaves as well.Zauschenaria californica - any plant whose name begins with Z has a special spot in my heart. A great edging

white sheen to its stems that looks wonderful in the grey days of winter.All the same, I'll always prefer picking wild berries. The combination of fresh air, a fair bit of mud (especially this year), the danger of toppling into a prickly ditch

is so extremely laid back and relaxed.In this garden there isn't much really urgent work that needs to be done. Many plants have done their bit and are just hanging around waiting for the winter; those that are still flowering do so with an admirable air

with lines of pink and orange as the sun tips over the horizon.I mention this because with the autumn comes the last chance to get out and visit gardens. All the big stately home gardens are beginning to close down for the winter but not before a last fanfare

few weeks of leaflessness to spread its genes far and wide.Nature is so very clever. Maybe catkins do deserve a sonnet after all…Oh Catkin facing winter blowDoth spread its pollen to (and fro)Where waits another, all fecundDe dum, de dum, de dum, de

 domesticate it are always a disappointment. When I used to rush around London replanting window boxes we often used heathers for a bit of winter colour - along with those rather ghastly Solanum (the ones with orange berries). Although they looked sort of

to be done. Spring is a bit like a rollercoaster: you get very slowly winched up through the long days of winter until you teeter on the top. Then suddenly it is downhill rush as everything starts sprouting and growing and flowering and, unless you

. capillipes and A. grosseri.Cornus florida: a dogwood, but a long way from the red- and green-stemmed varieties we plant for a splash of winter colour. This one is a stunning plant that has green flowers surrounded by white bracts. These look like petals