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interesting leaves that are shaped a bit like baseball mitts. They are best planted in a warm and sunny site as the flowers only open properly on fine days; in the past week or so when temperatures have reached 10°C or so they have been flaunting themselves

better against a pale background - the darker varieties in particular get a bit lost against the naked soil of February.These irises are terribly easy to grow: plant the bulbs in autumn at about twice their own depth and wait. Clumps can be divided

Do you know a tree called Parrotia persica? At this time of year it is a light among the gloom. Most trees are without leaves in winter and there is only so much satisfaction that you can get from a tracery of damp twigs. About now I start dreaming

to remember to do and deadhead about 75% and leave some of the hips, thereby getting the best of both worlds. These are quite big shrubs, which grow to approximately 1.5m height and spread; the foliage is glossy (slightly bronzed when young) and the plants

garden is really too small then plant them in somebody else's (if necessary under cover of darkness).Update: read James's follow-up blog on trees for small gardens, Trees for small gardens 2.

It's easy to be sniffy about the ornamental cabbage. It is quite a strange concept; an odd, Frankensteinish amalgam of vegetable and bedding plant. However, my mind was changed - temporarily at least - during a recent trip to New York. I saw

taste delicious and are much loved by Jekka's dog, and her extensive collection of myrtles. It is always fascinating to visit a proper growing nursery where you can see the plants at every stage, from little baby seedlings to the larger plants

about eryngiums in the ‘We love’ pages of the July 2011 edition. I would like, if I may, to expand on that a bit and introduce you to a few more.I love eryngiums: they are about the only plants that manage to be architectural, delicate, pretty

into the winter. In the final stage of its life journey the seed-pod turns crispy brown, and crumbles away depositing thousands of seeds on the surrounding ground. It dies as elegantly as a poet in a garret. If you want them in your garden then scrounge some seed

like plums: never in the winter or during wet weather - for fear of silverleaf. Find them a sheltered place as they blossom quite early, so are a bit vulnerable to frosts. However, do not be scared off as there are lots of cultivars (some even from