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Jekka McVicar's 10 companion plantsJekka McVicar's organic herb garden achieved a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show 2009. We caught up with her at the show to discover her top 10 herbs for growing as companion plants.Companion planting

.Acer griseum, Paper-bark maplePrunus serrula is perfect tree for small gardens. It provides year-round interest, producing small, white flowers in spring, followed by small fruits and red or yellow leaves in autumn. Its shiny bark remains a deep red throughout

with many fingered leaves, which turn yellow and red in autumn. The flowers are white with yellowy centres and these are followed by pink-stained, white berries that hold for most of the winter.Number two: Malus tschonoskii. Nearly perfect for all

be propagated from runners, rather than divided. Cut off the runners if you don't want the clump to spread. A. californica should be planted 2.5cm (1in) beneath the water.Anemopsis californica'Berlin Tiger' bears eye-catching yellow flowers with brown markings

those of parrotia; Hamamelis intermedia 'Diane' (as shown on Fairegarden's blog) is a particularly striking example.Many winter-flowering shrubs (for example sarcococca or Lonicera fragrantissima) have white or yellow flowers, but it's good to have a

I have just got back from five fabulous days at Gardeners' World Live and, yet again, my garden has changed. The more attentive among you will remember my blathering on about the same subject when I got back from the Chelsea Flower Show

sun. It reaches 1.5m high.Eryngium giganteumHappy in woodland conditions, the yellow- or orange-flowered Welsh poppies are annuals that don't mind shade, making them perfect to weave under trees and taller shrubs.Meconopsis cambricaA cottage garden

the beginning of the tree planting season and I want to state the case for one particular tree. A tree that, if you want your autumns to always be as sparkly as an Maharanee's tiara is indispensable. Ladies and Gentlemen (drum roll, please)...I give you

grotesque.A smallish tree reaching only about 20m tall, the field maple has a bark as fissured as the face of W.H. Auden, with a slightly corky texture. The flowers are nothing much to write home about, being little greeny numbers that turn up at the same

of muffled hens while others are as small and delicate as the eyelashes of newborn babies. Some flower in May and others in July. Which one should you choose? How do we know which are the best, most reliable plants? It can get a bit confusing, especially when