My Garden

I couldn’t believe it either. I was visiting Mr Fothergill’s Seeds near Newmarket recently and they were very excited by their exclusive new begonia for the 2009 catalogue. Of course, it’s their job to get excited about their new varieties but there was definitely something special in the air. Me? Well... Read more..

For decades, centuries even, two kinds of begonias dominated our outdoor beds, borders and containers - the neat little varieties of the fibrous rooted B. semperflorens and the bolder, blowsier tuberous B. tuberhybrida varieties. Now, breeders are turning to the 1300 other species in search of good new... Read more..

Back in December I featured the Million Kisses begonias , one of a number of begonias in new styles for your outdoor beds and containers. Now here's another. ‘Ikon Blush White', bred by a British company, is the first of a new style of larger begonias for beds and containers. It has soft green... Read more..

Blackmore and Langdon have been exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show longer than almost anyone with a host of Gold Medals and still their success continues. They are now well known for bringing together two slightly unlikely specialities - delphiniums and begonias and they've become truly expert... Read more..

Been a busy week... I've been covering all the new plants on show at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show over on my RHS New Plants blog. But today, after three early hours dodging the showers at the Show, I headed off to Wisley to dodge the torrential showers rather less successfully judging some... Read more..

Most of the new plants at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show are to be found on the exhibits in the Floral Marquee . But out on the Plant Plots , the outdoor exhibits grouped in clusters behind the Floral Marquee and in front of the Tudor Rose Festival , I spotted three new double-flowered echinaceas... Read more..

Carnivorous plants, and the Venus Fly Trap ( Dionaea ) in particular, seem to hold an eternal fascination but until you take a moment to look at a whole collection you don't realise how many different types there are. And amongst the plants in the National Collection on display from Essex Carnivorous... Read more..

The variety of new plants that are to be found at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is amazing. On the way to see the Venus Fly Traps I spotted the three new double echinaceas outside the Tudor Rose Festival marquee and then heading back to the Press Tent for coffee I was able to chat to Colin Boswell... Read more..

Agapanthus are everywhere at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year and there were two newcomers on show from the Hoyland Plant Centre in Yorkshire. Agapanthus ‘Yorkshire Dream' is a lovely new variegated form. A seedling of A. praecox , the variegation is unusually luminous and, unlike so... Read more..

We always associate Sarah Conibear and Westcountry Nurseries with enthusiasm for popularising lupins but they now grow a far wider range of plants. And on their Plant Plot exhibit at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show , I spotted a new Gaura . Gaura ‘Vanilla' is striking for two things: the purity... Read more..