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Grow lovely lavenders for summer blooms and scent

Bright bedding plants make good standout colour features

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Provide pops of colour with bedding

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Sow winter Brassicas in trays

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It’s time to order dahlias!

Begonias can be grown in a variety of ways. Pots, borders and even indoors.

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The beauty of begonias

Try ornamental crops that taste as good as they look

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Grow beautiful and tasty crops

Salad leaves don't just have to be for summer

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Win with winter salads

Bring fresh colour from flowers and foliage to see you through the colder months

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Refresh pots for autumn

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It’s time to move shrubs

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It’s time to start sowing sunflowers

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Start sowing tomato seeds now

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Grow guaranteed frost-hardy plants!

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How to deal with woody prunings

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SOW ANNUALS

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Grow fruit and veg on the patio

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Start tender edibles

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Garden News Plants & Puzzles

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Subscribe to Garden News Magazine

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The Essential Holiday Puzzle Book

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How To Beat Slugs The Organic Way

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How To Take Cuttings From Perennials

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Best Shrubs For Summer Droughts

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Problem Solver – Why Did My Strawberry Tree Die Suddenly?

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Sow annuals direct in borders

Moss growing in bare spots between cobbles

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What To Do About Moss

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Sow easy blooms for summer

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Care for winter containers

Succulents are easy and very tolerant plants

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Propagate your succulents

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Plant an apple tree

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How to care for bulbs such as daffodils and tulips after flowering

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What can I do about my poorly bay trees?

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Care for ponds this autumn

Plants

Flowers Shrubs Trees

Fruit and Vegetables

Advice

Beginners

Garden Maintenance

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It can be hard to like slugs in the gardens, even though they’re a vital cog in our ecosystems as well-known detritivores, and they can be a valuable part of the composting process in your heap.

They often munch through, it seems, all your favourite plants – it’s as if they know you’ve put a lot of hard work onto sowing rows of lovely veg and planting out spring and summer displays.

For environmentally-friendly and organic growers, it can be really tricky to curb the problem in spring and right through summer – if not tackled it can be very problematic. The best overall solution, of course, is to encourage as wildlife-friendly a garden as possible and many of your garden visitors will take care of slug overpopulations. However, this isn’t always completely practical in the day-by-day maintenance of your garden.

You can use cloches to cover your plants on the veg patch, or try a beer trap, some grit or egg shells to deter them; a bit of trial and error is recommended as some might not work – you may find a method that works better than others. Prince Charles, a long-time organic gardener, uses a novel way to collect slugs – in his kitchen garden they place slates and tiles around the beds. Slugs congregate under these moist areas, only for the gardeners to collect them all up in the morning! Here are some more methods to try out…

Vitax Slug Gone pellets are made of sheep’s wool and irritate slugs’ feet. Be generous with the pellets for best effect.

Ferric phosphate pellets are more eco-friendly as they don’t harm pets, birds or other animals. Use sparingly.

Nightly slug patrols with a bucket works wonders. Dispose of in a field or put in the freezer before disposing.

Nemaslug is a non-harmful biological control to water onto plants – available from :a[www.nematodesdirect.co.uk]{href='http://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}.

Lavender is one of the most consistently popular plants that everyone wants to grow in their gardens, topping social media and seasonal plant sales charts week after week – and it’s easy to see why that might be so.

The strongly aromatic foliage and attractive spikes of flowers of these drought-tolerant and versatile shrubs evoke strong memories of foreign holidays, cherished places and people. They’re also highly attractive to bees and other pollinators.

Being sun-lovers they’re ideal for sunny borders with other Mediterranean-style plants, either as individual features or grown to create an informal edge or low-clipped hedge in a formal garden, using compact or larger varieties according to need and space. They also lend themselves to being grown in pots on sun-drenched patios, where they’ll flower for weeks.

With some exceptions, varieties of French lavender L. stoechas and English lavender L. angustifolia flower first in early summer, while those of L. intermedia flower slightly later.

Besides sun and good airflow, the most critical need is to have well-drained soil, particularly in winter, as it’s waterlogging when dormant that causes the demise of most lavender plants, so dig in plenty of grit if your soil is heavy and plant on a slight mound so water doesn’t collect.

They also do better on neutral sandy to chalky soil, than acid, although the varieties of L. stoechas are more tolerant. They hate being shaded or overgrown by encroaching perennials which create damp, humid air, causing die-back. If growing in pots use a peat-free compost with added John Innes and add Perlite or grit to improve drainage. Clip bushes after flowering, removing up to a third of growth. If allowed to get too straggly and old their lifespan, which can be up to 20 years is significantly shortened.

Perennial plants are very popular in the garden because they grow back year after year. The definition of a perennial is a plant that lives more than two years and in most cases they will live for many, many years and get better with age. But some perennial are short-lived and only live for three, four or five years.

Some of these perennials such as Verbena bonariensis and aquilegia naturally die after a few years even when grown in the correct soil conditions, but fortunately many of them self-seed. Others such as penstemon and erysimum will sometimes live a little longer, but they tend to weaken and get leggy after a few years and flowering will decline.

In this situation it’s best to replace the plants with new ones every few years.

Most perennials are fairly easy to propagate by seed or cuttings. Many will naturally self-seed in the borders or you can easily raise new plants by sowing packet seeds. These are best sown in pots or trays and the seedlings grown on ready for the garden.

Other types can be propagated by taking short cuttings at this time of the year and rooted on in pots or trays. The rooted cuttings can then be grown on to produce strong new plants for planting in the garden next spring.

1 – Take short cuttings of penstemons to produce fresh new plants when the base of the original plant starts to get bare and woody.

2 – Verbena bonariensis plants weaken and die after two or three years. They will self-seed or can be raised from seed in pots.

3 – Erysimum, the perennial wallflower gets very woody and growth slows down, but can easily be propagated from short cuttings.

4 – Aquilegia often start to deteriorate after two or three years, but most types will naturally self-seed to produce new plants.

We never know what the weather might throw at us here in the UK but there is no doubt that over the last 50 years, summers have got generally warmer. That has meant they are drier too - and that has an impact on our plants.

Many will need plenty of watering but there are some shrubs that positively thrive in drought conditions and will continue quite happily no matter how dry it gets!

**:a[Abelia grandiflora]{href='http://www.crocus.co.uk' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}** \*\*\*\*

Semi-evergreen rounded shrub. Pink-flushed fragrant flowers from June. Height: 3m (10ft) Spread: 4m (13ft). Tip: Site in shelter in cold districts.

**:a[Ceanothus ‘Gloire de Versailles’]{href='http://www.burncoose.co.uk' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}** \*\*\*\*

Deciduous shrub, with glossy green leaves. Pale blue flowers in August. Height/Spread: 1.5m (5ft). Tip: Grow against a sunny wall in cold areas.

**:a[Hebe albicans]{href='http://www.jacksonsnurseries.co.uk' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}** \*\*\*\*

Rounded evergreen shrub. Glossy grey-green leaves. White flowers in summer. Height: 0.6m (24in). Spread: 0.9m (36in). Tip: Good for windy, coastal sites.

**:a[Buddleja weyeriana ‘Bicolour’]{href='http://www.crocus.co.uk' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}** \*\*\*\*

Spreading dark-leaved shrub with bicoloured scented flowers adored by insects. Height/Spread: 2.4m (8ft). Tip: Prune off spent flowers to keep blooms coming.

**:a[Arbutus unedo ‘Compacta’]{href='http://www.burncoose.co.uk' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}** \*\*\*\*

Dense evergreen bold-leaved shrub. White flowers and orange fruit from September. Height/Spread: 3m (10ft). Tip: Tolerant of chalky soils as well as acid.

Very simply, your strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) failed to establish a good root system. It should have easily doubled its root spread over 18 months, but it appears to have made very few, if any, new roots. Gardeners often contribute to establishment failure by poor planting technique. The main failure is through not thoroughly teasing out the rootball prior to planting. The all-too-often-heard advice of not disturbing roots is just nonsense.

Container-grown plants are well-grown at nurseries, but invariably root bound. It’s essential to thoroughly tease out the rootball to get these roots growing out into the surrounding soil, which is very different to the potting compost they’re grown in. You can’t usually do that with your fingers. I use a patio weeding tool, but a sharpened piece of bamboo, or similar, will do the job. Long, circling roots should be uncurled and pruned off at the side of the rootball.

Make the planting hole no deeper than the depth of the rootball, but three times as wide, as roots tend to grow sideways, not down.

Finally, don’t add organic matter to the planting hole as this tends to discourage rooting out into the surrounding soil. On very poor sandy soils you might incorporate some as part of the backfill (the soil dug from the hole).

Secure the tree trunk a third of the way up a tree stake, inserted diagonally at 45 degrees. This will ensure the new roots aren’t broken if the tree’s subject to high winds.

Planting too deep is the other major contributing factor. Again, the advice to plant at the depth the tree was in the pot is misguided as a lot of nursery stock is mechanically potted and is too deep to start with. This is the case with your tree, which was potted at least 5cm (2in), if not 7.5cm (3in), too deep. The tree has produced additional adventitious roots from the buried trunk to try to compensate but without success. With poor root growth, the tree has eventually come to a halt and died.

You can't beat a garden with a varying collection of choice shrubs, naturalistic perennials and self-seeders, enhanced with plenty of pots of bright plants for good measure.

The ‘front men’ in a band of colourful containers are the summer bedding stalwarts that are perfect dotted everywhere to add focus and fun to a summer garden. It’s never at the expense of useful pollinator plants – bedding is mostly too highly bred to be of natural use – but it doesn’t hurt to add some pizzazz from fab flowers that are easy-going as long as you feed them!

Use a good quality container compost that has feed already in it, usually lasting up to six weeks. After a few weeks you’ll have to supplement this every week until the end of the summer with a potassium-rich tomato food in your watering can to encourage excellent flowers.

Here are some go-to stylish classics to guarantee a bit of instant oomph!

After a cool and very dry April some of us are a bit behind with sowing and planting. But hardy annuals can always be relied on to provide maximum colour for minimum cost, and they’re perfect for new gardens where you want lots of colour quickly while other plants are getting established. They’re also ideal to fill gaps in borders. Hardy annuals can be sown early in cell trays but they don’t like root disturbance so can be sown direct where they are to grow.

This requires breaking up the soil surface into a fine tilth. Remove any annual or perennial weeds and hoe and rake the surface. If there’s time, it’s a good idea to prepare a ‘stale seedbed’, which involves raking the soil, watering it and allowing weed seeds to germinate. Once they have, hoe off the weeds and once they’ve wilted, sow as usual. This should remove weed seeds that would compete with the seedlings you sow.

If it’s difficult to get the soil surface fine, it’s possible in small areas to put a layer of multi-purpose compost on the soil and sow into this. In dry weather water the whole bed the day before sowing. Always sow in rows so that you can identify the seedlings from weeds when they grow. Space the rows from about 15-20cm (6-8in) apart, depending on the height of the plants.

Spring is a busy season in the vegetable garden with all the sowing and planting of summer crops, but it’s also a time when you need to plan ahead for winter. Without doubt, winter brassicas, such as Brussels sprouts, winter cabbage, savoy, kale and purple sprouting broccoli, are the mainstay of winter vegetables and if you want them on your dinner plate next winter, now’s the time to get started.

The great thing about winter brassicas is they’re hardy and will withstand cold and frosty weather. Many, such as curly and Tuscan kale, can be harvested over several months from autumn until the following spring. Another benefit is they’re very healthy for us and they come at a time when there isn’t much else in the garden, making them an important addition to our diet. To get good strong plants and a decent crop in the winter, all winter brassicas need a long growing season.

The aim is to have fully developed plants by early autumn so that they’ll stand the cold winter weather. A convenient and easy way to raise brassica plants is to start them off in cell trays. This way you can control the numbers of each type and when you plant out in early summer there’s no root disturbance.

For many people, a pristine lawn is paramount but moss is always likely to appear and what you do about it often depends on where the moss is growing.

A moderate amount of moss is tolerable but if it is beginning to overwhelm the grass, then using a lawn feed containing a moss killer makes sense. And on paths where the growth of moss and algae may cause them to become slippery and dangerous, a path and patio treatment is a good idea.

But everywhere else, moss can be left alone and admired for the beautiful form of plant life it is.

Mosses and their close relatives’ liverworts are collectively known as bryophytes and are fascinating and important members of the ecosystem although their beauty is always appreciated in gardens.

They are genuine, albeit fairly simple plants. They contain the green chemical chlorophyll so are able to photosynthesise and manufacture their own food in the same way as flowering plants but they differ in two main ways.

They do not have proper roots, only simple anchoring structures called rhizoids, and most importantly they do not form flowers and seeds but reproduce by means of spores which are much simpler in form and it is the spore-containing bodies that give many kinds of moss their distinct appearance.

Mosses are usually the first plants to colonise bare surfaces and their presence encourages the accumulation of tiny particles of mineral matter while they in turn begin to provide small amounts of humus, so they are extremely important in facilitating the very earliest stages of soil formation.

The common wall-colonising moss is usually a species called the wall screw-moss, and it has an ability to establish even on almost featureless brick or stone surfaces, forming a rich, deep carpet of interconnected cushions.

Most species of moss are small - only a couple of centimetres in height - but some of the species of Polytrichum or hair-cap mosses that occur on acidic moorland can attain 8cm (3in) or more and are truly impressive.

Perennials include some of our best-loved plants and are great value, flowering every year with minimal care.

But buying enough to fill a border can be expensive so it’s worth growing some from seed.

Most can be sown throughout spring and summer but, for a chance of flowers in the first year, they must be sown in early spring.

They’re ideal if you don’t have a heated greenhouse because most don’t need extra warmth to grow once seeds have germinated.

When buying seeds look out for those listed as flowering in the first year because a few don’t bloom until plants have experienced a cold winter.

These include most foxgloves and sweet Williams and aquilegias. Among the easiest to grow for flowers the first year are agastache, achilleas, hollyhocks, delphiniums, dianthus, lavender, monarda, Iceland poppies, penstemon, platycodon, verbena and verbascum.

Most don’t need high heat to germinate and 15C (60F) is usually sufficient.

Use clean, multi-purpose compost for seed sowing and clean trays and pots to prevent fungal diseases.

Once they’ve been transplanted they should be kept free from frost but can withstand cooler temperatures than most bedding plants.

They can then be planted out in spring, before tender bedding plants.

1.  Fill trays or pots with good quality multi-purpose compost, level and firm by watering the compost thoroughly.

2.  Sow seeds thinly over compost. Sow in several pots or cells to prevent seedlings being affected by damping off.

3.  Cover seeds lightly with compost or Perlite if they like light to germinate. Label pots, including the sowing dates.

4.  Place trays in a propagator or cover with a plastic lid to maintain moisture. Keep the compost evenly moist.

## **But which ones to choose and how should you care for them?**

Now is the perfect time to order dahlia tubers, because they’re listed from January onwards. If you delay, the best varieties inevitably get snapped up, as I know to my cost! This year supplies are more limited than usual, because the Dutch harvest suffered from a wet summer, just as we did. Most dahlia tubers are commercially grown in the Netherlands and large growers supply many different bulb companies. The likelihood is you’ll be getting the same thing from the same grower, but not necessarily at the same price. So shop around to find the best deal.

Once tubers arrive, store them somewhere cool and frost-free. If you have a heated greenhouse, it’s possible to pot them up in the next month, but the tubers won’t put on much growth until the weather heats up. Don’t force them by over-heating your greenhouse, because the plants will just get leggy and spindly. If you have an unheated greenhouse or conservatory, it’s best to wait until late April before potting tubers up.

Select pots that just about accommodate one tuber, because tuber mass varies from variety to variety. Some make very small tubers; others are large and knobbly. Once the dahlias begin to shoot, be prepared to cover them on cool nights – bubble wrap is excellent. Feeding isn’t necessary at this stage. Once your dahlias show flower buds, you can apply a high-potash food such as Vitax Q4. Don’t use quick-release, nitrogen-rich feeds as they promote leafy growth at the expense of flowers.

You can take cuttings from the new growth, but always leave some stem above the tuber so it can reshoot again. Cuttings root easily in gritty compost. Many gardeners pinch back the growth tips on their potted dahlias to make their plants bushier once they reach about 30cm in height. I begin to harden dahlias off in the second half of May by placing them outside during the day. I grow 100 on my allotment and I only move them back if a frost threatens, but outdoor days toughen up the stems and leaves. Keep an eye out for slugs in the evening – dark-leafed dahlias are especially popular with gastropods!

I’m often asked whether it’s a good idea to leave dahlias in over winter. I’m not in favour of it for three reasons. Dahlias emerge later than most perennials, often not reshooting until the middle of June. Their late arrival leaves an enormous gap in the flower border and, by the time the dahlias come through, most perennial plants are way ahead. Dahlias don’t enjoy pushing up through taller plants. Left in, dahlias make large tuber masses over time but bear fewer flowers, so they’ll need dividing anyway. The third reason is that a really cold winter can see them off.

## **How to grow them in a border successfully**

The method used at Great Dixter really works. They leave gaps in the borders and fill them with spring bedding such as wallflowers, tulips and spring bulbs in autumn. These come out at the end of May, then the dahlias go in. You can also make a cutting garden. I dedicate several beds on my allotment to dahlias, but they also contain gladioli, cosmos, mallows and _Verbena bonariensis_. Their upright presence saves me having to use stakes.

The depths of winter can be a trying time, and even with the hardiest of plants, there’s a danger of compost freezing in the pot – this will be extremely bad news for them and may kill them. Wrapping pots fully with layers of bubble wrap and fleece will go a long way to help.

If you’re worried about any of your containers being a little too exposed, put them in a frost-free greenhouse or a relatively cool conservatory to protect them a little more. Remove plant saucers in winter so the soil remains free-draining, and make sure you don’t feed any winter containers outside. Dormant plants don’t need it, and any growth on other plants may be vulnerable to the chill. Plants that are still in growth, such as conifers and other evergreens, may still need a little watering over winter during dry spells, but everything else should be able to cope as it is.

If snow is forecast, it’s not nearly as devastating as a frost, which will creep into plant stems and roots and kill them. Snow, as it lays on the surface of your beds and pots, can actually be quite warming for them.

Asking someone if they grow begonias is a bit like asking them if they grow plants! The word covers such a range of different forms of flowers and leaves. There are tough begonias for bedding, colourful foliage houseplants, tasteful, small-flowered plants for summer pots and large-flowered trailing plants for hanging baskets. If you’ve always thought of begonias as just small bedding plants and never given them a second look, it’s time to discover some new and incredibly useful plants that can add interest to the garden for months.

One thing that begonias have in common is that they’ll be killed by frost and can be damaged by cold temperatures, so now’s the time when they can finally be planted out in the garden to be enjoyed for the rest of summer and into autumn.

The beauty of begonias is that they grow and flower well in cool, semi-shaded conditions, as well as being able to cope with warm and dry spells in summer (although it’s best to keep them damp if you can). Most outdoor types will start flowering now and keep going until the first frosts; the cool, damp of autumn is no threat to their performance.

In containers outside, grow begonias in a mix of three parts multi-purpose compost to one part John Innes potting compost. This mix should allow for good drainage, which is needed for best results, and the John Innes compost will provide more nutrients and prevent shrinkage of the compost through summer. Soil-based compost alone, though, will be too heavy and can become waterlogged if we have a wet summer.

In the garden, plant begonias into rich soil that has ideally had well-rotted manure or compost added to it in the previous autumn or spring. Once begonias start to flower, feed them weekly with half-strength tomato fertiliser to encourage large, healthy blooms. Water in dry spells. Leaves will start to lose their colour at the edges if they’ve been allowed to dry out, but they’ll bounce back.

These are some of the shortest begonias, growing to no more than 25-30cm (10-12in) in height. They’re incredibly drought-tolerant and if you’re looking to create a bedding display in shade that will look as good as your bedding plants in sun, then this is the best option. The key is to be generous and plant them close together, to create a mass of flowers that hides the soil. The plants don’t spread much and they lose their impact if spaced a long way apart. Plant so they’re almost touching and you’ll have a full bedding display that looks good all summer and autumn.

If you’re looking for a large-flowered bedding begonia, try ‘Lotto Mixed’, which produces flowers in red, white and soft pink.

● Begonias can be some of the most colourful trailing plants you can grow and they’re perfect if you want to create a very full ‘ball of colour’ in a basket. One of the best for this is ‘Apricot Shades Improved’, which produces a gradation of colour from orangey-red to sunny yellow, and because it flowers well in part shade you won’t have to rely on functional but uninspiring ivy as a trailing plant in shady baskets.

● Altogether more refined but also superb for a basket is begonia ‘Inferno’. True to its name, it produces flowers in fiery orange and they truly engulf the plant through summer. The blooms are slender, with long, finger-like petals, and the leaves are thin and shield-shaped. For some cooler colour in a hanging basket, try ‘Million Kisses Elegance’, which is very similar to ‘Inferno’ in growth but produces flowers that are a mix of white, cream and rosy pink shades.

● For a big show of colour in pots through leaves and flowers, ‘Glowing Embers’ is a wonderful hard-working, top-performing plant that never seems to have a bad day in summer and autumn. The shield-shaped leaves are an unusual mix of purple and dark green, with a prominent network of veins. The intense colour of the leaves contrasts well with the bright orange blooms. It will grow and flower well in shade and produces slightly darker foliage to create an even starker contrast between leaves and flowers.

Rex type begonias are enjoying a resurgence in popularity as houseplants, with their intricate patterns and colourings capturing the imagination of a new generation of gardeners. These houseplants are easy to grow. Just grow them out of direct sunlight, which can scorch the leaves. Low light levels produce the best silver colouring on the leaves so try them on a north-facing windowsill.

These begonias can tolerate drying out but they need high humidity around the roots to grow best. If you’ve got a leafy begonia that has gone brown around the edges, it’s a sign the humidity in the room is too low. Place in a tray of damp gravel to raise the humidity and trim off old leaves so new ones take their place. These plants will grow best if grown in peat-based compost and need a minimum temperature of around 15C (59F), although the large-leaved ‘Silver Spirit’ can tolerate lower temperatures, so you could grow it in a cool, shady corner of the patio.

Another that can cope with lower temperatures is ‘Evening Glow’, which produces leaves with frosted grey margins and a blackcurrant centre, with attractive purple staining.

Begonia luxurians is a striking example of the wide variety of begonia species. It’s a cane-type with tall stems that can reach up to 2m (6½ft), with tiny, white, fragrant flowers and palmate foliage with long ‘finger’ leaves. They need warmth to grow tall and prefer high humidity, so nestle among other plants. Feed regularly and keep out of direct sunlight.

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