May is the perfect month to plant those slightly tender, late performers such as salvias, penstemons, fuchsias and pennisetums, because they need to develop good root systems before winter arrives. All too often, nurseries sell these late-summer jewels in autumn when they look magnificent. However, there’s not much chance of them overwintering if they’re planted […]

If your greenhouse will overwinter Pelargoniums then it’s perfect for Heliotropes, members of the Borage family, mostly introduced from S. America in the 18C. The European Heliotrope was thought by the Ancients to turn its flowers to catch the sun thus the name. However the massed flowers of H. arborescens, Cherry Pie do not move, […]