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Monty planted two white hydrangeas in his Writing Garden: Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Veitchii’ and Hydrangea paniculata ‘Floribunda’. The first is a classic lacecap hydrangea with very flat flowerheads while the second has much larger, upright panicles and usually flowers for longer.

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Both these shrubs will provide the grace and elegance that Monty wants to achieve because, unlike traditional mophead hydrangeas, their flowerheads are made up delicate mix of small flowers and showy bracts.

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There are many other great white hydrangeas to choose from, including Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lanarth White’, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’, Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ and Hydrangea serrata ‘Beni-gaku’.

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Phyllostachys make good garden plants with many attributes including stem colour, structure, texture and hardiness. Monty planted the Henon bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra f. henonis) which is a very tall form with olive green stems which become grey with age.

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Mike Bell, who holds the National Collection of Phyllostachys and is President Emeritus of the Bamboo Society, prizes a smaller, delicate bamboo called Borinda nujuangensis but this is not yet available to gardeners.

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Bamboos can be very invasive, particularly the ones that spread with long underground stems, so these are best confined to a sturdy container such as the galvanised metal cattle trough that Monty uses. Mike Bell’s collection contains two particularly invasive specimens Sasa kurilensis and Qiongzhuea tumidinoda which are best avoided by gardeners.

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Bamboo naming can be complicated and some less well known forms may be sold with different names. Qiongzhuea tumidinoda is often called Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda and Phyllostachys vivax ‘Huanwenzhu inversa’ (pictured above) may also be known as Phyllostachys vivax f. aureocaulis 'Huanwenzii inversa'.

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Mike Bell’s collections of Bamboo is growing near Wadebridge in Cornwall and can be visited by appointment.

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Contact him at:

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28 Tanwood View

Bodmin

PL31 2PN

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Royal Botanic Gardens, KewÌý

Richmond

Surrey

TW9 3AB

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Kew Gardens are open throughout the year, check their website for more details.

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Ashwood NurseriesÌý

Ashwood Lower Lane

Ashwood

Kingswinford

DY6 0AE

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Ashwood Nurseries is open year round while John Massey’s private garden is open on selected days. Check the website for more details:

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Avoid fungal diseases, such as damping off, in your greenhouse by making sure your pots and seed trays are really clean before you use them. Give them a thorough scrub with water and leave to dry. Monty uses cold running water in his sink outside but warm water and washing up liquid does a great job too.

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It’s important to keep all tools which are used for cutting as sharp as possible. With secateurs a good way to do this is to draw a line along the cutting edge and then gently remove it with a whetstone. Then turn them over and remove the burr to leave a sharp edge. Shears, hoes and spades can also be sharpened this way.

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Now is the time to plant onions and shallots from sets. If your soil is starting to warm up, they can be planted directly into the ground but Monty’s clay soil is still cold and wet so he’s planted them into plugs to get them started. Fill a plug tray with compost and then insert each shallot so it is half buried in a plug. Put them somewhere protected and they’ll get growing quickly. Plant them out once they have a green shoot and some roots and the soil is warmer.

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