Mike Palmer celebrates the seasonal awakening of our gardens from their winter slumbers with trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs to get seriously excited about

Exciting recommendations from our expert plantsman

Modest, alluring and versatile, Viola odorata, or sweet violet, is a small, hardy, herbaceous perennial that tumbles and scrambles close to the ground, forming dense clumps of dainty, heart-shaped, gr

I love growing summer flowers from seed for my cutting garden and to fill gaps in borders and containers to bloom all season on my patio and garden table. I sow hardy and half-hardy annuals alongside

The sweet violet, Viola odorata, may be a diminutive flower, but its small, slightly asymmetrical, pansy-like flowers are highly fragrant. They open in early spring before most plants have even though

Presenter and garden designer Mark Lane shares his top picks for thrifty gardeners – easy to propagate, low maintenance and they’ll put on a fabulous floral show