Vincent van Gogh made sunflowers his personal motifs, but, when he looked to experiment with colour, a full florist’s roster of irises, roses, poppies, poured out of his brush, as Michael Prodger discovers

Few potteries operating today capture the mood of comfortable English life as well as Emma Bridgewater. Founded in 1984 when Emma couldn’t find a suitable present for her mother and decided to make on

Plant your bulbs now for a lovely bright start to spring

WINTER HELLEBORES, ALSO KNOWN AS CHRISTMAS ROSES, come in many different colours. We love those with cool green petals, veined and limned with pinkish red. The fern fronds and ivy complement them perf

This is my annual guilty pleasure. By early December I am as frantic as anyone. As I hurriedly plant the last of my bulbs and make sure to complete essential deadlines before the end of the year, I co

Bob Cooper of Macclesfield, Cheshire remembers: From an early age, I have always loved reading and writing. My best subject at school was English to the detriment of maths, and I managed to become top