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

The colourful displays of tulips are the main players in the formal walled garden at Westbrooke House

From kitchen essentials to showstopping blooms, onions and their cousins add flavour to your plot

I love the delicate, open, airy height provided by Anthriscus sylvestris so early in the year, with a drama and elegance like few other spring-flowering perennials. Its off-white flowers and burgundy

Erysimum Rysi Copper One of the definitions of a wallflower is that of a shy and awkward person with whom nobody wants to dance: I am sure we have all felt like that at some point in our adolescence.

The borders in Jānis Raubiška and Martin Paley’s garden look as though they are having a party. Planting designer Jānis says he doesn’t have any time for pastels – he finds them boring. Fireworks are