Inspired by tropical travels, one gardening enthusiast transformed a sandy Leicestershire plot into a colourful, plant-packed paradise for all ages

Purple punctuates the planting: here an acer, verbena and some pinky-purple crinum, or swamp lily, stand out

REAL readers' gardens!

When writer Sheila M Averbuch and her husband moved into their Pencaitland home in East Lothian over 20 years ago, the garden was little more than a flat upper lawn with a steep slope down to the bung

As the long nights shorten, Mounton House garden quietly emerges from winter with delicate sprinklings of white narcissi, Scilla siberica and crocuses through the lawns. Daphnes fill the air with frag

In December 1997, we moved from a tiny London garden to our new home, Old Park Barn in Buckinghamshire. It was daunting – a huge leap of faith from gardening in an urban courtyard to essentially an ov