Bright and beautiful

Now’s the time to add some summer stars for a burst of colour

Bring a blaze of colour to your garden in August with a palette of bright and contrasting blooms, carefully positioned pots and a few late-season buys

Smarten up your front garden with hanging baskets that will burst with blooms from spring until the end of summer

A beautiful and productive garden needn’t cost the earth – simply choose the right plants

If you can’t paint your garden walls or fence, you can still add interest by using outdoor textiles to inject some colour and pattern. Dig out tester pots or leftover paint to jazz up plain planters.

A major part of my gardening joy is visual, and as my knowledge and observational powers have improved over decades of gardening, so has my love of experimenting with colour schemes. When I first came