Forget January. For gardeners, September is the real new year. Here are my ten reasons to love it, from seed collecting and second-spring sowing to misty mornings, stewed plums and the best Piet Oudolf gardens to visit right now. Plus: the tulip-buying rule I wish I'd followed.
How not to garden in September: do not rip anything out, do not prune, do not scalp the lawn, and do not panic order every bulb in the catalogue. Laetitia and Ann-Marie on the plants that survived the drought untouched, and why you should buy for foliage, not flowers.
Every apple you have ever eaten descends from a single tree in the mountains of Kazakhstan. James Alexander-Sinclair chases apples from there to Babylon, to Johnny Appleseed's cider orchards, to the chemically suspended blandness of today's supermarket shelf.
Mention moths and someone always tells Helen they hate them. But these fluffy night workers can out-pollinate butterflies, feed our bats and birds, and have declined by a third since the 1960s. Here's why Helen is obsessed, and the easy changes that will bring them to your garden.
The future of the big flower shows has caused much speculation and controversy recently. George Plumptre has been asking the big questions about how (and where) they can go next.
