Plants
Plants, how to plant, what to plant
Butter yellow may be the colour of the season, but yellow flowers give some people the ick. What you need is pale yellow - here are 15 lovely options that will light up a border.
You might think you hate yellow in the garden - but have you considered pale yellow? This versatile shade combines beautifully with many other colours and can make a border sing
You need this uber-versatile plant that will grow in any soil, sun or shade, and flowers for ages
With delicate blooms in soft colours, new cultivars of these adaptable, long-flowering beauties will suit many different planting styles and conditions, and sun or shade
Four drought-tolerant planting combinations
A selection of planting ideas from the Filippis’ Le Jardin Sec in France, which specialises in planting for drought.
Get a Niwaki small golden spade when you join as a member to Gardens Illustrated today
Save 25% + receive a Niwaki small golden spade when you join as a member to Gardens Illustrated today
How to prune wisteria
Wisteria needs to be pruned twice a year to keep it in good shape and to ensure abundant flowers. Here's how to do it.
What's new?
You are going to need these plant combinations and tips from an expert Spanish designer who knows how to garden in intense heat and no rain
Spanish designer Fernando Martos explains why he combines the beauty of Spain's arid landscape with English planting ideas in his dry garden designs. If we're considering climate change, his approach could be a useful one for us to take note of
How to make sure Persicaria doesn't take over and other tips on using the versatile perennial Piet Oudolf uses at Hauser & Wirth Somerset
Persicaria are versatile perennials with late season, brightly coloured flower spikes on hearty green plants from July through to late October. Plantsman Rory Dusoir shares his advice on how to grow persicaria and where to plant it.
Beautiful perennials for the flower garden - lupins are a vibrant addition to your summer planting
Lupins give spires of dazzling colour in late spring and early summer, and are once more gaining in popularity. Plant expert John Hoyland shares his advice on growing lupins and recommends the best.
Think pinks are old fashioned? Think again: here's the secret attraction of dianthus and how to find a place for them in your garden
Plant expert John Hoyland explains how to grow dianthus, where to plant it and when to take dianthus cuttings.
There's a wrong time to water your plants in hot weather - an expert explains the perfect time to water your plants in a heat wave
In the heatwave, make sure you're watering your plants at the right time of day
Autumn
21 brilliant ‘bombproof’ plants: the impossible-to-kill, fuss-free, low-maintenance performers that the experts rely on
Discover the indestructible varieties that designers, head gardeners and flower growers rely on: the top easy-to-grow, long-lived, pest- and disease-free performers for your garden
Gaudy, traditional bedding plants are out - these longer-lasting, wildlife-friendly alternatives are what you need in your garden
Three gardening experts recommend 17 of the best contemporary bedding plants, which pollinators will love, for stunning displays
Perfect prairie-style plants - you need these yellow summer plants in your garden for a naturalistic feel
Vibrant rudbeckias bring bold colour to the garden in late summer and autumn. Here's how to grow them, and the best varieties to choose
Bulbs
Sad that your alliums aren't going to last the summer? Get these great varieties to keep those purple globes flowering for longer
Loved for their showy spheres, alliums have long been stalwarts of late spring, but now new introductions are extending the party through summer. Our summer-flowering allium grow guide explains the best varieties to grow, how to care for them and where to plant.
Everything you need to know about growing bluebells
English bluebells are one of the highlights of spring. Here's how to grow them in your own garden – and how to differentiate between English and Spanish bluebells.
These are the flowers you need in your garden this spring, as chosen by expert designer Dan Pearson
With spring firmly in the air, designer and plantsman Dan Pearson chooses his favourite plants from his garden Hillside, in Somerset, that bring him joy in spring
Flowers
Roses: Our ultimate jargon and myth-busting guide and 49 of the best ones to grow
What all those rose terms really mean and the pointless rose-growing rules you can totally break, plus the experts’ picks of top roses to grow
Brilliant blue flowers to plant in your garden
The best plants for July
Discover some of the best July flowers and plants including a graceful daylily and a dwarf, claret sunflower
House plants
These 'thug' plants will take over your garden, so avoid planting them to prevent problems later on
Add these plants to your garden and you might regret it, as they have the potential to take over
Here's a houseplant you definitely won't kill: how to to care for and propagate sansevieria, or snake plant
Sansevieria, or the snake plant, is an almost indestructible houseplant that is creeping out of the shadows to take centre stage. Illustration Patrick Morgan
The perfect houseplants for problem places in your home, including draughty, dark and hot dry spots
Maddie Bailey of Forest London shares advice on the best houseplants to grow in awkward areas.
Planting ideas
Get inspiration for your garden and discover which plants will work best and where
Gardening in a heatwave - here's how to look after your lawn and water efficiently in soaring temperatures
As the hot weather in the UK continues, we ask three horticultural experts of the realities of drought on gardens and how we should be adapting the way we garden to hotter, drier conditions in the summer, and wetter, warmer conditions in the winter
The 10 weeds you need to worry about in your garden - and the 10 you can happily leave be
Short on time or just hate weeding? Here are the weeds most gardeners dread finding, plus some you should probably allow to grow
Weird and wonderful: you might think these amazing fly-eating plants are too exotic for your garden, but you’d be wrong
With their tall, fly-catching trumpets, sarracenias are wonderfully exotic looking, but given a sunny spot and plenty of water, they are surprisingly hardy.
Pots
How to grow salvias - the ultimate guide to growing this versatile and colourful flower and the best types to use
These popular, high-impact summer flowers come in a wide range of forms and colours and are designer favourites as well as magnets for bees and butterflies
An exotic meadow container pot evoking the walled garden at Benton End
Inspired by the gardens at Benton End, garden maker James Horner suggests a fresh container arrangement to capture the essence of summer
Want more dahlias for free? Multiply your flowers fast with this little-known technique
Tim Stretton, head of gardens at Mounton House, explains exactly how to take cuttings from dahlia plants so you can increase the number of dahlias you have in your garden this summer
Shrubs
These delicate, single-flowered roses are perfect for a natural feel in the garden - here's which to grow
The modest blooms of single-flowered roses have a simplicity and perfection all of their own, and are highly attractive to pollinators. Head gardener Mat Reese chooses 13 of the best. Photographs Jason Ingram.
Wondering what jobs to get done this summer? Let Sissinghurst's expert head gardener guide you
Sissinghurst’s head gardener Troy Scott Smith guides us through the jobs that he and his team do in summer.
New rose named after Catherine, Princess of Wales
A new coral-pink variety of rose from Harkness Roses has been named as a tribute to Catherine, Princess of Wales
Spring
It's time to sow your biennials - here are 21 great flowers you'll love, chosen by Sissinghurst's head gardener
Biennials bring colour to spring and summer borders - and are easy to grow from seed. Sissinghurst head gardener Troy Scott-Smith shows how to grow biennials and the best flowers to choose.
These five plants are Dan Pearson's favourite for this time of year - here he explains exactly why
Watch Dan Pearson pick his top five plants for late spring and early summer and get tips on where to grow them
10 of the best and most beautiful garden plants for butterflies that you will love too
Make your garden attractive to vital pollinators with these suggestions of plants that butterflies love
Summer
The best summer flowers to plant
Make sure you've got the perfect blooms in the garden for summer. Tom Brown, head gardener and tutor at West Dean College, recommends his favourites.
The best drought tolerant plants to grow to combat drier summers and warmer weather
Looking to add more drought tolerant plants to your garden? Annie Godfrey of Daisy Roots nursery recommends some of the best drought tolerant plants.
The skiver’s list of top easy-to-grow, low to no-maintenance plants for time-poor and lazy gardeners
Want a lovely garden full of beautiful plants but not to have to spend lots of time growing, pruning, watering and mollycoddling them? These are the best low-care plants if you don’t have time for (or interest in) gardening
Trees
These less common magnolias are perfect for small or large gardens in spring and will survive in many conditions
Yellow magnolias can be an attractive alternative. Here you'll find growing advice for yellow magnolia trees and shrubs, the best magnolias to grow and where to buy them.
Want beautiful cherry blossom in your garden? Here are 18 of the best cherry blossom trees to plant
Ornamental Japanese cherry blossom trees are one of the delights of spring, with their clouds of pink or white blooms.
These plants will make your garden look good all year: 30 plants and flowers for year-round colour and interest
These hard-working plants provide several seasons of interest in your garden through flowers, fruit, foliage, bark and even spring shoots
Winter
Slug-proof veg: the ultimate list of 17 vegetables that slugs and snails won’t eat
Struggling with slugs eating your crops? Here are 17 varieties of veg that they won't touch.
How to care for, plant and the best garden erythroniums
Their dainty flowers with swept-back petals and often mottled leaves make erythroniums one of the highlights of a woodland garden.
21 brilliant bulbs to plant that will give you colour in every season
Garden designer Adam Hunt recommends his favourite bulbs for colour almost all year round.