Plant this In late summer, globe thistles (aka Echinops) are delightful nectar bars for pollinators, but after a season or two they turn into hulking plants not suitable for the average border. Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ is an exception, only reaching a height and spread of 90cm x 45cm. Perfect for a sunny wildlife patch.
Read this If you are intimidated by books on growing your own food, Claire Ratinon’s new book How To Grow Your Dinner Without Leaving The House (£12.99, Laurence King) is just the thing to overcome your fears and find out just how much you can grow on a balcony or window ledge.
Try this Strawberries are generous plants, sending out runners – long stems that snake across the ground in search of bare earth to root into – at every opportunity. Where runners have already produced baby plants that are rooted in the ground, carefully dig them up, sever the runner from the mother plant and nestle them in a separate pot in peat-free multipurpose compost. You can place these in a cold frame or greenhouse, where the extra warmth will help produce an early flush of fruit next year.
