Remember me, an excellent hybrid tea Rose which is very beautiful as a specimen or for bedding. Bred by Cockers in 1984, parentage=Alexander x Silver jubilee.

We planted this very fine award winning Rose in rememberence of my wife’s mother Violet who sadly passed away in that year.

The fully double blooms have a slight fragrance and a most unusual copper/orange shaded  colour. Glossy dark green leaves are in themselves very attractive on this shrub. Planted and positioned in full sun this disease resistant Rose will reach a height of 3ft/90cm, and bloom quite profusely between July/September.

Height - 3ft/90cm

Hardiness - Fully hardy

Position - Full sun

Truly one of the best blue flowered Clematis available. Perle’d’ Azur’  with sky blue blooms measuring 4in across flowers continuously from July to September.

I found that this Clematis did take a couple of seasons to settle in but is now robust and gives a wonderful display every Summer without fail. Here in Aberdeen ‘Perle’ d’ Azur’ performs best in a sunny position.

Pruning should be carried out between late February till the end of March, and it could not be simpler, simply cut the stems hard back to buds which are about 6 to 8 inches from ground level.

Grow it over an arch or trellis, on its own or along with a companion plant, perhaps a yellow flowered climbing Rose such as ‘Golden showers.’  Another hardy plant which I can recommend for the north east garden. The RHS has given this one its prestigious award of garden merit.

Position - Full sun

Hardiness - Fully hardy

Flowering period - July/September

One extremely floriferous HT Rose that does not have blooms the size of dinner plates is Laura Anne. This fragrant rose with perfectly shaped peach/pink blooms with shades of orange has in fact more the habit of a floribunda. Bred by Anne G Cocker in 1992.

In our front garden a bed of fourteen of these roses has given a magnificent display for the past eight years with a single specimen of the HT Rose Buxom Beauty in the centre. Lets say no more regarding that one other than to say when the lady of the house is not watching It may accidentally be dug out.

Surprisingly Laura Anne which flowers in almost continuous flushes throughout the season seems not to have been met with the success of some others  which perhaps may be less worthy.

Hardiness = Fully hardy

Height = 75/90 cm

If ever you are inclined to think evergreen plants are boring, take a look at Pieris Forest Flame. Glossy deep or mid green leaves. The young leaves opening in April are a bright almost luminous red. Come May these new leaves turn a pale cream, very unusual. Also in late spring you get panicles of white flowers resembling those of Lily Of The Valley.

A west facing aspect is best for this slow growing shrub, as the early morning sun can scorch the new leaves. Your Pieris will reach to about six feet, but it is going to take around fifteen years to reach this height.

Like rhododendrons, Pieris also prefer an acidic soil, when planting add an ericaceous compost, and also top dress with this every second year. There are also a number of other Pieris variety’s, some dwarf and others with variegated foliage. All have young leaves which vary in colour, depending on the variety, but none as bright as Forest Flame.

Hardiness = Fully hardy

Position = Sun/part shade

The ongoing problem with the Box blight has taken its toll. It started Summer 2008 resulting in at least fifty per cent of the plants leaves turning grey and falling off. A very sorry sight indeed, however by Spring this year 2009 it was looking promising, many of the plants which appeared dead were growing new leaves and by July recovery seemed very likely. Unfortunately by mid September the blight had returned with a new ferocity and had virtually destroyed the hedge completely. Dead hedging in the garden is not a pretty sight, no more ado but to remove it.

We decided to plant a new hedge, replacing with Box obviously would have been foolhardy. After narrowing down to a couple of options we made our decision. The first and possibly the preferred choice was Ilex Crenata, a slow growing evergreen Holly from Japan. This non prickly plant is fully hardy, has tiny leaves like Box and I promise it would be hard to tell them apart.

Our second option is the one we have settled for, Taxus Baccata (Yew). Well ok the price of this one suited our pockets best and although Yew is not so similar to Box, nevertheless this evergreen plant is extremely hardy looks good and constantly is used for topiary and hedging. Initially the young plants have a loose straggly habit which firms up nicely after several trims. My intention is to keep this hedge at about fourteen inches tall, more often if a short hedge is required Yew is grown to twenty four inches. However I have reason to believe that this plant which can be rejuvenated by cutting back to stumps after decades of being in the ground will behave well enough if kept dwarfed. unless of course anyone knows differently.

If you are interested in purchasing Yew hedging here is a link for the company which I used, I am very confident in recommending them. http://www.scotplantsdirect.co.uk/hedging/hedging/yew/taxus-baccata-yew-30-40cm-12-18ins-pot-grown/prod_586.html

This is a good example of a Yew hedge (not mine)

Penny lane, a really good climbing Rose which has performed very well every Summer in our garden for the past eight years. Flowers are fully double with a medium fragrance, colour starts off a honey shade then develops to a soft pink.

This repeat blooming variety has very healthy glossy dark green foliage. Surprise, surprise it was named after the street in Liverpool made famous by the Beatles.

I suppose I particulary like this one as it seems to perform well almost regardless of ones pruning method, well within reason.

Have to mention, Penny lane flowers reasonably well even in a north facing position.

Height - 300cm/10ft

Hardiness - Fully hardy

Awards - Rose of the year 1998 — Gold standard award in 2008

This fully hardy Lily is a must for the North east garden. The large yellow trumpet flowers with deep burgundy/red stripes on the outside of the petals are extremely fragrant. Golden splendor performs very well without deterioration year after year unlike many of the Liliums.

Plant bulbs in Autumn in a sunny position where they have shade at the base,  although Spring planting would be fine if necessary. Always best to plant Lilies deep, at least twice there own depth. Golden splendor also performs very well if planted in deep containers using John innes no. 2 compost. Over winter the pots in the cold greenhouse, placing them outdoors in early April.

Go on plant this hardy Lily and fill your garden in July/August with a glorious perfume.

Hardiness - Fully hardy

Height - 90/120cm

Position - Full sun

Hydrangea macrophylla, commonly referred to as mophead have in recent times become seen as unfashionable. Now I ask you, how annoying is this nonsense, if you have a fondness for a plant,grow it.

This Hydrangea has large very showy blooms from mid Summer which last well in to the Autumn. The flower colour varies from pink if planted in an alkaline soil to lilac or blue the more acidic the soil is. If you are looking for the best blue Macrophylla, plant Renate Steiniger, remember even this one will be more lilac if planted in alkaline soil.

More questions seem to be asked regarding the pruning of mopheads than almost any other shrub except perhaps Wisteria which of course is a climber. Well anyway with your Hydrangea, first of all leave the flower heads on throughout the Winter and come mid March prune back to a couple of buds directly below the dead flower head. If in subsequent years your plant is becoming leggy then cut back about one third of the stems to ground level which will promote healthy new growth.

Generally here in Aberdeen this Hydrangea is fully hardy, however in our garden perhaps because we are in a bit of a frost pocket it really does struggle. However I have overcome this problem by planting in a container and overwintering in the unheated greenhouse. Results are amazing, producing the most beautiful plants smothered in blooms at least two weeks earlier than normally would be. With this method of growing you can safely remove the withered blooms  just before placing in the greenhouse for the Winter. Of course come Spring your container plant can be placed in any position in the garden where you think it will look most effective.

Time for an update on the Box blight which resulted in serious damage in our back garden last year. All seemed to be going well in early/mid Summer this year. Fresh growth was encouraging even in the more serious affected areas. Very disappointed to report by mid August the Box blight had returned with a  vengeance, resulting in even greater damage. I will persevere, however the temptation to replace with Yew is very great.

Position - Full sun/part shade

Height - 150cm

Hardiness - Generally hardy

Looking for Clematis which is easy to grow, flowers profusely and also no palaver regarding pruning. Well look no further the Viticella group is for you.

The four petaled smallish red flowers of the cultivar Madame Julia Correvon are borne in abundance in mid Summer till early Autumn.

This climber was raised in France in 1900, although it had become lost to cultivation the interesting and colourful plantsman Christopher Lloyd came to the rescue and rediscovered it some time in the 1950s. Pruning should be carried out in late February, simply cut all the stems back to nine inches above ground level just above a strong pair of buds.

The Viticella group appear to be extremely resistant to Clematis wilt, very welcome indeed.

The Royal Horticultural Society gave this Clematis their prestigious award of garden merit. A sure and confident indication that Julia Correvon is worthy of a place in your garden.

Hardiness - Fully hardy

Position - Sun/part shade

Pruning - Late February

Paeony, take your pick regarding the spelling of this beautiful plant as there seems to be at least three alternatives.

However My pal Rudy is a cracker, my wife planted this one in our back garden some twelve years ago at least. Not that it was a specimen familiar to her, the purchase was more related to the fact that we had a Burmese cat at the time named Rudi. This Paeony planted in a sunny position settled down nicely after a couple of years. My pal Rudy has pale pink fully double scented flowers and a good shrubby habit that does benefit from a little support. We moved this profuse flowering plant from it’s original position to a spot which we thought would show it off in it’s full glory even better. The result of this action even after four years has been very disappointing, flowering has been very sparse.

Do not be put off searching for this Paeony as the conclusion is Paeonys simply do not take kindly to transplanting and they also like a spot where they are not crammed in amongst other plants fighting for survival.

Hardiness - Fully hardy

Flowering - June/July (in the north east)

Position - Full sun

Height - 3ft/9ocm