ASK DIARMUID
It will enjoy a warm, sunny, welldrained aspect and is ideal for growing on banks, borders, and in flower beds and containers.
It will need some protection from severe winters and really good drainage is essential as the rhizomes will rot if the soil is too damp.
Sprinkle a little bonemeal over the area before planting. Cut back leaves in winter to allow the sun to ripen the rhizomes, which is essential for good flowering. Divide clumps once they become too large and congested.
VIOLA TRICOLOR
THIS (also known as Heartsease) is a joyful little plant to have in any garden.
Viola tricolor is one of three native species of pansies and produces compact flowers with petal bouquets in shades of yellow, blue, violet, and white.
And, handily, it flowers in autumn and often in winter and seeds readily.
ARUM ITALICUM (ITALIAN ARUM)
THE Italian lily is a tuberous perennial with broad arrow-shaped leaves that appear in the autumn. It grows to a height of 12 inches.
The foliage dies back in the summer just as the berries appear.
After they fade away the foliage reappears, remains until the next summer, and is lush and green all winter.
Q
THE enclosed sample is growing on the trunk of my lilac tree and I have no idea what to do. Could you tell me what it is and how do I treat it? Many thanks
D Blenkinsop
A
THE sample you sent is a yellow golden mushroomlike fungal growth. It could be honey fungus which lilac trees are susceptible to. However, with honey fungus, the mushrooms appear around the base of the tree, not up the trunk and if you peel back the bark, there will be sheets of white fungus growing, smelling strongly of