MONTY’S JOB OF THE WEEK

SOLOMON’S SEAL THE arching stems of Solomon’s Seal (above) rising out of the soil are now looking their best. Its foliage is a chalky green and rather hosta-like. It shares similar growing preferences to hostas and is perfect for a dampish, woodland border; ferns and hellebores make for ideal companions. It has one major pest — the Solomon’s seal sawfly, which can strip the leaves to tatters in June. It can look terrible by late summer, but neither its regrowth nor floral display the following spring are affected.