Leaves are a joy all year round

Foliage is often overlooked in our gardens as we strive for beautiful flowers and as much colour as possible, or bumper crops of fruit and veg. Those big, leafy plants sometimes seem a bit mundane by comparison!

But they can play a wonderful part in our garden, especially in winter, as we discuss on page 16. Strapping hardy leaves bring terrific interest to the plot in the colder months and beyond. They may be a supporting act later in the year but are the canvas on which colour comes to life. I planted a few small ferns in a difficult, shady area a few years ago and they’re now quite at home, with foxgloves adding to the scene in summer.

Also in this issue, why not get cracking with some of our 10-minute jobs (page 12)? With the weather still having a mind of its own, bigger projects can be harder to get done at the moment, but if there are brief windows of time these small jobs can be very rewarding. Even just one or two make quite the difference.

I was fascinated to read Rob Smith is trying ‘space peppers’ in the Kitchen Garden (page 34). They were developed as part of the Chinese Hangjiao space project and certainly look different. I can’t wait to see how he gets on with them

– if anyone can make a success of growing something new it’s Rob! Let us know if you’re trying anything weird and wonderful this year – drop me a line at gn.letters@bauermedia. co.uk and tell us what you’re growing. We’d love to see pictures too. Have a great gardening week!

Simon Caney, Garden News, Media House, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA