Related to the smaller-growing Aerangis are the lovely angraecums. These superb epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial orchids come from all over southern Africa and Madagascar.

The monopodial plants vary in size, and, of the 200 or so species, many can be found in cultivation. Among the smallest is Angraecum distichum, a dwarf plant with plaited (braided), herringbonelike foliage, whose oval leaves overlap along a curving rhizome, which rarely exceeds 15cm (Gin) in length. The minute flowers (5mm/Yin wide) are produced singly all over the plant, to resemble stars in a night sky. The giants of the genus include the magnificent A. sesquipedale.

Typically, the plants produce coneshaped, yellowish to green pseudobulbs with a single, wide, ribbed leaf. The flowers are produced on short flower spikes that huddle below the foliage, bearing two or more flowers. These orchids do well In a mixed collection, being easily accommodated among other plants.

When they are large enough, the plants can be divided into smaller pieces, provided there is a new growth on each division. Alternatively, new plants can be grown from the backbulbs that are removed from the main plant at repotting time.

Temperature is cool-growing. Cultivation: Grow in 10cm (4in) pots in a fine bark compost (growing medium) in good light. Water and apply feed regularly during the summer growing season. The foliage can be lightly sprayed in summer while the plants are out of flower. Allow the plants to dry out while resting in winter. Water should be given during this time only if the plants shrivel. Height is 30cm (12in).

Bifrena ria harrisoniae is a most pleasing species for the cool greenhouse or indoors, the large flowers, 8cm (3in) wide, which bloom in early summer, are waxy, creamy white and have a deep mauve, hairy lip. One to two flowers are produced on a short spike below the leaves.

Bulbophylluni barbigerum are tantalizing 1cm (hin) dark red flowers have a movable lip that is adomed with bristling hairs. The slightest movement causes them to wave in a way that is likely to attract a pollinator. The plant will remain in bloom for months.

European plum (Prunus domestica), damson plum (P. domestica insititia), Japanese plum (P. salicina). There are plums that will grow in every state in the United States as well as in most of southern Canada. Nearly all are good for eating fresh and for canning as well as for making preserves; some varieties can also be dried as prunes.

The kaki species is especially tasty. These persimmons are heart-, plum- or tomato-shaped. 2 to 4 inches in diameter and golden red, yellow or orange in color; the flesh may be yellow or brown. The trees grow 20 to 30 feet tall with an equal spread; they are especially beautiful in autumn when their leaves turn brilliant shades of yellow and red. Good varieties are Chocolate; Eureka; Fuyu, also called Gaki or Fuyugaki; Hachiya; Tamopan; and Tane-Nashi. Japanese persimmon trees are usually self-pollinating and can be planted alone.

The common persimmon grows wild in much of the southern and eastern half of the United States and will grow in Zones 5-10. Trees grow 30 to 60 feet tall with a spread of 20 to 30 feet. This species bears 1- to 2-inch yellow, orange or purplish fruit in the fall. Good varieties are Early Golden, Garrettson and Killen. Plant trees of at least two varieties to ensure that the trees bear fruit.

Fertilize each plum tree with 1 pound of ammonium sulfate in the spring of the first year; scatter the fertilizer in a 4-foot circle around the tree after new growth begins. Fertilize each spring thereafter, and gradually increase the amount so that a mature standard tree receives 2 to 3 pounds and a dwarf tree receives 1 1/2 to 2 pounds annually. European, Japanese and hybrid plum trees often bear larger crops than they can support.

Japanese plums have juicy fruit that are good fresh or cooked. Plant at least two of these varieties together, for pollination of one Japanese plum tree by the pollen of another is necessary for the trees to bear fruit.

Insects and diseases rarely bother persimmons. The fruit should be picked when soft by snipping them from the branches with shears; a small stem should be attached to each fruit. The fruit will continue to ripen off the tree.

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Pleiones are charming, miniature orchids with about 16 species in the genus. These are mainly terrestrial, sometimes lithophytic or epiphytic, deciduous plants, which produce rounded or coned pseudobulbs with a single, narrowly oval, ribbed leaf. The flowers are borne singly, but with occasionally two, on a slender stem that arises from the new growth when it is very young.

The flowers are large for the size of the plant, and vary little in their appearance. Typically, the flowers have narrow sepals and petals of equal length, with a large, frilled, trumpet-shaped lip. The colours extend from pristine white to glistening pink and delicate mauve shades. Yellow is a rarer colour, but comes through in a number of the hybrids derived from the yellow-flowered species Pleione forrestii.

Under good culture they make extensive aerial roots, which form a dense and protective mass around the base of the plant. A good number of the species are in cultivation, in addition to a few hybrids, which are generally little improvement upon the fantastic species.

The flowers will last for about ten days, after which new roots appear and the growth continues to complete the pseudobulb throughout the summer.

As autumn approaches, the leaves will turn yellow before being discarded by the plant. The pseudobulbs are only of two years’ duration, so each spring pot up last season’s pseudobulbs and remove the previous ones, which will be shrivelled and dead.

Grow in open slatted baskets in a compost (growing medium) of coarse hark chips to which a few pieces of horticultural charcoal or pumice have been added. Maintain good light all year. Water freely and feed weekly in summer to encourage aerial roots. Mist the foliage on a regular basis. Height: 30-100cm (1 2-36in).

There are about 50 species in this natural genus of monopodial orchids, which hail from Africa and Madagascar. The plants produce a fan-like assemblage of semirigid leaves that grow from a central rhizome. Most of the species resemble the phalaenopsis in habit, but their leaves are thicker.

The flowers, clustered on the spike, have a heavy, waxy texture and are strongly coloured. The plants bloom mostly during the summer. Temperature: Intermediate-growing, with a minimum winter night temperature of 13C (55F).

Limited hybridizing has been done with this genus, and intergeneric hybrids have been made crossing Aerangis with Angraecum (Angrangis) and others. When you look at the clear, natural beauty of these often pristine white blooms, it is difficult to see how hybridizing can improve upon them.

Spray the foliage and maintain a good humidity. Allow the plants to rest when dormant during the winter. Height: 30cm (12in). Acineta superba These robust orchids from South America need to grow in baskets to enable their downward-growing flower spikes to hang freely. The fragrant flowers, which appear in spring and summer, are cupped, with the smaller petals standing close to the lip.

Platanthera orchid is thought that there are about 100 species of this widely distributed orchid which appears naturally across Europe, North America and elsewhere. The plants have widespread leaves and produce their flowers on a tall, upright flower spike. These are mostly white with a long spur, and are pollinated by night-flying hawk moths. With the decline of their natural habitats of old pasture or land that has not been used extensively for agriculture, these orchids, once numerous, have dwindled in number.

The greater butterfly orchid (Platanthera chlorantha) produces greenish white flowers, 30cm (12in) tall, on spikes which arise from two rounded, green leaves in early summer. Temperature: 1-5C (34-41F). Cultivation: Grow in pots of coarse grit and leaf mould or a similar compost (growing medium) in a frost-free greenhouse or cold frame. Water while in active growth. Keep dry in winter. Alternatively, plant out in beds in welldrained situations. Allow to spread and leave undisturbed so they will colonize. Height is 15cm (6in) or larger.

The familiar apricot, believed to have originated in China, has been cultivated for many thousands of years. A standard tree grows about 20 feet tall, spreading in a vase shape to a diameter of 25 to 30 feet; dwarf varieties grow about 8 feet tall, spreading to 10 feet. Apricots have attractive pink flowers that open so early in the spring that they are sometimes nipped by frost. They are followed in late summer by 11/2- to 2-inch fruit with orange, very sweet flesh. The fruit are most tasty when allowed to ripen on the tree; when ripe they are plump, fairly firm and a uniform golden-yellow color.

Two of the best varieties adaptable to many zones are Moorpark and Early Golden. In California favorite varieties are Royal, Blenheim and Tilton, Moongold and Sungold are recommended. All apricot trees but Moongold and Sungold will bear fruit if planted alone. Moongold and Sungold, however, should be planted together, for pollination of one variety by pollen from the other is required if the trees are to bear fruit. Apricot trees may survive and bear for 35 years or more. A full-grown standard tree yields about 3 to 4 bushels of fruit yearly; a dwarf yields about 3 bushels.

The culture of bush and vine types differs considerably, primarily because of their habits of growth. Set bush-type plants 4 to 5 feet apart in the row and space rows 6 feet apart. Cut back the canes of newly planted bushes to 6 inches from the ground.

Each summer new canes are produced; these will bear fruit the following year. Nearly all blackberries are notorious for their thorny canes, although a few thornless varieties exist; they are much easier to work among, but generally bear small crops.

Bush types of one variety or another grow in many climates. For black-fruited bush-type berries, Darrow, Eldorado, Lawton, and Synder are excellent varieties.

Most vine types are susceptible to frost damage and can be grown. Some good varieties of black- fruited vine-type berries are Brainerd and Lucretia, suited to eastern parts; Marion, in Washington and Oregon; and Olallie, in California. For red-fruited vine-type blackberries, recommended varieties are Boysen, which can be grown; Cascade, in Washington and Oregon: Logan, on the West Coast; and Young on the West and Gulf Coasts.

Rosa moyesii is a species that can make a large plant 10 ft (3m) tall and as wide. Its variety ‘Geranium’ although a little more compact, perhaps 8ft (2.5m) tall and wide, is still an entirely different proposition to an H.T. bush. Not that a bush rose can grow away and become established without adequate preparation and good planting, but the potential dimensions merely emphasize the need to do the job properly.

During my time in the parks, I remember there was a lot of experiment with underplanting roses, using all manner of ideas and colours. The only combination that didn’t disappoint was a pale blue viola under pink and pale reds, and that didn’t get one excited. No, the rose is queen, she stands alone, and does not improve in a throng, and those who suggest to you that the rose doesn’t take kindly to underplanting are expressing a well-known fact.

To do this, the first and therefore the most important requirement is adequate moisture. Nutrients have to be in solution before a plant can absorb them, that is the first priorty. Second, even without leaves, a living plant is evaporating moisture - that is part of its living process - and it has to he replaced, through that part of the plant that does the absorbing, and which, by the sound of it, has not been very active. New foliage and bloom increases the evaporation rate, and the demand on the roots is therefore greater - what precautions did you take before planting to make sure they would be able to do their job? Did you simply dig a hole and plonk the plant in it?

If you can modify underplanting a little to planting nearby, perhaps along the edge of a border, there is a plant association that may not have a lot to offer colourwise, but which has an astonishing effect on greenfly! Beneficial plant associations have been known for a long time, and for the renewed interest in this recently, we have to thank the Henry Doubleday Research Association and the many gardeners who object to the use 61 chemicals in the garden, and who prefer to enlist the assistance of natural predators.

Put a couple of bucketfuls of compost, peat, spent growbags, anything that will hold moisture, deep into the planting hole. Mix in a small handful of Humber Manure or Growmore, and fill the hole with water so that the soil under the plant is well soaked and the roots have to go down to look for it, make new root and become established.

It is a very useful and attractive rose, but has one serious fault which you have to consider very carefully before planting it. Even when fed properly with careful attention to potash availability, its resistance to black spot and mildew is almost nil, and it is invariably the first variety to be affected by these fungal diseases. Unless you are prepared to carry out regular routine protective spraying with a systemic fungicide, you have to run the risk and danger to neighbouring roses of introducing such a susceptible rose into their midst. A thornless rose is all very well, but it has no defences - in more senses than one.