Camellias are the undiscovered stars of the garden in winter and spring, with waxy blooms unfurling in pristine white and candy pink, through to sumptuous ruby red.
For centuries, camellias have been popular in Japan and China, as can be seen on many of their works of art.
Camellias need shelter if they are to thrive. An area in dappled shade under trees is ideal, but they will tolerate a more open position if shaded for part of the day. A west-facing aspect is perfect as strong early morning sun on frosted flower buds can cause them to thaw too quickly and drop off. In very exposed gardens, camellias are best fan-trained on a west-facing wall.

Moving
Use moving house as an opportunity to sort out your possessions. Throw away your rubbish and separate items that can be given to friends or charity shops. Get boxes well in advance from local shops or supermarkets, and save newspapers for wrapping breakables.
If you're moving your belongings yourself, start by hiring the right van - too small and you may need to make a few journeys, too big and you may have problems parking. It's often cheaper to book vans on weekdays. But if you move at the weekends you may be able to make the most of special two-day hire rates.
Unless you have very few possessions, call in the professionals to help you move house. It will relieve some of the stress of the big move. You can arrange for it all to be done for you, and pay for the privilege, or you can do the packing yourself but leave the heavy stuff to the experts.

The beans should be watered well and early plantings should be protected with a cloche or fleece during the first few weeks.
Remove the smaller and less robust of the two young plants, leaving just one vigorous seedling per cane. Pull up any nearby weeds.
As they grow, ensure the plants continue to twine around their canes. Check them regularly for any signs of disease.

Plenty of moisture and a fertile soil are essential for a good crop of beans so avoid very dry, poor soils if possible and prepare the ground well before planting or sowing. Like most vegetables, they enjoy a lot of sunshine and prefer a fairly sheltered site with some protection from cold winds. This also helps to avoid poor pod set due to poor pollination.

Sowing seeds in pots
If the soil is particularly wet or cold, direct sowing outside is best avoided for all types of beans. Sowing seeds indoors gives a faster and more reliable germination rate, particularly for runner beans. It is very important that seeds grown indoors are first 'hardened off' so that they can cope with the cooler conditions outdoors. The seedlings should be ready to plant out after about three weeks.

Sow a single bean seed per pot in multi-purpose compost at a depth of 4cm (1.5in). If using a seed tray, sow the beans 5cm (2in) apart.
Water well until the compost is thoroughly damp and repeat as necessary. The bean seed may not germinate if the compost dries out.

When it comes to successful vegetable growing, a little preparation goes a long way. Find out all you can about your soil, draw up a plan for your plot and then you can start the fun bit - choosing which of your favourite foods you want to grow.
Deciding what to grow is one of the best things about vegetable growing, but it's important to choose carefully and not get too carried away. Choose vegetables you really like, and look out for interesting varieties that you can harvest progressively. This will ensure that you have a ready supply of delicious vegetables throughout the growing season.

From the Latin annus, meaning 'year' - and that's how long these plants take to grow from seed, flower, have sex, make more seed and die. Annuals are great for creating instant effects.
Hardy annualsHardy-annuals such as corncockle love-in-a-mist and nasturtium can withstand the cold, so you sow them outdoors in spring: March or April. There's less work involved in raising them than with half-hardy annuals.
Half-hardy annuals Half-hardy annuals such as cosmos, petunia and salvia die if exposed to the cold, so they can't go into the garden until after the last frost. Sow indoors in spring. They'll keep going until killed by the first autumn frost.