The stars of the show in my shady border this week are windflowers, small clumps of blue and mauve Anemone blanda, given to me by a friend last spring and clearly enjoying their new home.

I've tried to grow these charming little plants several times in the past, buying the knobbly tubers from mail order companies and planting them out as directed in the autumn, but none have ever come up the following spring. These new ones were transplanted from my friend's garden in early summer, in full leaf; like snowdrops and winter aconites they seem to prefer being moved in the green'.

One lot of woodland plants that I'm not so pleased to see are the bluebells which thrive in our front garden. I'm pretty sure they're not wild but hybrid bluebells, Hyacinthoides x massartiana, a cross between the British and the Spanish bluebell, which has colonised many areas of the UK after escaping from gardens. They certainly have hybrid vigour and they just don't share nicely.

Unlike the anemones, whose leaves die down soon after flowering finishes, the elegant bluebell flowers will be followed by dense foliage, which will attempt to swamp any nearby plants. These hybrid bluebells spread quickly and, when the foliage finally dies off, it lies around being slimy and unpleasant until carted off, leaving the etiolated remains of the rest of my plants to recover as best they can.

Jobs for this week...

Prune Buddleias by cutting them back hard to a framework of stout stems about a foot high. They will flower in late summer, on the new shoots produced this spring.

Cut hardy Fuchsias down to ground level, they will also flower in late summer.

Sow cabbages, broccoli and other brassicas in trays in the cold greenhouse, or directly into a sheltered seed bed.

To find out how Sue tackes her hybrid bluebells, see full story and pictures in the Leisure section of this week's Westmorland Gazette.