Good enough to eat - Florence fennel

Florence fennel is grown for its fleshy stem and it's also an extremely pretty plant with its feathery foliage, so looks good in an ornamental border.

Fennel's aniseed stem base adds depth to many dishes including casseroles, or combined with new potatoes or salads.

It is known to be temperamental, as it is prone to bolting in fluctuating temperatures, and needs an open, sunny site, growing best during warm summers in warm, moist, fertile, sandy soil.

It doesn't like having its roots disturbed, so if you want early crops, sow seeds in modules as single seedlings to avoid root damage and plant them out in April, once the roots fill the container.

For later crops, sow in drills 60cm (24in) apart when the soil has warmed up, in May or June, then thin the seedlings to 38cm (15in) when they are large enough to handle. They should grow to around 1.25-2m (4-6ft). It grows rapidly, producing a 'bulb' in 10-12 weeks.

Best of the bunch - Alpine clematis

If you thought clematis just produced big, blousy blooms in early summer and again later on in the year, think again, because if you choose your clematis carefully, you can have blooms virtually all year round.

One beautiful and useful type is the alpine clematis, C. alpina, a hardy, adaptable plant with nodding flowers in shades of blue, pink and white.

While its main flowering period starts in mid-spring, it responds quickly to good weather, so in mild areas some blooms may appear in late winter.

Free-flowering and compact, it needs little pruning and its light green foliage will cover eyesore fences well.

Good varieties include C. 'Frances Rivis', a vigorous, deciduous, twining climber which bears hanging blue flowers with slightly twisted petals in spring or early summer. It also has attractive foliage and fluffy seedheads in autumn.

Growing to up to 3m (10ft) tall and 1.5m (5ft) across, it tolerates sun or dappled shade, but the roots should be in shade. Grow it in fertile, well-drained soil enriched with organic matter and remove damage shoots and shorten others to confine its growth after flowering.

Unlike most other clematis, the alpinas have fine roots which are susceptible to damage through waterlogging, so don't plant them deeply.

They also survive best in poorer soils. Other good alpinas include C. 'Ocean Pearl', with fully double violet-blue flowers, and 'Jacqueline du Pre', which produces deep pink bells with a light pink margin.

Three ways to... Boost your beetroot

1. Give plants a head start by soaking beetroot seed clusters in warm water overnight before sowing, to wash away a chemical in the seeds that inhibits germination.

2. If leaf miner - tiny grubs - invade the leaves, pick off the badly affected ones.

3. Beetroot is a greedy feeder, so work in a general fertiliser just before sowing in spring, or grow it on soil that has been well manured over the years.

What to do this week

:: Cover summer brassicas and carrots with crop covers to stop flying pests.

:: Plant all hardy vegetables sown indoors when the weather is suitable, including garlic, onions and maincrop potatoes.

:: Prepare trenches for celery and runner beans by manuring a strip of ground for each.

:: Start dahlia tubers into growth in a warm greenhouse and take cuttings from those already producing shoots.

:: Repot houseplants and give them a couple of weeks in the greenhouse to convalesce.

:: Protect emerging hostas from slugs and snails.

:: Thin out autumn-sown annuals.

:: Firm in newly planted fruit trees and bushes after frost.

:: Sow herbs in a cold frame.

:: Continue to spike and scarify your lawn to improve drainage and remove thatch.

:: Thin early grapes growing in a heated greenhouse.