Some colour schemes should never be seen

If your attic has been the main source of storage for all your home items, it may be time to go through it all to sort out what needs to be thrown out or stored elsewhere.

Basements are a boon for those homeowners lucky enough to have one. They are cooler, expansive, and offer a lot of opportunities for extra living space or storage.

Growing up in Hawai‘i, Meleana Estes was immersed in the traditions of lei making, thanks to her tūtū, or grandmother, a seamstress and costume designer who took up lei making in the 1960s, when traditional Hawai‘ian skills were re-emerging throughout the islands. Her tutu became an expert over the years and passed this knowledge to her family and to Meleana, who, after a career in fashion, went on to become an expert lei maker and teacher of the craft, running workshops first in Honolulu and eventually abroad. 

A special Daiseye.

Codiaeum variegatum is a houseplant or tender shrub with multi-coloured leaves.

Gardening is not lesson time but fun time even if you do the growing at school.

Conifer trees and plants are available in a range of colours, shapes and sizes. Sequoia conifers are the largest living thing on the planet. Mature trees reach for the skies but rockery or horizontalis varieties are ground hugging by comparison.

Britain has some of the best gardens in the world. The choice of which to visit is far larger than this selective list but at least it gives you somewhere to start planning this years outings.

If you are looking for a show stopping display of spring flowers then why not try planting   primary colours of Red, Blue and Yellow in the same bed.

I am never all that confident about mixing such strong colours in my garden. Needless to say therefore this picture was taken in a public park on the Victoria Embankment Garden. I was chased off the grass before I could get a better picture.

Yellow can be a difficult colour in the garden and I know of one keen gardener that tries to avoid all Yellow flowers. However this Potentilla or cinqufoil grabbed my attention hence the yowser headline. No wonder the Potentilla is also known as the Buttercup shrub as the strong yellow is reminiscent of the field buttercup.

What colour is the sky? A strange question too a gardener perhaps but there are good gardening reasons for asking.