Hot contender for Chelsea Plant of the Year 2015 was a salvia called Love And Wishes. To my surprise, the judges placed it third, but despite that (and the drippy name) it is going to be popular. Showy purple-red flowers with hooked petals and dark calyces are set off by handsome foliage on substantial 80cm plants. Flowering lasts from May to October and, although not fully hardy, the plants are easy to propagate and quick to mature. Salvia Love And Wishes was exhibited by Dysons Nurseries (dysonsalvias.com) and bred in Australia, but the plant's forebears are from Central and South America, where the best of the world's 900 salvia species grow.

A green-fingered pensioner's attempt to grow shrubs and flowers in his front garden has spectacularly back-fired - after the foliage grew so fast it engulfed his entire house.Colin Melbourne's £240,000 semi-detached property in posh Leamington Spa, Warks, has become consumed by rampant ivy and conifers, leaving it invisible to passers-by.His front garden is so overrun with plants the windows, front door and even the garage are hidden beneath the sprawling greenery.