Tulips are one of the world’s most popular flowers, with over 2,500 varieties produced in the Netherlands each year. This spectacular book showcases a unique collection of rare and covetable tulips at Blacklands, the beautiful English country garden of tulip expert Polly Nicholson.Combining the flower’s rich cultural history with growing advice, Nicholson provides a comprehensive introduction to cultivating species, historic Dutch and English Florists’ tulips, and annual garden tulips. Featuring all types of tulip – from wild, species tulips to old Dutch cultivars, as well as English Florists’, and the ever popular annual garden tulips – she also offers modern context and sensible and practical advice for gardeners, based on her personal horticultural experience.

In recent years allotments have grown in popularity with demand far outstripping supply. John Harrison shows how to improve your chances of getting an allotment and move up the waiting list. In this all-encompassing guide, he also advises on clearing an allotment, planning what to grow and how, building compost bins, using raised beds plus detailed instructions on growing the best vegetables and fruit.