Giants of the border

Verbascum bombyciferum, for example, will grow 1.8m/6ft tall or more with long spikes covered in soft yellow flowers rising from rosettes of large, downy leaves. The variety V.b. Silver Lining is similar in size as is Verbascum olympicum.

Yellow is not the only colour in this family of summer flowering perennial plants and not all are as tall as those above. Ones in the 90cm-1.2m/3-4ft range are often hybrids of Verbascum chaixii including Cotswold Queen. Gainsborough and Album, while Verbascum Letitia is a dwarf hybrid suitable for a rockery.

Each year brings a fresh crop of new introductions in tempting colours and this year is no exception with Verbascum Clementine being featured in Thompson and Morgan's Gardener's Companion 2005' catalogue. V. Clementine has pale orange blooms with a deep purple eye and grows around 1.2m/4ft high. It is the result of work by Verbascum National Collection holders Vic Johnstone and Claire Wilson who have set themselves the challenge to breed new hybrids with larger flowers in new colours on plants with a longer lifespan - verbascums are often very short lived.

In their nursery in Hampshire they used a selection of wild verbascum species from which, over a number of years, they raised more than one thousand hybrids. They used many different species to work with, asking friends holidaying abroad to collect seed for them, getting new seed from contacts in Europe and Asia and even having a donation of seven seeds from a Swedish botanist. The resulting hybrids were eventually reduced to the best 12 plants, with 'Clementine' being one of them, and named The Riverside Hybrids after the River Test which flows through the site.

Verbascums are easy to grow as long as they have the right conditions, these being a well-drained fairly poor soil in full sun. They won't survive cold, damp winter soil but will often self seed so even if the parent plant doesn't come up one year seedlings may well appear in the garden to replace it.

Verbascum Clementine costs £11.99 from Thompson and Morgan and can be ordered by phoning 01787 884141 or from www.thompson-morgan.com

For a copy of the Gardeners Companion 2005 catalogue ring 0870 429 9309.

TV and radio

Sunday June 19

9am, Radio York, Down to Earth. With William Jenkyns. Repeated on Wednesday at 8pm.

9am, Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time.

From the Summer Garden Party at Sparsholt College in Hampshire.

Monday - Friday

12.30pm, C4, The Great Garden Challenge.

More teams compete for a place in the grand final.

Friday

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World. There's a planting frenzy at Berryfields with Monty putting kiwis and alpine strawberries in the fruit garden and Carol adding colour to the formal garden.

8.30pm, C5, Nice House Shame About The Garden.

Torrential rain causes a problem with the transformation of a backyard in Hackney into a Moroccan fantasy.

Open gardens

Tomorrow

In aid of Skipwith Methodist Church Disabled Facilities

Skipwith Open Gardens, Skipwith, near Selby. Eight private gardens open to the public together with a display of old farm machinery and photographs. Tea available in the village hall from 2.30pm. Open 2-6pm. Combined admission £2.50 adult, accompanied children free.

In aid of St John Ambulance

Aldby Park, Buttercrambe, 10 miles east of York. A romantic 15-acre garden with a Saxon mound planted with yuccas, agapanthus, lilies, hosta and geraniums, dry moat, poplar avenue, yew hedges and terraces leading to riverside walks.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £3 adult, £1 child.

Gardens in Aldborough Village, near Boroughbridge. Several gardens open in the village which also has a 4th-century church, Roman Museum and was once named Isurium Brigantum, the Roman capital of the area. Open 1-5.30pm. Combined admission £3 adult, 50p child over five.

In aid of British Red Cross

Rustic Cottage, Wold Newton, near Driffield. Take the B1249 into Foxholes then the turning near the garage signed to Wold Newton. Cottage garden started in 1997 and still in progress with winding paths and wild plants and shrubs, some unusual, grown to attract wildlife.

Open 11-4pm. Admission £2, accompanied children free. The garden is also open today and a Flower and Music Festival is also being held in the village this weekend.

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme

Birstwith Hall, High Birstwith, five miles north west of Harrogate between Hampsthwaite and Birstwith villages. Eight-acre garden with newly planted formal garden, ornamental orchard, extensive lawns, stream, pond and Victorian greenhouse.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £3 adult, accompanied children free.

Cold Cotes, Cold Cotes Road, near Kettlesing, seven miles west of Harrogate off the A59. Peaceful garden with informal and formal water, streamside walk, woodland glade, and sweeping herbaceous borders influenced by Piet Ouldorf. Open 1pm-5pm. Admission £2 adult, 50p child.

Darley Gardens, six miles west of Harrogate off the A59. Two gardens open;

Graylings one-acre garden with meandering lawns, borders planted for year round interest, forest and ornamental trees, shrubs, roses, containers, greenhouses, courtyard and canal.

The Old Vicarage three-quartres of an acre garden with gravel paths set with cobbles, archways and pergolas, alpines, grasses, annuals, trees, roses, clematis and colourful perennials. Yorkshire in Bloom trophy winner for the past five years. Open 12-5pm. Combined admission £3.50 adult, 50p child.

Great Ouseburn Gardens, 13 miles north west of York off the b6265. Two gardens open;

Cedar Croft, Main Street, with a half acre garden with mature trees, three large herbaceous, mixed shrub and rose borders, summerhouse, terrace and pots.

Tinkers Hollow, Church Field Lane, one-acre garden created from a long, narrow permanent pasture paddock and now with hidden gardens and connecting walks.

Open 2-5pm. Combined admission £3 adult.

Greencroft, Pottery Lane, Littlethorpe, one mile south east of Ripon. Informal garden with borders, circular enclosed garden, large pond and unusual ornamental features including temple, pavilion, stone wall with mullions and shingle roofed log cabin.

Open 12.30-5.30pm. Admission £2. Combined admission with Woodlands (see below) £3.

Woodlands, Green Lane, Littlethorpe. One-acre garden with extensive kitchen garden with raised beds, courtyard, gravel terrace, lawns and new garden created from an old tennis court. Open 12.30-5.30pm. Admission £2. Combined admission with Greencroft (see above) £3.

Mansion Cottage, Gillus Lane, Bempton, two miles north east of Bridlington off the B1255. Secluded garden with herbaceous and shrub borders, water features, shady and scented borders, grasses, vegetable plot, pergola, climbers, decks and lawns. Open 10-4pm. Admission £2 adult, accompanied children free. Also open today.

Millgate House, Richmond, at the bottom of Market Place opposite Barclays Bank. Award-winning walled town garden overlooking the River Swale and packed with ferns, hostas, small trees and shrubs, old roses, clematis and many more plants.

Day and evening opening from 8.30am-8pm. Admission £2 adult, £1 child.

Saltmarshe Hall, Saltmarshe, six miles east of Goole. Ten-acre garden with large lawns and fine trees with courtyards, shrubs, climbers, herbaceous plants, roses and pond garden. Open 12-5pm. Admission £2.50.

Stillingfleet Lodge, Stillingfleet, turn off the A19 York-Selby road onto the B1222 to Sherburn in Elmet. Plantswoman's garden with 'rooms' based on colour and foliage, wild flower meadow, natural pond, 55yd double herbaceous borders and the National Collection of Pulmonaria. Adjacent nursery also open. Regularly featured in many magazines. Open 1.30-5pm. Admission £2.50 adult, child five-16yrs 50p, under five free.

In aid of Oulston village hall

Oulston near Easingwold. At least 15 gardens will be open, other attractions include cream teas, tombola and chidrens' treasure hunt. Open from 1pm to 5pm. Adults £2.50.

Updated: 11:51 Saturday, June 18, 2005