As I write, the skies are grey and look heavy with snow although a bright, dry day has been forecast.

The garden is covered in a layer of frost that has stayed and thickened over the past few days and all the flowers I counted out there on Christmas Day have disappeared.

Everything looks beautiful with a covering of glittering powder and because of my increasing use of evergreens there are few uninspiring bare patches.

On one side, the wall is covered with two variegated varieties of Euonymous radicans, one green and white the other green and gold.

Planted some distance apart from each other, the plants have grown rapidly and now blend together as they travel over the wall.

Although not self-clinging they need only a little support to keep the branches against the sunny, sheltered wall but in more exposed sites a few wires on which to tie the stems would be advisable to stop wind damage. Spring and summer-flowering clematis were planted with the shrubs a couple of summers ago and we hope for a wall of flowers this year.

To the front of the euonymous is a large Euphorbia wulfenii bent low over the lawn under the frost and cold. It didn't flower last year but I noticed in October that new flower heads had formed at the end of each tall stem, which bodes well for a good display in spring. It is an attractive plant, useful for dry, sunny spots by walls but it will grow very large if allowed - up to 1.5m tall with flowerheads 30cm long.

The soft foliage is evergreen and blue green in colour but like all euphorbia, care should be taken when dealing with this plant as all parts are poisonous and the milky sap which seeps from broken or cut leaves and stems can irritate the skin.

Updated: 15:58 Monday, January 21, 2002