I AM very fond of dark-leafed plants and have a number in the garden, ranging from a purple-leafed elder shrub to a tiny shamrock-type plant with bronze foliage and petite yellow flowers that pops up uninvited in cracks in the paving. I think it is a type of oxalis.

New to our garden this year is a lovely dark-leafed hardy geranium, Geranium pratense black beauty with beautiful deeply cut, almost black leaves that form a neat mound.

The blue flowers should appear in summer, but mine didn't bloom this year, which is surprising since geraniums are usually tolerant of being disturbed, even at the height of their growing season.

Ten years in the making, black beauty was bred at Hadspen garden and nursery, in Somerset, and was originally the darkest leaf selection of the Geranium pratense Victor Ryder strain. It prefers a fertile and well-drained soil and should be propagated by division.

The only problem with dark-leafed plants is that they can look insignificant, especially in semi-shaded spots where the foliage merges with the soil and dimly lit situation. This can be combated by surrounding the plant with light-coloured gravel to accentuate the darkness of the leaves and is an effective way of creating a specimen plant.

An alternative is to use other plants. It was with this in mind that I chose a second new one this summer, heuchera villosa caramel.

This is a strange plant and I'm still not sure whether I like it, but it does the job beautifully because there is a startling contrast of colour and form with these two specimens.

The large, softly hairy, rounded leaves of the heuchera started off in tones of light warm brown, hence the name, and gradually matured to a light lime.

The underside is pinkish red, as are the stems, and there will be flowers; but, in common with black beauty, mine failed to bloom this year. It will be interesting to discover the colour of the blooms. A trawl on the internet revealed conflicting information, with one grower stating that the flowers will be cream and appear in early summer, and another claiming them to be whitish-pink and opening in midsummer.

Caramel is a tough plant, like many of the heucheras, and is ideal for a partially or fully-shaded spot, although the best leaf colour will be produced if planted for morning sun and afternoon shade.

Strong afternoon sun tends to fade the leaf colour, which might by why mine has lost its caramel hues.

Garden news

CONIFERS seem to be loved or hated by gardeners, but there is no doubt that they are a good way of bringing colour and form into the garden throughout the year.

To celebrate this year's National Conifer Week, and to inspire the use of conifers in the garden, Andrew Fisher Tomlin, chairman of the Society of Garden Designers, has designed three conifer borders.

The colourful border has a blue and white theme using Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens elseli fastigate) and Juniperus horizontalis blue chip, with blue and white flowered plants.

The traditional border uses conifers such as the Japanese dwarf cedar Cryptomeria japonica golden promise and the white spruce Picea glauca daisy's white.

Finally, the contemporary border has a simple theme using the yellows and greens of specimens such as the golden Irish yew, taxus baccata sandishii, and false cypress, chamaecyparis lawsoniana minima aurea'.

Conifers can be planted in autumn and come in colours including greens, yellows, whites, oranges, blues and purples. Some have variegated foliage while others change colour with the seasons. There are 630 different species.

National Conifer Week is organised by the Association of British Conifer Growers (ABCG) and funded by the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) and the Horticultural Development Council (HDC). More information can be found at www.conifers.org.uk

Gardening TV and radio

  • Tomorrow

8am, Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. Gardening tips from Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

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

2pm, Radio 4, Gardeners' Question Time. From Droitwich Spa with Chris Beardshaw, John Cushnie, Bob Flowerdew and chairman Peter Gibbs. Plus tips on over-wintering greenhouse plants, coping with squirrels and cutting back lavender. The gardening weather forecast is at 2.25pm.

  • Friday 8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World. The team makes major changes to the long borders.
  • Saturday, October 7 8am, Radio York, Gardening Phone-in. With Nigel Harrison, telephone number 0845 300 3000.