If you have a well-drained, humus-rich, acidic soil in a sunny or partly shaded, frost-free position that has protection from the hot afternoon sun, plant a gardenia and you won't be disappointed.

Perfect for a container or as a specimen planting these eye-catching beauties are an asset to any garden.

Various conditions can cause daphne leaves to yellow.

Food deficiency, dryness, bad drainage, too much exposure or disease, can all be contributing factors to the discolouration process.

These fragrant bushes require a sheltered position, preferably with an east facing aspect to avoid the hot afternoon sun.

Although they require plenty of moisture during dry periods, they must have excellent drainage as water continuously around the roots will eventually cause them to rot.

I suggest an application of a rhododendron/daphne mix fertiliser in early spring.

A mulch or aged horse manure or compost is beneficial to a daphne, but keep it away from the main stem to prevent collar rot.

Watershoots, or basal shoots, on roses should not be cut back hard as the lower buds are usually too immature to produce shoots.

Cutting hard here can cause dieback in the stem.

Instead reduce the number of thin flowering stems at the top of the shoots to two or three and cut these back to one of these tiny buds.

Watershoots are invaluable as the basis to replace older, worn out wood on roses so they stay young and vigorous.

After pruning roses in August I like to spray them and the surrounding ground beneath with a copper and white oil combination spray.

The white oil will take care of any scale that may be present while the copper, being a fungicide, will eliminate any black spot spores which may be on the plants or on the ground.

Always rake up fallen leaves as it is on these that most of the disease is carried over from year to year.

The copper spray and the white oil can be used individually as against being mixed together.

As a mix it just saves time.

Camellia cuttings that produce flower buds before being fully rooted and growing strongly must be removed.

Flowering at this stage of early development will only weaken the plant and slow down its rate of growth.

Break off the buds with your thumb and forefinger being careful not to damage any leaf growth just beneath it.