Rhubarb varieties:

Valentine—light production, very red flesh, quite sweet, late appearance of the stems

Goliath—heavy production, huge plants,

Victoria—if you can get hold of it, is a modern British variety, withstands heat and cold well, good, balanced production for the home grower

Esta—Swiss production, early maturity and good production

Raspberry varieties:

Zeva—Swiss variety, large tasty fruits, suitable for altitude growing

Autumn Bliss—autumn fruiting, no support needed, the raspberry to choose if you only want to grow one variety

Elida—wiss produced for mountain growing, very hardy, later production, summer fruiting

Meeker—Hester’s second favourite, very reliable and productive, great taste, long production period

North east balcony suggestions

Structure:       

Acer palmatum dissectum

Camellia

Fatshedera lizei

Fatsia japonica

Ilex crenata

Thuja orientalis “Aurea Nana”

Viburnum tinus “Variegata”

Colour:

Ajuga reptans “Rainbow”

Dryopteris erythrosa

Nandina domestica “Firepower” 

Fragrance;

Pieris

Climbers - clematis, or jasmine

Some suggestions for summer colour now:

Impatiens

Cannas

Dahlias

Next week, Hester reviews what’s hot and what’s not at the Chelsea Flower Show  with the director of the Swiss Gardening School, Tara Lissner.