Ask Claralou

1. How did you come to join Gardeners Corner?
I was looking for some advice on what to do about a sick rose, which WiseOldOwl and others kindly provided. (The rose is doing well, by the way.)

2. Name the countries or counties you have lived in …
Boring, boring, boring. I'm a Londoner who has gradually inched her way out to Kent.

3. Describe the type of work you do.
For years I worked in the backrooms of broadcasting. Now I'm a freelance, and work from home.

4. Describe how you first got into gardening …
My parents are enthusiastic gardeners, as were my grandparents. Some of my earliest memories are of my Mum and Dad doing battle with heavy clay soil. I had my own patch in the garden before I started infants' school. I grew carrots. Unfortunately I couldn't resist pulling up the tiny seedings to see how they were doing before they'd produced much in the way of a root. But my Mum rather sportingly cooked the tiddlers and served them with a big flourish.

5. What would be your dream type of garden and do you think you will ever be able to achieve it?
At the moment I garden a tiny little town space jammed in amongst flats and houses. If money were no object, I'd like a nice funky formal patch near the house (which would itself be splendid, of course), then a more exuberant semi-tamed garden full of scented plants and finally a patch of woodland. Ooh - did I mention a kitchen garden? (One in which nothing ever gets pests or diseases, of course.) Actually, though, I'd settle for a decent sized patch which has space for a largish greenhouse, a garden shed and a compost heap. If I could keep something like that under control and get it looking good, I'd consider it an achievement.

6. Have you any particular favourites in celebrity gardeners, flowers, shrubs and/or vegetables?
Hmm. Favourite gardeners or other vegetables ... thinks ... I once met Alan Titchmarsh. Well, to be accurate he was dumped in my office while he waited for a producer. At the time I had absolutely no idea who he was - and it showed. But he was absolutely charming - there was no 'do you know who I am??' and as a consequence I have been rather a fan ever since.

As far as plants go, they usually have to have a scent before I can really love them. I adore heliotropes - although some of the modern bedding varieties don't have the heady scent of the older types. 'Princess Marina' is good.

7. Have you ever entered any of your plants into shows?
No. I don't think they'd win. And I don't really get all that 'monster leek' or 'most primped pom-pom chrysanthemum' stuff. But hey! Never say never!

8. If you had a garden created in your memory, what plants do you think would most adequately sum up you and your life?
Hmm. Can I pass on this one? I don't think I really want a memorial garden. Since we're talking 'delusions of grandeur' here, I wouldn't mind a plant named after me though. Anything except a lavatera.