Spring is here, and so marks the re-emergence of vast amounts of ground elder, which is flourishing quite merrily in several of the gardens in my care. This year I happened to find in the Sarah Raven catalogue Tagetes minuata. I am placing a great deal of hope on my recently germinated seedlings. On this occasion flowering aesthetics are not a priority, even the packet describes it as not a looker. I am hoping for the eradication of those pernicious weeds that are the bain of my gardening life.
Phenomenal gardening weather at the moment, gardens are also flourishing,ponding and fronding.
I took a visit to the hairdressers last week and seemed to spend the entire time apologizing. I felt the need to inform them that as a gardener my hair was likely to be full of soil, twigs and other garden debris.
My newly cut hair feels clean,shiny and twig free and slightly shorter.
Sally Wicks 
What’s that extraordinary plant in the bottom photo? (Not the one of your hair, obviously! haha) I also apologise whenever I go to the hairdressers for those same reasons plus I have to stress that my new hair cut has to be completely no maintenance as I hate wasting good gardening time on faffing with my bonce. Please show us some photos of your Tagetes when it grows – 6ft high, wow! – I’d love to find a plant that kills couch grass. Am going to look this plant up!
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Dear Caro,
Many thanks for your email. I have always just thought of the last image as Magnolia x soulangea . I don’t know the cultivar, as it is in one of the gardens I work in. It could be Etienne Soulange Bodin – or who knows … It has looked fantastic for weeks though. My tagetes is about 3 inches tall at the moment, so there is a lot of growing to get on with. Kindest regards Sally
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