My easterly garden is about 15 minutes from the North Sea coast with bitter winds in winter and dry-as-dust days in summer.

Since moving here 15 years ago from a cottage with rich black river silty soil where bright clematis romped through healthy roses, I’ve had to adapt and innovate.

One of the best times in the year is late summer and autumn as this shot of an October border shows.

Some of my best plants are those requiring little or no maintenance and I especially love nature’s happy accidents which can happen when you give ‘weeds’ and wild flowers a chance to flourish. You never know what you might get – anything from ferny bronze fennel and bright opium poppies to a spectacular chandelier of vivid yellow evening primrose.