Firstly, may I wish you a very happy New Year and here’s hoping that 2015 will be kind to us all.

Secondly, although you have been through the mill, what with eating, drinking and generally carousing for the past week and no doubt feeling wrecked, I am going to draw your attention to something requiring a bit of work – planning.

Seed catalogues will be coming thick and fast; some I discard without opening, others I flick through to see if something catches my eye.

Generally, I do my seed ordering online from a company that does not advertise itself as many do with so-called freebies – one such sent me the most revolting garden light-thing in the form of a lighthouse one year, even though I had particularly asked them not to. Needless to say, I gave it away and no longer deal with that company.

I have also saved much seed from last year and, stored in an airtight box in the fridge (not the freezer), they will last for a few years. So it’s anything new and sparkly that I’ll be looking for to add to my ‘tried-and-tested’ stalwarts. I shall also be sowing my sweet pea seeds soon to get them going – ‘Chatsworth’ was superb last year with long, straight stems perfect for cutting, and ‘High Scent’ did what it said on the tin. I shall combine them with a dark burgundy, I think, but I haven’t decided which yet.

I want to remind you too, of the sometimes hazardous procedure of buying plants from mail order companies. I have mentioned before that unless you are told what size the thing is, you can expect a stick rather than the generously proportioned shrub you were anticipating. A reminder too, that if the words ‘9cm pot’ are mentioned, then it is the equivalent of a coffee mug and not a bucket!

Now to the Latin test I set you last week. How did you get on? Don’t answer that! Instead, I shall enlighten you.

1. nitida – shiny leaves. Lonicera nitida is a member of the honeysuckle family and is a great alternative to box if you want a low hedge.

2. palustris – of marshes and Caltha palustris is also known as the marsh marigold or kingcup.

3. montana – of mountains. Clematis montana is a native of the mountains of Asia.

4. grandiflora – large flowered – that one should have been easy! Magnolia grandiflora has the largest flowers in the genus.

5. sempervirens – always green. Iberis sempervirens is known as the candytuft plant.

6. lusitanica – Portuguese. Prunus lusitanica is the Portuguese laurel. It is evergreen and makes useful hedging or a large shrub/small tree.

7. caerulea – blue. Passiflora caerulea has blue filaments and is the hardiest of all the Passionflowers.

8. quercifolia – oak-leaved. Hydrangea quercifolia has wonderful, large leaves that go maroon in autumn.

9. sinensis – Chinese. Wisteria sinensis is the Chinese wisteria as opposed to Wisteria japonica (can you guess where that is from?!) 10. lactiflora – milky. Campanula lactiflora, known as the milky bellflower, has milk-white flowers but there are many cultivars of pink and purple.

I hate to be a killjoy but I am going to leave the rest of the answers until next week...