IT WAS all going swimmingly – picking sweet peas, tomatoes actually ripening, a second flush of roses coming through – when, oh woe... the dreaded clematis wilt struck.

I shall describe its effects briefly – a healthy plant one day, dead the next. The whole thing looks as if it’s been ripped from its roots and left to dangle, leaves brown and dead and all flowerheads drooping. The thing is that it strikes so fast that you have no inkling that there’s a problem. I have suffered its effects once before... off I went to work (teaching at the time) having admired a lovely ‘Sealand Gem’ flowering its socks off, but on my return and a quick glance out of the window – disaster – the plant had gone as just described.

In those days the advice was to cut the whole thing down to the ground and drench the soil and roots with the fungicide, Benlate.

This is no longer available and hasn’t been for some time so all I can do is cut the whole thing to the ground, removing all stems and fallen leaves (green bin not the compost heap), feed the plant, water well, mulch and hope for the best. I don’t know why this has happened and whether the plant has been stressed by lack of water (my fault), the fence having been re-positioned after winds (but that was last year) or sheer bad luck – some varieties are more susceptible than others and some of the large-flowered hybrid types, of which ‘Honora’ is one, can certainly be clobbered.

On the other hand, my Trachelospermum jasminoides has been superb this year, flowering really well and filling the garden with the fragrance that emanates from its large, white jasmine-like flowers. This is an evergreen climber for a sheltered sunny spot and you need to be prepared for it to sit and sulk for a couple of years before it finally takes off.

Mine has been in the ground for seven years and now covers a span of 10ft. It will suffer if the winter is one of prolonged wet and cold combined, but shakes off snow and frosts. Trachelospermum asiaticum is said to be hardier – its leaves and flowers are a bit smaller – and I have one of these on a fairly exposed trellis where its evergreen leaves cover the view from the kitchen window to the back gate.

So it’s not all bad news. The hardy geraniums have also been good and cerise ‘Patricia’ has been a star performer, flowering for months.

The other triumph has been my Clerodendrum trichotomum which was heaved from a large pot a few years ago and put in the ground. It suffered over the past years from the attentions of slugs and snails but this year I made a valuable discovery. It appears that slugs are particularly keen on Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ – a form of cow parlsey. I know this because my plants were covered one morning in what, at first glance, looked like dead brown leaves. On further inspection a veritable multitude of slugs was found clinging, swaying and munching in the breeze. I picked them off and stood on them – went out about 30 minutes later to repeat the performance and made the path a rather slimy mess in the process, but it has worked wonders. The Clerodendrum is hole-free and has been flowering – it’s scented white flowers contributing to the evening fragrances. Do not confuse this plant with Clerodendrum bungei – that one is a thug.