Clematis montana rubens

Today's the day ............................. for a pink party

I think that we have always planted a Clematis montana in every garden we have ever had. They are big, vigorously- growing vines that are relatively easy to grow. The combination of the mass of rosy pink, lightly fragrant flowers against bronze-coloured foliage is pretty stunning - especially as it can grow twenty or thirty feet from the original plant.

I remember when we lived in Aberdeen many years ago, the montana we had there seemed to fill the entire garden with its flowers. We decided to have a Pink Party and invited some close friends round. The idea was that you had to come wearing something pink.

John Robertson came up with a resourceful and imaginative solution to the dress code. He folded up a few pages of the Financial Times to make a sort of Napoleon-type hat.

Brilliant, I thought ................................................