Growing flowers for cutting is a great idea, but some of us find it very difficult to perform the act of severing blooms from flowering plants - it seems a shame to spoil what will be a longer-lasting show out of doors, unless you are blessed with flowers in abundance.

Shrubs grown for their foliage are less daunting when it comes to clipping a few sprigs to add to the supermarket bouquet - a small number of shoots don't leave a gap, and many of these plants actually appreciate being 'pruned' in this way, and respond by growing back vigorously.

In September and October, as Hydrangea blooms begin to change from pink to burnished red, consider relieving your shrub of a few of its flowers, randomly selected from throughout the bush, with stems about 40 cm long.

On shrubs with 15 or more flowers, you can certainly remove 5 without spoiling the display. Place the stems in a tall vase, with about 7 cm of water, and leave them. And that's all you have to do - after a time, the water will evaporate, but the blooms will retain their colour as they slowly dry out.

You will be delighted with your wonderful home-grown indoor autumn display, either leaving the Hydrangea flowers on their own or mixing them with some grasses, perhaps, for contrast.

Happy gardening