CUTTINGS

The Alpine Garden Society is holding a summer show today (11.30am- 4.30pm) at Merrist Wood College, Worplesdon, Guildford, Surrey. Look out for saxifrages, campanulas, lewisias, orchids, daphnes, sedums and sempervivums. Admission pounds 1.

There is still time to glory in the sight of wisteria in full flower on the pergola in the 15-acre gardens surrounding Fulham Palace, Bishop's Avenue, off Fulham Palace Road, London. The palace, once surrounded by a moat, was the headquarters of the Bishops of London and here, a 16th- century bishop grew the first tamarisk tree ever to be seen in Britain. Alongside the wisteria - which is at least 100 years old - is a knot garden, laid out in the 1830s and now planted up with herbs. The gardens are open daily from 8am until dusk, admission free. The museum in the palace is open Wed-Sun (2-5pm); admission 50p.

The Flowers of William Morris by Derek Barker (Barn Elms pounds 16.50) has been published to coincide with the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The author is secretary of the William Morris society and the book, well illustrated with unfamiliar plans, photographs and paintings, traces the influence of gardens in the life of the great polymath. Relying a great deal on quotations from Morris's letters, the book gives a vivid picture of his taste in flowers: hollyhocks, strawberries, sweet sultan, poppies, China asters. Though brief (86 pages) and expensive, this is a lively coda to the monumental biographies already published.