Beauty knows no bounds in Roger Roberts's Duffield garden and now the retired amateur is opening it for charity.

FOR the next two weeks, Roger Roberts will spend every waking hour working in his garden.

The 63-year-old has a pile of jobs to do before he opens his stunning space to the public.

"It's not stunning yet," he says, wiping his brow. "I've literally got masses to do but I'll get there and the garden will be perfect for when people come and see it."

Roger has spent more than 15 years creating his outdoor masterpiece in Duffield.

He has more than 1,000 plants in his garden and it is truly stunning. After a four-year break, the retired amateur is back in the game. And this year, he promises visitors more than ever.

"I've probably raised about £10,000 for the National Garden Scheme," says Roger.

"My wife, Susan and children, Ben and Sarah, all get involved. It is a real family affair and this year will be no exception."

Roger is not panicking about everything he has to do before his first open day on June 8. He is quietly confident. He also says his home – for the next few days at least – will be outside.

But that is not at all bad when you see just how Roger has cultivated his land.

He has created so many wonders in his garden it is impossible to talk about them all. But wait until you see his Japanese tea house, his Italian-walled rose garden with its hand-painted mural and the stunning stream which feeds into a beautiful pond.

Says Roger: "When Susan and I bought this house, there was soil, space and a smidgeon of land where I could make things happen. If I put the effort in, I knew I could make a real garden – something I would be proud of."

Roger soon realised that his garden was a refuge from work, a cherished haven, a place where he could make great things happen. He has achieved all that.

"Gardening was destined to be my theatre of creativity," he says. "It started with tomatoes – dozens of tomato plants in old cooking oil drums. It was such a pleasure to research how to cultivate them, tend their progress and harvest their fruit.

"One of my brothers also caught the gardening bug. He moved to Vancouver to retire and has created a national collection of hydrangeas."

Roger did not do anything to his garden for the first couple of years after he bought the house. He wanted to enjoy the blank canvas and admire the lawn.

Between his business trips, he started spending more time in the garden. His plan was to create different aspects and draw in a variety of styles.

In 1997, Roger created a Mediterranean border near his patio area. It was sheltered, warm and sunny and he wanted to make an interesting display of plants.

He says: "I had to lift the grass and lay down a membrane. That was a laborious job. But once I started planting, it was really enjoyable.

"I bought things like brugmansia, gazania, phormium, agave and yuccas. It was lovely, but in 2010 the winter destroyed a whole host of my plants.

"In 2012, I had to dismantle the site and clear all the aggregate away. This is now a perennial border and I've used plants recommended by Piet Oudolf in the natural planting style."

Each year, Roger tried to take on a new project in the garden. Although he was regularly away on business, he still found time to spend in the garden. And, thanks to his contacts in the beer trade, he says he found just the right person to build him his Japanese house.

Roger scoured the country for plants to form what was to become his tropical centrepiece. He studied books and made sketches before he started work.

He wanted this part of his garden to bring an exotic mix to his outdoor space and he has done just that. He is proud of his banana grove, which is carefully tended to avoid damage in bad weather.

"I planted the border around this time of the year," recalls Roger. "I used bulbs and tubers, perennials and shrubs. I've got dahlias and amorphallus, acanthus and alocasia and two trees, aralia and catalpa.

"Later, I added an arch on either side so I could frame the path entrances. I added climbers, too."

Perhaps Roger's biggest task was when he decided to create his miniature Japanese border, complete with "house".

On the right-hand side of his house, facing west beneath a conifer hedge, he planted a Japanese cherry tree and a stag's head sumac.

The mossy area, which sat in shade for most of the day, was where Roger cut a deep curved border. He carefully selected plants like rhododendron, fargesia, acer, pieris, ophiopogon, and created an authentic Japanese area.

"At first, I didn't commission the Japanese house," says Roger. "It was going to cost a lot of money and back then, we didn't invest.

"But as the garden started to take shape, I started to see how beautiful a Japanese tea house would look. It was a serious investment but it looks amazing."

On open days, Roger decorates the inside with a low Japanese table and an beautiful orchid.

Colour-themed borders also add sparkle to Roger's garden and play host to an amazing array of unusual plants.

They need continuous refinement and replacement to keep them in order, but every shrub and bulb is listed in his garden directory.

All the plants are labelled outside, too, so if you visit and like something you will be able to write down its name.

Roger says: "These borders take on a special effect in the summer dusk when the back light from a slowly sinking sun shines through the leaves and flowers – especially the eryngium, cotinus and crocosmia.

Roger has also created a woodland shady area, with a flagged path, sitting beneath a gigantic copper beech. It is an ideal space for shade-loving plants and he has even created a place for reclusive hedgehogs, thanks to his stack of tree logs and branches.

It is almost completely private here. The shrubs and perennials envelope the area to such an extent that only a slim aperture reveals the rest of the garden.

"This is a lovely place to sit in the late evening as the sun dies down," says Roger. "I can sit here for hours.

"There are so many places to sit in, but this is perhaps my favourite."

At the furthest point, and invisible from the house, is another one of Roger's treasures.

Sunk behind a retaining wall is an area of true splendour. It is Roger's Italian walled rose garden, complete with hand-painted mural.

He says: "This was once a small orchard with the remnants of four sickly pear trees, a rubbish tip and an enormous mound of grass clippings.

"My love of Italy, in particular Tuscany, inspired me to dream up a simple design for a walled, symmetrical rose garden.

"A heavy trunk and root grinder was brought in to clear out the tough trees and a 6ft high wall was erected on three sides with the two parallel sides ending short of the retaining wall and curving down.

"Italian-style roof tiles were placed on top and the walls were plastered and painted in terracotta pink.

"A half-moon pool was built in the middle of the rear wall and a mythical male god spouts water."

But Roger's piece de resistance has to be a trompe de l'oeil depicting a Tuscan scene with juniper-fringed lanes and hill top villages.

Three borders, surrounding the wonderful seating area, are packed with hybrid tea roses in various tones of scented pink.

Paul Sherville, Just Joey, Lady Sylvia and Silver Jubilee roses show off their finery in the summer months.

"It's the last place in the garden to see the sunset," says Roger. "This is the place to sit on a balmy summer's evening, rose scent lingering in the still air and water trickling in the pond."

On each side of Roger's house, passageways lead to the front. The back door path has a soil border backed by a beech hedge up to a point where his neighbour's gable end forms the boundary.

In the border, Roger has planted pachysandra as ground cover, has positioned old chimney pots at intervals topped with hostas and covered the towering gable end wall with ivy.

On the other side, there is a path and a raised border supported by a dry stone wall. An iron arbour runs the full length of the path and climbers weave their way through the metal framework.

Roger's front garden is just as impressive and pretty. It is a traditional cottage garden and, believe it or not, among other things, a vine of black grapes grows up the front of his house.

But despite all the hard work ahead, Roger is looking forward to airing his garden once more. He knows people from the across the county will come and see what he has done.

"Bring it on," he says. "I'm actually looking forward to it. I've just got a lot to get done before the first open day.

"Susan will help me and it's amazing how much time you have when you're retired."

HOW TO FIND IT: Roger's garden is at Wharfedale, 34 Broadway, Duffield, Derby.

OPENING TIMES: It will open 11am-4pm on June 8 and 29, July 20 and August 10 and 24. Entrance is £3. Cakes and drinks will be available. Plants will be on sale, too.

Private visits are welcome for parties of 20 or more, between June and September.

WEBSITE: To view Roger's garden, visit www.garden34.co.uk. To find out about other Derbyshire gardens opening as part of the National Garden Scheme visit www.ngs.org.uk

Our magnificent moths are a sign of a healthy landscape, says Sally Granger, visitor officer at the RSPB's Coombes Valley nature reserve.

THE flashes of colour woven into the landscape by frolicking butterflies are firmly entrenched in our images of spring and summer.

Throughout the long winter, daydreams of warm, lazy days have them tumbling above our picnic blankets.

However, with the warmer weather and the promise of sunshine on the horizon, what of the butterfly's shyer, less celebrated but no less beautiful relative; the moth?

Their summer presence is much less noted and yet their diversity outstrips the UK's 59 species of butterfly by a staggering number, with at least 2,500 different species in the UK.

They are an important pollinator of trees and flowers and their caterpillars are a staple food source for birds and bats.

This fragile insect feels the impact of any slightest change, even to the point that their population health is a telling indicator of the wider environmental health.

To monitor the populations of these fascinating creatures, there are currently moth traps up and down the country filling up with the abundance of May's and June's species.

The iconic pink and green elephant hawk moth, one of our strangest and yet most beautiful moths, is nearing its peak of activity.

Intriguingly, although moths are known as nocturnal, there are also a great many which fly by day and are as vibrant as our most eye-catching butterflies.

One of the rarest day-flying moths is the argent and sable, a black and white moth whose specific habitat requirements have meant rapid decline. It can now only be found in pockets of the UK.

Some areas of woodland are managed specifically for the benefit of this moth. Argent and sable use birch trees to lay their eggs, feed on caterpillars and to find winter shelter for their cocoons. Unfortunately, their preference for young birch growth means those trees require coppice management. This very particular preference, coupled with declining woodland management practices such as coppicing, has led to a dangerous reduction in available habitat.

The exciting news is that there have already been some sightings this year of the enigmatic argent and sable, just a stone's throw away at RSPB Coombes Valley reserve in north Staffordshire.

Sadly, the vast majority of UK butterflies are also facing decline. It is important that we conserve both moths and butterflies for a wealth of reasons; they play important roles in food chains and as pollinators and their decline will have knock-on effects on the birds, bats and mammals, which depend on them for food.

On a positive note, nearby sightings of the argent and sable are an encouraging sign of our local landscape's future health.

If you would like to give moth trapping a go, it is very easy to do at home. While there is basic equipment available to buy, the easiest and most rudimentary method consists of a sheet hung from a washing line at dusk with a bright light behind.

Moths landing on it are easily observable and it is a great treat for staying up past bed time for all the family!

RSPB Coombes Valley, near Leek, manages areas of woodland for the argent and sable moth. It has resulted in six sightings so far this year. Come and visit us to explore the beautiful woodland trails. Phone the office on 01538 384017 or visit us online at www.rspb.org.uk/coombesvalley for more information.

WHETHER it's an emergency or a relaxing bank holiday, pictures with a "mayday" or May Day theme are our latest TogsQuad collection.

This month's outright winner, as voted for by members of the Derby Telegraph's photographic club, is Chris Carrington of Chellaston who chose the "mayday" option.

A classic morse key made from Bakelite and placed on replica documents from the Titanic was Chris's composition. The papers were scans of original distress messages from the ship.

Chris said: "I can't begin to tell you how proud and thrilled I was to have my picture chosen as the winning image for the challenge. I find photography incredibly rewarding but it makes it even better when other people take interest in a picture that I've taken!"

Other members chose the May Day option and use the weather to illustrate it.

Alison Roberts chose a view looking out through glass at flowers at her home in Chellaston and was given a highly commended vote.

Yet more action came from public events that took place this month. Don Webster, of Oakwood, found his picture of morris dancers in Derby's Market Place in Derby during the May Day celebrations.

Ann Webster of Oakwood snapped her close-up image of a similar subject and was highly commended for it.

Young female performers were the choice of Helen Bacon, of Hilton, at the May Day event in Derby, too.

Terry James found his moment in his garden when two insects landed on a table and appeared to be tussling with each other.

Chris Calverley of Oakwood set up a creative interpretation of the old phrase "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out" by making fun with the idea of shedding outdoor clothes at the end of the month.

Returning to the international distress signal of mayday, a bright yellow air and sea rescue helicopter representing emergency action was photographed at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum by Nick Allen, of Stenson Fields.

On the same theme of using May Day to represent urgency, Geraldine Curtis, of Morley, found the perfect chance to capture a second of mayhem. She spotted a shed fire in the street where she lives and leapt into action herself to grab her camera to capture the firemen at work.

If you would like to get involved in TogsQuad join us on Facebook by searching for TogsQuad. Our next club meeting is at Quad on Thursday, June 19 from 7-9pm and costs £4 per ticket. Booking is essential.

NEW magnolia, acer and oak saplings have been planted in Darley Park to mark one of the finishing touches to an £850,000 restoration project.

Last year, Derby City Council gave planning consent and awarded a long lease to conservation developer Dr Tanya Spilsbury to restore the derelict grade two-listed Darley Abbey Stables and bakehouse.

Both buildings date back to the early 18th century and form part of the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site.

Two magnolia trees, two acers and an oak have now been planted in neighbouring Darley Park to replace five unspecified trees that were removed from the stables' boundary during the regeneration project.

The new trees were donated by Dr Spilsbury as part of the planning agreement with the council.

They are part of a wider conservation project, part-funded by the council's Regeneration Fund, to replenish the surrounding parkland with trees and plants.

The completed development of Darley Abbey Stables will host eight individual work spaces, including a pilates studio and physiotherapy room, in a central courtyard near Darley Park Terrace Café.

Councillor Martin Repton, cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: "This work is exciting and inspiring and is being done in an incredibly sensitive way, respecting the historic nature of the park and the importance of the flora and fauna.

"It is uplifting to see the progression of the restoration project. The council's regeneration and planning teams have been working closely with the developer to restore parkland features, as this is just as important as the work being done on Darley Abbey Stables.

"This superb project is going to make Darley Park a first-class attraction for local residents."

Rare moments in the history of Derby's struggle to come to terms with contemporary art in the 1960s are being recollected in an exhibition called "Tom Early and Friends" being staged in Falmouth. One of those "friends", David Ainley, looks back on Tom's life.

TOM Early was a founder member of the Derby Group, a coterie of lecturers, notably Keith Richardson-Jones, and students at the College of Art in Green Lane, who were determined to revitalise art in the town.

Tom (1914-1967) came to Derby in 1958 to take up the post of registrar at the Pastures Hospital, Mickleover.

He and his wife, Eunice, were, with others, also instrumental in bringing the Samaritans to Derby.

Though he had not painted for a number of years, Tom brought with him a remarkable and intimate knowledge of modern art in Cornwall, where, in the late 1940s and 1950s, following encouragement by artist Ben Nicholson, he became part of the St Ives art colony.

There he joined the Penwith Society of Artists and exhibited with them to critical acclaim in St Ives and London.

The Cornish Review of Spring 1951 reported that: "The authentic voice of Cornwall was heard… nowhere more insistently than in the rapturous exclamation of Tom Early, in whose swirling panoramas the boats danced, like animated corks, in and out of the bays or lay like jazzy skeletons upon the brilliant yellow sands. In this painter… the most vibrant emotive forces were at work."

The Cornish artist and writer Sven Berlin described him as "a unique painter" who "leads us through landscapes of fierce intensity, a terrifying loneliness without ever seeming to be aware of our dismay and our wonder at walking within a dream he has made".

In the book Britain's Art Colony by the Sea (1959), Denys Val Baker regretted that Tom Early had left Cornwall as he "reflected intensely the way in which the Cornish scene took charge of the painter's work… with his startling use of bright colours".

Once in Derby, Tom became a frequent visitor to the college of art and, stimulated by the environment in which there were lively debates about new developments in art, he resumed painting, drawing inspiration not from the local landscape but, among other things observed and remembered, from ecclesiastical architecture and stained glass.

The range of symbolic forms he devised, married to his individual use of colour, resulted in unique and memorable works that resonate with psychological depth the mysteriousness of which defies any simple interpretation.

Friends with whom Tom Early was associated in St Ives, represented by work in this new exhibition in Falmouth, include some of the best-known names in 20th century British art, amongst them Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon and Terry Frost.

Maybe it was Tom's experience of the Penwith Society of Artists that spurred his eagerness, with others of similar enthusiasm, to found an exhibiting group of contemporary artists in Derby. The Derby Group, whilst accepting "no conformity in style or aims" promoted itself as a forum for work in "the modern idiom".

Its first exhibition was held in April and May, 1962 at the old Derby Art Gallery in the Wardwick (the extension with which today's visitors are familiar was built in 1964).

The Derbyshire Advertiser heralded the show in an article headed "Artists' avant-garde assault on Derby". Whilst referring to the show as "an exhilarating experience" it was noted that "many of the public are certain to be puzzled by such explosive material which is almost totally unrelieved by any concession to pictorialism".

The ensuing extensive controversy in the local press, particularly in the Derby Evening Telegraph, led to an dynamic public meeting at the art gallery attended by more than 500 people who, with varying degrees of insight, genuine curiosity or outright derision questioned four of the artists, including Tom Early.

Following this exhibition, the Derby Group's reputation grew beyond Derby and a number of successful shows followed in the Midlands and the South through the 1960s.

The Arts Review (January 1966) commented that "One is impressed to find, firmly based outside London, such a talented group which is clearly part of the mainstream of modern painting".

After Tom Early's death in 1967, the group's final exhibition, including his work, was held in Lincoln in 1968, by which time most of the members had moved away from Derby to pursue careers elsewhere.

Of the Derby Group artists represented in the Falmouth exhibition by works from the 1960s, Ian Breakwell, who died in 2005, became internationally renowned for innovative work across a range of media.

His association with Derby was recognised in the exhibition at Quad, Ian Breakwell: The Elusive State of Happiness, in 2010. Twenty-one of his works are now in the collection of the Tate.

Keith Richardson-Jones (1925–2005) moved to Monmouthshire and became involved with the innovative Signals Gallery in London. As he adopted more minimalist approaches, often referencing music, he had one-person shows at Lisson Gallery in London, Oriel in Cardiff, and a 25-year retrospective at three galleries in Wales in 1996.

Peter Cartwright, who had a 70th birthday retrospective show at Derby Art Gallery in 2009, and Michael Miller continue to work in Nottinghamshire and Hertfordshire respectively. Both have exhibited in John Moores painting exhibitions and Michael Miller in the Threadneedle Prize.

Dennis Hawkins (1925-2001) had an international reputation as an award-winning printmaker, whose work was widely collected here and abroad. He was also well-known as director of art at Repton School (1952-1985).

For many years secretary of the Derby Group, I remain active in Derbyshire and am now known for works which arise from my interest in the labour involved in places mined for lead and tin in Derbyshire and Cornwall. My works have been shown in the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the Discerning Eye exhibitions.

In 2009, Tom Early's widow Eunice Campbell, author of The Magic Shuttle: the Story of Tom Early St Ives and after, now living in Salisbury, donated eight of his paintings and drawings to the collection of Falmouth Art Gallery.

Of the new exhibition, the gallery director Henrietta Boex has commented: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to showcase works by this vibrant and intriguing artist. Tom Early is so often overlooked despite being held in high regard by his contemporaries in St Ives and Derby.

"We hope visitors to the show will come away feeling they have made an exciting artistic discovery."

In the light of the last 50 years, Derbeians might smile wryly at the speculation of the Evening Telegraph's art critic following the Derby Group exhibition of 1962 that "if the standard is maintained and if these people get the local support they deserve, the Derby Group will do for Derby what the Hallé did for Manchester".

Readers might reflect whether Derby Art Gallery now has the ability to mount an exhibition that would generate such interest and controversy that accompanied the Derby Group show of 1962.

Has the public's increased familiarity with art diminished its ability to shock viewers into awareness?

Does the gallery, with its commendable commitment to improving the display of works by Joseph Wright, have the space to maintain a changing exhibitions programme of contemporary art of quality that will encourage people to visit the gallery frequently?

Has the accessions policy in recent years enabled the gallery to acquire significant contemporary works for its permanent collection?

Anyone in pursuit of some art that, for a decade, stirred the artistic sensibilities of Derby will not find it in the city but has an chance to be reminded of it by visiting Cornwall. Tom Early and Friends, is being staged at Falmouth Art Gallery until June 21.

Do you remember Tom Early from his years in Derby? Why not share your memories? contact details below.