I am in the process of having my sadly overgrown garden cleared - by a duo of female gardeners who work like Trojans and actually enjoy clearing brambles!   

I will be left with pretty much a blank canvas in some areas so will no doubt be coming back here for planting suggestions.

I also intend to turn one area into a veggie plot (it's a long time since I grew veg apart from tomatoes and beans in tubs) and would like to try some of the unusual varities (purple and black) of potatoes.  Has anyone grown them?

Re unusual potatoes, I grew some Arran Victory this year - purple skin white fleshed mashers - along with 10 other varieties including the celebrated Witchill/Snowdrop newly available from Alan Romans as virus free stock.  Altogether a good spud year.
Similarly my toms have been good with little blight outdoors thanks to Ferline which has been completely blight resistant and produced good large-ish red fruits.
Biggest tom this year weighed in at 2 lb 5oz - Mortgage Lifter - very tasty American heritage variety, closely followed by fruits of German Strawberry at well over 1lb each.  All very tasty and are excellent slow dried in the oven, there being very little sun to speak of in Suffolk as elsewhere. 
Garlic planting soon and luckily I've got a patch of clean land to use so hoping for some good bulbs in 2009, having lost 20% of this years crop to onion white rot, which I gather remains active in the soil for up to 15 years.

Garlic is simple to grow, just break the bulbs up and plant the largest ones (eat the smallest).  There are two planting times either Autumn or Spring and some varieties are specific to each - others can be planted at either.  In Suffolk I'll plant up to November the idea being to get the Autumn bulbs in the ground before the frosts (whilst there still are frosts) that are necessary to ensure good bulb growth.  That apart there's nothing else to do except hoe to keep weeds away and wait until the tops start to yellow usually around end-June where I am and dig 'em up.  Boy are they good when fresh.
I haven't found a better supplier than Isle of Wight Garlic co, who have an excellent selection of different kinds and sell variety packs for those wanting to try different kinds.
Good luck with it.

Pop over and see Perfect Wagnerite, Martle!!

Re purple spuds (and red) and loads of others including virus-free heritage varieties, try Google-ing the Alan Romans website.  Absolutely the best quality, and very reasonable prices.  Mr Romans is an extremely helpful and knowledgeable chap and the author of the best book on spuds.  He also sells flower and veg seeds at 50p per packet, all of A1 quality.
Haven't tried Garlic in pots but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work, I believe onions work well.

Then I discover Amorosa is a very early rosy red salad, pretty and smooth when small but becomes rather Desiree shaped and more multi–purpose as it matures 

Simple mashed spuds will never be the same as we imagine them turning from pretty and smooth into multi-purpose Desirees! 

Is this, in potato terms, the equivalent of middle-aged spread? 

Hurrah!  I've just ordered a Greenhouse!  (You cannot believe how difficult it is getting things started without one.....)

Tommo

I'd leave it and see.  You never know what a plant is doing after this summer....

You may get a pleasant surprise!

(And I wouldn't put it past a viola to come out in the wrong place...)

Tommo