Rain and gales... time to prepare for spring

OCTOBER

is a busy month, but work can be stop-start, dictated by heavy rainfall and seasonal gales.

On days when it’s been too wet to dig I’ve been in the polytunnel taking cuttings from lobelias and salvias and planting tulips in pots.

Tulips don’t do well in my heavy soil so I grow them in containers instead, packing several layers of bulbs into every pot to give a vibrant show.

Over years of growing tulips I’ve developed my share of favourites but I always try to grow something new so this year, alongside purple Queen of Night and scented orange Ballerina, I’m trying an early variety called Hope that has creamy white petals streaked with red.

In the pots that sit in the back garden, where I like to have cheerful colours, I’ve planted dozens of tall Triumph tulips in a mix of bright shades. And to create a more subtle effect at the front door I’ve chosen Royal Pretender, which is orange; soft-coloured Salmon Van Eijk and La Belle Epoque, which has double flowers in shades I can only describe as bruised pink.

This week I’ve also planted dozens of little Snakeshead fritillaries amongst the Hellebores and Peonies in the front border and next I have to prepare a spot for the pale pink A Shropshire Lad climbing rose, picked up for a song in the bargain bin of the local garden centre.

First I need to dig out some of the perennial geraniums that grow beneath the wall, then I’ll work in plenty of well rotted manure.

Roses love rich, heavy soil and the spot I’ve picked out is south-facing but never dries out, so it should be just what’s needed to for this one.

The rose is just one bargain I’ve picked up in recent weeks. At this time of the year garden centres are reducing the amount of stock that they hold over winter and you can find a few treasures among the dried-up perennials and collapsed climbers.

Deciduous shrubs and roses that have been pruned hard to make them easier to handle don’t look nearly so appealing as trays of winter pansies and Skimmias with bright buds, but by next spring they will have recovered their looks, so you have to try to envisage what they will look like, not be put off by their tatty appearance.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with pansies or Skimmias and I have several of the latter in the garden, including one with very small leaves and flowers.

There are quite a few varieties of dwarf Skimmia and I don’t know which one this is, but it looks good all through the winter and smells delightful once the buds open in early spring.

It grows next to a large clump of Astilbe, which is next on my hit-list for splitting into smaller pieces.

Whilst I’m on a mission to divide and conquer, nothing in the garden is safe from my spade.