PLANT OF THE WEEK

THALICTRUM ‘ELIN’

Winter brassicas such as sprouting broccoli, winter cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale and leeks are all good to plant now

If you’ve been growing butternut squash or pumpkins, these can be planted outdoors. These are hungry and need lots of space.

Prepare first with barrowloads of well-rotted manure for best results.

The herb garden is looking overgrown now so it’s a good time to harvest sage, rosemary, bay and thyme for drying. Supplement hardy herbs with some tender basil.

This can be grown from seed now or you can divide up one of those pots you buy in the supermarket. These are bunches of seedlings all in the one pot, so will separate well – maybe five batches from one pot – which can be planted outdoors or into separate pots. Coriander, dill and parsley can also be sown directly outdoors now. ‘ELIN’ is one of the tallest meadow rues and is now reaching 7ft in my garden – and all without staking!

The purple stems are topped with clouds of flowers – the sepals are lilac which open to lots of yellow fluffy stamens.

Grow this perennial in moist soil in partial shade – it looks beautiful in herbaceous borders.

Time for action: ‘Quick’ veg, like lettuces and spring onions, can be sowed now

Juicy: You may have noticed the June drop, where apples topple from their trees