Flowers

This is the month to plant bulbs for spring displays. Making excellent companions for daffodils are old fashioned, sweetscented redbrown wallflowers planted beside a late flowering variety of daffodil.

Purple violas also look good with late flowering daffodils.

Southern gardeners have it over their northern counterparts when it comes to tulips, for these hardy bulbs prefer winters that chill them thoroughly, and they are intolerant of humid conditions. They like a sunny spot and can be left for years, although lifting them when the foliage dies down is recommended. Careful selection of varieties will give tulip flowers over a longer period. Crocus corms and Iris reticulata are seen better if planted along the edges of paths, while gloryofthe snow (Chionodoxa luciliae), snowdrops (Galanthus) and bluebells (Hyacinthoides) are good for rose beds or used to cover bare ground under trees.

Rambling roses will have completed their flowering season and can now be pruned. If there is plenty of new growth at ground level, cut off old branches that have borne flowers. If new growth is scant, simply remove worn or diseased wood and cut back faded flower trusses and seed hips.

A liberal dressing of compost or commercial rose fertiliser will encourage fresh growth next season.

Lawn grass seed will still germinate in most areas if sown this month or next.