Crossword

Put down your trowel, pick up a pen and exercise those brain muscles instead…

ACROSS

1 It’s time to __ tender young plants, ready for planting out (6,3)

7 Scarlet __ beetle is a threat to this bulbous plant (4)

8 Seedlings are at risk from these slippery customers (5)

9 As clematis stems develop, __ in new growth to supports (3)

10 Rosa __ is a wild rose with small, bright-yellow flowers (4)

11 These bright, showy bloomers are a glory of the spring garden (7)

12 __ densa, or large-flowered waterweed, can be invasive (6)

14 Trifolium __ is known as ruddy clover for its red-purple flowers (6)

18 ‘Laxton’s __ ’ is a particularly juicy, red-purple plum (7)

20 Festive name for a popular forsythia variety (6)

21 Medicinal herb elecampane belongs to this genus (5)

23 Fragrant spring bloomer, another name for daphne (8)

24 Set up a worm bin to recycle __ waste from the garden (5)

DOWN

1 Clump-forming east Asian plant, whose foliage adds interest to shady borders (5)

2 Pick the tart-tasting stems of this plot staple as they ripen (7)

3 Crataegus orientalis is better known as __ thorn (7)

4 Describes a leaf shape with a blunt tip and sides forming an angle of more than 90 degrees (6)

5 Keep plenty of this handy to protect young seedlings from late frosts (6)

6 Describes a soil with a pH level above 7 (8)

13 Now’s the time to transplant tomatoes into __ bags (7)

15 Love __ is a romantic name for Hedera helix (6)

16 Hatiora gaertneri is better known as __ cactus (6)

17 These shell-like bumps on stems and leaves are evidence of a pest infestation (6)

19 Don’t forget to __ spring shrubs after flowering (5)

22 The flowers of Fuchsia

‘Heidi __‘ have crimson tubes and sepals and lilac-mauve petals (3)