As the first frosts bite, time to warm your heart with thoughts of spring
There is no doubt that the weather is getting colder as winter approaches, says Agnes Stevenson, as she thinks about which colourful delights to grow next year
As soon as frost begins to bite, it will be time to uproot this year’s dahlias and save the tubers for next summer. Digging up dahlias is one of those tasks that lets you know that the growing season is well and truly over, but for the moment these Mexican favourites are still going strong, filling the garden with all the exuberance of a mariachi band.
Because of heavy soil I grow all my dahlias in pots and while I usually restrict myself to single flowered varieties, I have an urge to splurge next year on bigger, blowsier dinner-plate blooms in loud and clashing tones, and maybe some with stripes as well.
I’m definitely becoming bolder in my choice of colours and I’ve still got a hankering to grow the bright orange climbing rose that I spotted at Chelsea Flower Show some years ago. The name has long escaped me, but I can still picture how vivid it looked as it twined its way across a trellis.would it look that good in my garden? Perhaps not; it took the practised eye of a top garden designer to know exactly what to plant with it so that the impact of its glowing petals was striking but not strident.
No garden should ever be without roses, and as the year moves on, bare root roses are becoming available so if you fancy a glow-in-the-dark climber, or perhaps something more tasteful, then now’s the time to place your order.
Roses sold during the dormant season don’t look like much, in fact the first time I opened a box containing some I had bought from a breeder, my heart sank at the sight of them, but packed into those twiggy stems and brown roots was all the promise of a beautiful summer and by June they were stunning.
If you don’t want to buy more roses but have a few spots where you think you could squeeze in a few more, then the
approaching dormant season is a good time to propagate the roses that you already have in your garden by taking cuttings. All you need to do is to cut some healthy stems and then bury them two-thirds deep into a large pot or a very narrow trench with a layer of horticultural sand added to the bottom.
Most roses sold by commercial growers are grafted on to a different rootstock so that the nurseries can manipulate growth-pattern and vigour, but roses will grow happily on their own roots, and although it will take a couple of years until you have a young plant that you can set out in the garden, your patience will be rewarded in the end.
But while it is good to plan ahead, it would be a pity to overlook what is happening in the garden right now, when the autumn show is getting under way and trees and shrubs are becoming suffused with rich tones of red and gold.
So make time to stop what you are doing and take in the fireworks happening overhead.