Gardening notebook
Time to plant
The promise of a colourful spring garden begins at this time of autumnal splendour when the earth’s temperature cools down. Now’s the time to plant indigenous and exotic spring-flowering bulbs so that they will be in full bloom after the winter months – fill flowerbeds, rockeries, containers and hanging baskets with these beauties.
Winter and spring-flowering annuals have many uses in the landscape, massed for visual impact, in borders, in pots, window boxes and hanging baskets. Use compact varieties to edge paths and around spring bulbs. Let those with a trailing habit spill over low walls, window boxes and hanging baskets, and use taller plants to provide swathes of colour in the border.
What’s in a name?
Understanding the meaning of plant names makes gardening interesting and helps the gardener to understand more about the appearance of a plant, its growth habit, and the conditions it prefers.
In 1707 a Swedish botanist, Carl
