Start thinking about colour for your winter and spring gardens.
The rains will have boosted some of the autumn seedlings but many of the summer ones will have started the trip to their end.
Gardening favourites are starting to surface. Of course, it’s pansies for sun and primulas for shade. And who can resist fragrant sweet peas for the vase?
Pansies grow best in full sun in winter with a compost-rich soil.
Providing mass colour for borders and edgings, they also give vibrant displays in containers.
Each plant will produce more than 600 flowers if kept deadheaded and fed at least every two weeks with Multifeed Classic.
Remember that pansies need to dry out between watering.
Most cases of pansy die-off can be traced back to overwatering.
Fairy primulas have become synonymous with our winter gardens, as they are tough little flowers that grow easily and quickly.
Best in semi-shade or partial sun, they reward the gardener with a breathtaking show of flowers throughout the winter and spring.
Plant them earlier in the season to get them growing as fast as possible before the really cold weather sets in.
This will give you taller flowers and even more flowers than those planted in winter.
A regular foliar feed throughout the growing season with Multifeed Flowergro will ensure a beautiful show of flowers.
Sweet peas from seed is the best way to get loads of flowers.
Very few people don’t like the sweet scent of sweet peas.
As they flower and fill the garden with their perfume they attract not only the planter to the garden but also birds, bees and butterflies along with many other beneficial insects.
Sweet peas have tendrils and will attach themselves to most any type of support, such as a bamboo tepee or obelisk.
Feed them every two weeks and with regular deadheading or cutting for display it will keep them blooming longer.
There is no reason to have a bland garden through winter.
By planting winter bedding plants you will have great colour that will last well into spring, giving you months of joy.
- Â Eckards
