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Busy Lizzie Accent Mixed F1
HALF PRICE
72 plugs + 12 Free £8.99
Fuchsia Lady Boothby - world's only
climbing Fuchsia - 3 plants £6.49
Fuchsia Hardy Collection 12 plants 4, of each for
£11.98
Petunia Tidal Wave climbing Petunia
42 plug plants £16.35
Lily Oriental Stargazer - ideal for containers - 6
bulbs £6.49
Geranium T&M's Jackpot F1 - 25
plugs £6.99
Begonia Cascading Apricot Shades F1
2½ to 4 inch, mostly double blooms, 5 plants £9.99, 35 plugs +19 FREE £12.99
Busy Lizzie 'Blue Sky'™
Brand new - Impatiens 'Blue Sky'™ is the world's first multi-flowering, blue
Busy Lizzie.
3 plants - now half price £9.99
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Spring Flowering Bulbs and Winter
Flowering Shrubs
Bulbs for sale on this
page are available from Late August to December
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Bulbs at T&M
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Spring flowering bulbs are one of the gardening
year's real delights, out of the depths of winter dormancy come fresh bright
and unfeasibly huge and exuberant flowers powered by the energy stored the previous
summer. I can't imagine a garden without spring bulbs, and I can't imagine a late
winter / early spring without indoor hyacinths that I prepared the previous autumn.
For me at least it's a defining part of being a gardener, the annual autumnal bulb
potting ceremony.
If you start before about the middle
of September (but the sooner the better), you can have Spring Flowering Bulbs
for the house in flower at or just after Christmas. If you can get them
planted before November, then they will have a chance to start growing before it
begins to get very cold which will help them to flower all the earlier, they'll
certainly be up early in the new year and long before the outdoor ones have woken
up.
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 There
are all sorts of spring bulbs to try and the available varieties increase
each year.
By all means try something out of
the ordinary, but in the main stick to the old favourites, after all
it's no accident that they are favourites. I've tried all manner of
unusual things in the past, some of which have been reasonable, but
many have flowered late, poorly or not at all. In particular, they are
better outdoors, but don't all take quite so kindly to being indoors
in pots.
Think about scale when
planting spring flowering bulbs. Apart from the odd warm sunny day
that may tempt you out into the garden, you are going to appreciate
your bulbs from a distance and either in the front garden or through
a window at the back. So plant larger flowered varieties particularly
if they're far away, always plant in clumps at any distance (one bulb
usually gives one flower) and plant small flowered or dwarf varieties
near to the house or in pots.
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Planting in containers
The key point to remember is that
these are temporary plantings, so you can plant the bulbs very close together,
almost touching, for the maximum density of flowers. Buy the largest bulbs
you can afford, smaller ones just don't perform as well and the smallest
may produce lots of leaves but no flowers at all. After flowering plant them in
the garden as soon as you can, they won't perform as well next year, you need to
start with large bought ones again.
Bulb fibre is often recommended,
but is only really necessary if the bulbs are to be planted in bowls without drainage.
I've always treated bulbs like any other container plants and use ordinary potting
compost in containers that have drainage holes and get excellent results.
Daffodils / Narcissi |
Hyacinths | Tulips
Winter scent and flowers
outdoors
Many plants outdoors will continue
to grow until the frosts start in October or maybe even November (it seems to get
later every year), so you can plant shrubs now to get them established and ready
to perform as soon as the alarm clock rings next spring.
It's well worth putting a winter
flowering shrub in now to appreciate it's efforts when much of the fruits of your
gardening efforts are still distant hopes. To get much flower the first year, they
need to be fairly biggish specimens already. Plant them near to the door or along
well used paths, You're going to be less inclined to traipse down to the bottom
of a wet and largely dormant garden to smell one particular bush, however tempting
it may be.
 Viburnum
bodnantense "Dawn"
or
"Charles Lamont" -
Fragrant rose-tinted flowers borne on bare wood from late autumn to
early spring. Eventually to 10ft tall by 6ft wide. Not too fussy about
soil. If you only have one winter flowering shrub, have this one. |
 Chimonanthus
praecox - Winter Sweet.
Similar in size, and habit to the Viburnum
above, but with yellow flowers not as long lasting.
Chimonanthus praecox |
 Hamamelis
- witch hazel. Large deciduous
shrub with fragrant frost-resistant spidery flowers in winter that are
yellow or shades of orange depending on variety. Produces brilliant
golden yellow autumn foliage as well, which looks good if under planted
with purple autumn crocuses, Colchicum speciosum (only available
in late summer and need to planted immediately). Best in full sun, not
keen on an exposed site. To 12ft high and wide, 5ft high and wide for
Hamamelis x intermedia pallida. |
 Mahonia
- Oregon grape Evergreens with holly-like leaves and a very
"architectural" habit. Fragrant yellow flowers in large quantities once
the plant gets going. Ultimately to 10ft x 10ft but takes ages to get
there and easily contained to lesser sizes. Recommended M. aquifolium
"Apollo" - Oregon Grape, shade tolerant. M. x media "charity",
not quite as hardy or shade tolerant, but a more gracious plant. A strong
rival to Viburnum "Dawn" above with the evergreen advantage.
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Daffodils / Narcissi |
Hyacinths | Tulips
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