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Shower your Valentine with gardening gifts
by Hannah Stephenson
Having difficulty choosing the right Valentines gift for your partner?
There's no shortage of presents to suit garden enthusiasts, from beautiful bouquets to romantic plants and other loving trinkets.
Instead of the usual dozen red roses, why not name a rose after your partner, with a Name A Rose giftbox, featuring a packet of rose seeds that they can grow into a beautiful rose bush to cherish forever?
The box includes a rose registration card, unique packet of seeds with a corresponding database number, a booklet on how to grow and care for your rose, a rose calendar poster and a history information card. (19.95 +p&p, www.gettingpersonal.co.uk, or phone 0845 217 6382)
Add a little atmosphere to a romantic evening, inside or out, with a set of colour changing LED candles, real candles with hint of vanilla fragrance. Each candle contains multi-colour changing LED unit powered by a 4.5V battery (supplied). (13.45, www.shop.com)
Whatever type of garden your partner has, a seed collection can enrich it further and there are some great combinations available, from cottage garden favourites to contemporary varieties.
Garden design guru Claire Southall has developed a range of seed collections of flower seeds for the London Seed Emporium which will work together in the garden. My personal favourite is the King Arthur collection, featuring tall delphiniums, Cornflower 'Black Ball', larkspur, nigella and nicotiana, combining to make a tall display of traditional English cottage garden flowers in blue, white and green.
Beautifully packaged in smart art nouveau-style packets and box, with growing instructions and card message. (17.50 +p&p, www.londonseedemporium.co.uk)
If you want to put the spark back into your relationship, treat your partner to a Passion Pack, complete with an exotic blue passion flower ready to plant, together with a supply of fresh passion fruits and a bottle of champagne. It's packed in a Gluttonous Gardener rustic wooden crate, hand tied with large raffia bows (62 + delivery, available online from www.glut.co.uk, or phone 020 7627 0800).
Orchid fans should look for the impressive white Egret orchid (Habenaria radiata) from Thompson & Morgan. Also known as the dove plant, the stems can reach 30cm (12in) tall, each one parading three or more blooms that will flourish for well over a month. Plant them immediately in humus-rich soil, in a cool house, greenhouse or in patio containers. Protect them from scorching heat.
For best results, plants need plenty of water in order to simulate Asia's monsoon season. (9.99 for three bulbs. Order online at www.thompson-morgan.com or phone 0844 573 2020.)
Fancy a cuppa after a hard morning's gardening? Do it in style by sharing a cup of tea from Whittard of Chelsea's romantic retro range of ceramics, featuring the Sweetheart Teapot (20), decorated with red, pink and lilac hearts.
Add to that Whittard's Sweetheart's Tea (8.50), a blend of strawberries and cream with floating sugar hearts. It comes with a silver-plated heart-shaped infuser.
If your loved one likes the romantic shapes that topiary can create, buy her a pair of pink topiary shears from Wilkinson Sword, presented in a pink themed presentation case. They will help to keep topiary and other hedge plants in shape and the non-stick stainless steel blades provide accurate cutting when creating intricate shapes. (9.99. For stockist information email custserv@fiskars.co.uk or phone 01656 655595.)
BEST OF THE BUNCH - Freesia
These scented beauties are ideal for adding colour and fragrance to the conservatory or greenhouse during winter, their funnel-shaped flowers appearing on arching spikes from late winter to early spring in a range of colours. Corns for winter-flowering should be planted in late summer or autumn under glass and grown in gritty, loam-based compost with shade from hot sun. They need good ventilation and a maximum temperature of around 13C (55F) when grown under glass. Water moderately when in growth and apply a balanced fertiliser when the buds start to appear.
Freesias can also be grown outdoors in warmer climates and specially prepared bulbs are available for summer-flowering.
THREE WAYS TO... Keep warm in winter
1. Cover bare ground during winter with carpet and black plastic, to stop weeds and keep the soil warm and workable.
2. Use hessian-backed stair carpet which can be laid in lengths over an allotment. Don't use foam-backed, nylon carpets, which disintegrate and leave bits all over the plot.
3. Wrap patio pots with bubble wrap or move them under cover when frost is forecast to stop soil freezing and containers cracking.
GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT - Onions
Onions from seed need a long growing season and you could sow them now in a heated propagator, for planting out in March. This is how exhibition growers manage to get large bulbs for shows.
However, it's much easier to grow them from little bulbs called 'sets', which can be bought from garden centres or via mail order for planting in March and April.
The soil should be dug over thoroughly and weeds and large stones should be removed. Then each set should be eased into the soil (in straight rows) so the tips are left protruding, spaced around 10cm (4in) apart for large onions, and slightly closer for smaller ones.
Cover the newly-planted sets with netting to protect them from birds.
If you are growing carrots as well, interplant them with onions, as the oniony smell may deter carrot fly.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
:: Plan a rotation system for vegetable plots to ensure the same crops are not grown in the same beds year after year to help prevent disease build-up.
:: Leave heavy soils exposed during cold weather as the frosts will kill pests and improve soil structure by the continual freezing and thawing of soil water.
:: Cut off old leaves of hellebores that produce flowers from ground level (including Helleborus x hybridus and H. niger) to expose the flowers and remove possible foliar diseases such as hellebore leaf spot.
:: Start cutting back grasses and other perennials left for winter interest.
:: Sow seeds of begonia, lobelia, salvia and pelargonium in a heated greenhouse or propagator to provide early plants.
:: Stock up on store cupboard items such as string, stakes and canes for use later in the year.
:: Keep alpine houses well ventilated and remove dead leaves from around basal rosettes to prevent rotting.
:: Inspect stored tubers of plants such as dahlia and canna for signs of drying out. Although care is needed to prevent rotting, it is important not to let the tubers become bone dry, or they will become useless.
:: Don't leave houseplants on windowsills behind the curtains on frosty nights, especially if your windows are not double glazed.
:: Encourage bushy growth on Christmas cacti (Schlumbergera truncata and S. x buckleyi) by twisting off outer segments from the most vigorous shoots after flowering. These can be used as cuttings if dried and kept warm for a week before potting up.
DON'T MISS
Feb 2-Mar 2: Snowdrop gardens, Hopton Hall, Hopton, Wirksworth, Matlock, Derbyshire: See the snowdrops in all their glory at this wonderful 30-acre site. For details phone 01629 540923 or go to www.hoptonhall.co.uk
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Weather for Bedford
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
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