You can still put in your winter bedding, including wallflowers, sweet William and bellis. Pansies and violas in pots can really brighten up a doorstep – and let’s face it, we all need something bright and cheerful during these darkening months.
Always buy more plants than you think you need and pack your pots generously to give you the maximum amount of colour. Ensure your compost is nutrient rich and place pots in a slightly sheltered spot for longevity. If they are positioned under a leaky gutter, nutrients will soon be washed away!
The mists are descending and deciduous trees have already scattered most of their golden flakes, revealing beautiful dark skeletal forms. But did you know that the juvenile form of some trees including beech and oak have ‘marcescent’ leaves?
This means that the trees hold on to their leaves through most of winter whilst others go bare. Hardwood trees such as oaks and even hornbeam and witch hazel have something like a ‘glue’ that holds the old leaves onto the plant. It is strong enough to allow the brown, dead leaves to remain.
It is thought that this might be a deer deterrent which protects the new buds, and another theory is that nature has cleverly found a way to release leaves onto the forest floor in rotation rather than all at once. The crinkly leaves eventually fall to the ground in later winter and perhaps this provides an on-going nutrient supply for the tree as the leaves decay.
Perfect Plants has winter bedding available together with pots and containers suitable for indoors and out. Delivery across the whole of the UK including highlands and islands. Visit www.perfectplants.co.uk or telephone: 01323 833479.
