Preparing for Winter

My sandy soil was never the best medium for roses, yet this year with the help of a damp summer they have performed exceptionally well, and many are still reluctant to leave the stage. The hardy geraniums as always stole the herbaceous show back in June. Seasonal and capricious as always the garden's numerous clematis provided smiles and headaches in equal amounts.

Right now in mid October, the cyclamen are for me the beacons among the flowering plants. Being very easy-going plants, they just get on with the job of growing and new colonies are always springing up with the aid of garden ants. They carry the dust-like seed far and wide. Talking of seed, now is the time to gather any you value for next season. Just make sure they are fully ripe and pop them into a brown paper bag or envelope and store in a cool place ready for next season.

Preparing for winter should be a gentle and slow winding down. Not the raised earth policy of tidy minded gardening. Watching things slowly change colour and crumble is part of the scheme of things at this season. There is always a seed head or ripening berry that manages to capture the eye when covered with dew or cobwebs on a frosty morning.

My own preparation hasn't yet really started, but next season is already high on the agenda. Wallflowers are the quintessential spring bedding and I've been busy planting some super plants picked up from my local greengrocers of all places. Excellent for containers and pots of all kinds, good in mixed borders, wallflowers welcome the spring like no other plant. Largely carefree, requiring only sun and warmth on their backs to induce scent for yards around.

Dry, still weather in autumn is very precious. Whilst it enables me to enjoy the kaleidoscope of colours all around me, it also means I can clear the debris of fallen leaves from borders and paths. This job is made more bearable if done in dry sunny weather. I haven't quite worked out how to remove the leaf fall from the gravelled areas yet, but some method that involves suction should work.

Plastic bin bags are put to good use as my compost makers. Having no spare ground on which to construct proper compost bins, these mobile substitutes are ideal if some discrimination is used. I try to exclude any woody material or tough

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