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SCENTED WINTER SHRUBS
A garden in winter needn’t be devoid of scent. There are plenty of shrubs that will add the most delicious fragrance to your outdoor space. Here are some of our favourites:
More on winter-flowering shrubs
Azara microphylla (Box-leaf azara)
Chimonanthus praecox (Wintersweet)
Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca ‘Citrina’
Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’
Edgeworthia chrysantha (Paper bush)
Hamamelis x intermedia (Witch hazel)
Lonicera fragrantissima (Winter-flowering honeysuckle)
Mahonia
Osmanthus delavayi
Sarcococca confusa (Sweet box)
Sarcococca hookeriana (Sweet box)
Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’
Viburnum farreri
When planting a winter scented shrub, it’s a good idea to site it next to a path or near your house so that whenever you step outside, you can stop and enjoy its beautiful perfume. -
RASPBERRIES
Raspberries are best planted between November and March when they’re dormant. And they’re in garden centres now. Sold in bundles of between 4 and 12 canes, they’re usually sold in a pot loosely filled with compost or simply have their roots wrapped in plastic. Canes should be uniformly brown and as thick as a pencil. Reject anything with branched or damaged canes.
More on growing raspberries
There are two types of raspberry: summer fruiting and autumn fruiting. Summer fruiters crop on canes produced the previous year and carry fruit from the middle of June to early August, depending on the variety. Autumn-fruiters crop on canes produced the same year, from mid-August to the first frosts. By growing a selection of the two you can be self-sufficient in raspberries for six months of the year. Summer-fruiting varieties yield around a kilo of fruit per plant when mature. Expect around half this amount with an autumn-fruiting variety. The four varieties Monty has chosen to grow are:
Glen Moy – very early, summer-fruiter with tasty, medium-sized fruit.
Glen Ample – heavy summer cropper with large, fleshy fruit. Excellent flavour and good for freezing.
Autumn Bliss – great beginner raspberry that fruits from August onwards.
All Gold – yellow version of Autumn Bliss with a distinctive sweet flavour. -
HELLEBORES
As Carol discovered during her trip to Hatfield Forest, our native hellebores thrive in a woodland setting. Many of the hellebores we grow in our gardens prefer a bit of shade too. The key to success is good soil preparation. Hellebores are deep rooted and to help them flower really well, they need plenty of nutrients. When planting, dig the soil as deeply as possible and add a good bucketful of organic matter. This can take the form of leafmould, spent mushroom compost or well-rotted manure. If you get time, it’s well worth applying a mulch in the autumn too.
More on hellebores -
GARDEN FEATURED
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
Jermyns Lane
Ampfield
Romsey
Hampshire
SO51 0QA
Tel. 01794 368787
Open every day except Christmas Day & Boxing Day. Please check their website for opening times. -
JOBS FOR THE WEEKEND: SOW CHILLIES & PEPPERS
Chillies and peppers benefit from an early sowing as they can be slow to germinate. Fill a seed tray or some pots with multi-purpose compost and scatter the seeds thinly over the surface. Cover with a fine layer of compost or vermiculite and water. They’ll need plenty of heat, so place them on a warm windowsill or in a heated propagator if you have one.
More on growing chillies & peppers -
JOBS FOR THE WEEKEND: WAKE UP SUMMER BULBS
If you’ve taken the trouble to store some summer bulbs in the dry over the winter, now is the time to give them a drink. A good soaking will soon wake them up, so that when it’s safe to plant them out, they’ll have put on plenty of growth.
More on summer bulbs
Credits
- Series Producer
- Liz Rumbold
- Presenter
- Monty Don
- Presenter
- Carol Klein
- Presenter
- Joe Swift
- Presenter
- Rachel de Thame
- Producer
- Louise Hampden
Broadcasts
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