Hurrah, we are almost there and ready to start sowing seeds. The exact timing depends where in the country you garden, and how much space under glass you have for growing seeds on until the weather picks up.

I have space in a conservatory where I start my seeds moving them out into the greenhouse later in Marach once they are established and when it is a little warmer. 

After so many years of gardening, I still get excited as the seeds germinate and push up through the soil. Moving away from waxing lyrical to the practical. A good place to start is with broad beans, because they are one of the hardiest of veg seeds and will tolerate being planted out earlier than other veggies, such as French beans or courgettes, which are more sensitive to cold.

On the flower front, it is Sweet Pea time and I've over 100 to sow. Well, if you are going to grow them best to have real display. Sweet Peas look at their best planted in groups. I rather fancy an archway similar to the one below, spotted at one of the RHS gardens. 

Information on How to grow Sweet Peas, Broad beans and how to sow and germinate seeds with video guides. 

Thompson and Morgan have a great selection of Sweet Peas many of which are  in the 100 seeds being sown sometime in February. 

As a new gardener, it is good to start with plants which are easy to grow. These are plants which are reliable, tolerant of most growing conditions, flower each year and tough, but also attractive and great garden stalwarts. Geraniums fall into that category. This type of Geranium is not the summer bedding variety but the hardy Geranium whose common name is Cranesbill.

A really diverse group of plants about 300 different types and they can be both perennial and herbaceous. They are long lived and undemanding and you can plant them anywhere in a garden except a bog garden.

Geraniums have flowers which are white, purple, blue and pink and some have contrasting veins within the inner flower. Geraniums come in all different sizes from small compact varieties which make a matt and are good ground cover to those which grow up to 60 cms (24") and they blend so well with other plants. The images below show how very attractive Geraniums are and I always have about a dozen dotted around the borders in my garden, they are so reliable.

Advice and tips on how to Grow Geraniums

Many Geraniums are blue and if you are interested in creating a wildlife friendly garden, one thing is sure Bees Love Blue- check out a bee filled summer day video showing just how much Bees love blue.

This week Thompson and Morgan have great plant offers and one is a lovely collection of Hardy Geraniums. The collection includes -

Click here for offer

Geranium sanguineum - A spreading Geranium with vivid magenta flowers above finely dissected, dark green foliage. Perfect for filling gaps in borders.

We are almost at the shortest day; it is definitely winter, but the garden is alive. It is surprising how much is growing in the garden and not just the spring bulbs which are well ahead of themselves. The images above are on the left Achillea and on the right Aster.  Both are summer flowering perennials which I have been cutting back, one of the winter garden jobs. At the base you can see the plant's new growth which will be next years flowering plant. 

I am in the midst of the winter clear up, a job which often takes place over much of the winter on milder days. Once the perennials have been cut back the weeds are much easier to spot and there are plenty to weed out. I also remove leaves which accumulate in the borders. That may seem counter- intuitive, as leaf mulch is good for the borders, but that is the well rotted down variety not the newly blown leaves which are slimly and can harbour disease. 

December is a quiet time in the garden, there are no pressing jobs. It is nice to get out on the few mild days and clear up leaves and winter debris. By weeding over the winter I try to start the spring relatively weed free, a battle surrendered by late summer.  

This image below is, in some ways, not a Hosta. By which I mean this is where a really large Hosta grew in the summer. Unlike Achillea and Aster, Hostas die back completely in the winter leaving no trace behind. There will be no fresh shoots from the Hosta until spring next year.

If a plant label states it is a ' Herbaceous Perennial' you can expect it to die back completely in the late autumn and over winter, leaving you with bare earth sometimes until quite late in the year. The image on the right is of a Hosta emerging, and was taken  in early May, so you can expect bare earth for quite a few months.

Winter in the Veg Plot

Winter in the veg plot is not just about Winter cabbages and Brassicas, although they are good to grow, Winter is also lettuce time. I have had lettuce growing in the veg plot all summer, autumn and into the winter.  We may often eat Tomatoes and Lettuce together, but there are very different plants Tomatoes are very tender and only viable during the summer.

In the two images below, on the left is Autumn lettuce and Rocket which has been consumed,  picking off those plants growing outside the cloche. Lettuce will withstand a degree of frost which meant throughout November, despite frosts, the lettuces outside the cloche were unaffected. Anticipating more severe winter weather, some summer sown lettuces and winter lettuces have been planted under the cloche.  Lettuce is much more hardy than it may appear, and there are plenty of winter lettuces to pick and grow. How to grow Winter Lettuce.

This is a lovely spring combination, pink and yellow tulips planted alongside a Skimma which makes a long flowering display, with the added benefit of being easy to grow.

To create this display you will need a large container filled with compost. The stunning pink Tulip is Tulip 'Angelique'  and the Skimmia is japonica 'Rubella'  both of which are available from on line garden retailers. The Skimmia has red buds early in the season  in the winter, ideal for a festive display, which  later open to pale white flowers in spring  to coincide with the flowering of the Tulips. 

 The Tulips need planting in November/early December at the latest. They should be planted lower down in the container at least 3x the depth of the bulbs. It is best to buy a small Skimmia so it is in proportion to the Tulips. 

As the Skimmia starts off with red berries, you can plant it in a festive style and add red and white cyclamen, or the lovely  Hellebore Christmas Carol for the Christmas season, and then  let the Tulips come through for the spring. 

After the spring bedding display is over you can plant the Skimmia in the garden to continue enjoying it for many years. It is a slow growing shrub, reaching  around 1.5m over 10-20 years. Skimmia is tolerant of partial shade although it will flower best, and is most suited to a spot which is not too exposed.  It is not fussy  and will grow in almost any soil, except that which is waterlogged. As an evergreen shrub it makes a good addition in the garden border, the flowers are fragrant and it is hardy down to -5.