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The golden rule for planting is that when the weeds get going, conditions will be optimal for seeds, bulbs and shrubs too.
To paraphrase William Morris, have nothing in your garden that you do not believe to be beautiful (in scent, form or colour) or know to be delicious. Most London gardens are small; make the space work.
Prepping The Garden For Summer {with Wilko}
The good news is that the big retailers have brilliant affordable plant, bulb and seed selections; many offer plants by name, not just by type and give the option of single colour, rather than mixed selections. They’re excellent value. However, many retailers only sell growing plants instore.
But first, the preparation. You need decent compost to give your plants a good start. Make it no-peat; it’s the simplest step we can take to help the environment.
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Wilko Autumn Bulbs Miniature Mix Narcissus 8/10 15pk
Dalesfoot Wool Compost is bracken based, mixed with wool for water retention, plus comfrey for fertiliser and so is excellent. There’s a range for all purposes. Try the Peat Free Wool Compost for Vegetables and Salads.
These are among the most beautiful and productive flowers. They have terrifically long-flowering with a fabulous range of colours and shapes. They flourish in a sunny corner. But if you want to encourage bees and pollinating insects, go for the open-face sort, especially the ones designated Bishops.
Need I say why we should plant this fragrant, delicate flower with its graceful, bell-shaped flowers? Wonderful if you’ve got a bit of shade under a tree.
Wilko Autumn Bulbs Finola Tulips 11/12 8pk
These are very classy. These unique looking lilies have a sturdy vertical spike in the border, with white greenish flowers and a kind of pineapple topknot. Good in clumps.
Among the most fragrant flowers you can grow: enormously floriferous with a wonderful range of colours. Cheapest to grow from seed, obviously, but if you haven’t time and space, Sarah Raven offers seedlings in very good quality collections. Make sure to water them well on arrival.
The Clouds of Scent (£17.95) is available for 12 seedlings or opt for the Pea and Bean Maypole (£26.95) - an elegant and simple structure with cords suspended from a metal pole that’s good for sweet pea too.
Plants, Seeds & Bulbs
Well, obviously, roses. And we’ve all got our favourites. But this is where I’d go for broke, with two fantastically beautiful varieties, one climbing, one shrub.
A favourite of the great gardener, Vita Sackville West, a dark red climbing rose with a rich old rose scent. It flourishes on a north-facing wall, out of strong sunshine. A bit temperamental, but a divine colour.
These are perhaps the best border flowers of all, in a range of heights, with some of the most intense colour you’ll find. The velvety rich purples are my favourite, but I hear it for the vivid blues too. Good to underplant roses.
Wilko Autumn Bulbs Galanthus Snowdrops 30pk
Yes, I’m coming to Cosmos under seeds, but do consider the Chocolate Cosmos, a lovely chocolately red with a sweet, chocolatey scent, which comes as tubers.
As far as I’m concerned, the best flower seeds are the ones you can chuck on the ground and leave to fend for themselves. There are any number of very good seed mixes you can buy which enable you to do just that, including ranges that are insect, butterfly or generally pollinator friendly. That’s the easy-peasy approach. But for single variety flowers, I’m similarly free and easy. Vegetables are another matter: here you either need to germinate at home or plant in rows and thin out. Seed tapes can space out seeds for you and you just plant a strip of paper; a very useful device.
Cosmos are some of the easiest, most reliable cutting flowers you can grow: terrifically floriferous and easy to grow. If you can’t be bothered with the flaff of staking and supporting taller varieties, opt for more compact sizes.
Wilko Tulips Sunlover Autumn Planting Bulb 8 Pack
These aren’t often seen in cornfields now but they’re fabulous for pollinators, lovely in wildflower blue, and very pretty in mixed colour form.
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