Sowing annuals for wildlife, potting bulbs and taking evergreen cuttings help fill the garden for next year.
Ramblers look, and flower, better if pruned now. Ceratostigma is invaluable for late colour.
1 — Simple cuttings
Evergreen cuttings – Hebe, Lavender, Lonicera nitida, periwinkle phlomis, privet, Portugal and cherry laurel, rosemary and sage, for example – taken now, will root before winter and be ready to plant out in a year’s time.
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Spread 50:50 peat-free multi-purpose potting media and coarse grit 8cm deep in a coldframe or cloche or just fill a pot. Take 8-12mm cuttings, remove leaves from the lower half and insert thickly. After watering, cover, replacing lids or, for pots, use a clear plastic bag.
2 — Annuals for wildlife
In well-drained, sheltered sunny sites, annuals sown now will produce sturdy plants with abundant nectar rich flowers next summer; borage, Calendula or pot marigold, Cerinthe major, corn cockle, cornflower, California poppy, larkspur, Love-in-a-mist, Orlaya grandiflora, common poppy Phacelia tanacetifolia and Scabiousa.
Rake then sow the seed in very shallow drills. Alternatively, sow in cell trays planting out once roots bind.
3 — Packing bulbs
After flowering, potted bulbs are either repotted or better, planted out. With no need to allow space for future growth, bulbs can be spaced so they almost touch, or even stacked, with one layer over another for massed colour.
The tallest and latest narcissi and tulips are set lowest in the pot, followed by dwarf or early versions and hyacinths. Enterprising gardeners add a final upper layer of little crocuses, grape hyacinths or anemone blanda.
4 — Ceratostigma
For blue autumn flowers, followed by rich red or purple autumn foliage in any garden soil, hardy Ceratostigma is invaluable. Plumbaginoides, a spreading 45cm herbaceous perennial, makes good groundcover, with bright green leaves carrying deep blue flowers. Willmottianum carries masses of pale blue flowers. Shrubby griffithii has bristly semi-evergreen leaves and blue flowers. Choose sheltered spots, shielded from autumn gales.
5 — Rambler pruning
Rambling roses flower once in mid-late summer, growing new shoots that will flower the following year. After flowering, cut out old shoots near ground level to make room for new ones. If retaining older shoots is unavoidable, shorten side-shoots to three leaves from the base.
Guy Barter is chief horticultural adviser for the Royal Horticultural Society (@GuyBarter).
The Royal Horticultural Society is a charity working to share the best in gardening and make the UK a greener place. Find out more at rhs.org.uk.