ONE of my favourite early spring plants is popping up in the garden at the moment. For such a small plant that is insignificant for much of the year, Arum italicum subsp. italicum Marmoratum seems a long-winded name, but for some early interest on bare soil it is a perfect specimen.

Although this arum, pictured right, does flower – the greenish white blooms are carried in spring – it is the veined and marbled foliage that draws the eye in the February garden. The wavy-edged foliage is long and heart-shaped, increasing in size as spring progresses. Each leaf has a neat margin of dark green enclosing the cream and white markings that form a network of veins on the central leaf.

When there is nothing much else to see in the garden, these patterns stand out well. Later in the year, sturdy stems topped with clusters of bright red berries appear, often hidden amongst larger herbaceous plants. These manage to find their way about the garden, new plants popping up in sunshine or shade, wet or dry soil, and seeming happy wherever they land.

It sounds as though this could be a pest of a plant, but this is not usually the case. It doesn’t grow en masse, just the odd plant or two growing side by side.

The distinctive leaves are easy to recognise and pull up should they be a problem, and by the time they begin to fade, summer perennials are taking over the garden. It is important to note that all parts of this plant are poisonous, so care should be taken when touching the berries or picking foliage for flower arrangements.

Weekend catch-up

A START can be made on pruning bush roses this month, already small red buds of new growth are appearing along the stems showing that the sap is beginning to rise.

To begin with, any dead and damaged wood needs to be cut out completely, together with stems that cross and congest the centre of the plant. Spindly shoots can also be removed.

The rest of the stems can then be cut back to just above a strong outward-facing bud, with thin stems cut back harder than strong ones. This sounds the wrong way round, but since pruning is about getting better growth, thin stems need more encouragement to thicken up. This type of pruning can be used for most bush roses, such as floribunda, hybrid tea and English roses. Large shrub roses can just be thinned out when congested and trimmed to shape. Old or overcrowded stems on climbers can be removed at the base to leave the fresh new growth made last season.

Tie the remaining stems to their support, bending them horizontal where possible and reducing side shoots back to about 5cm in length just above a strong bud. This will encourage the production of plenty of flowering growth.

Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow.

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC Radio 4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chris Bearshaw, Bob Flowerdew, Pippa Greenwood and chairman Eric Robson are guests of The Lakeland Horticultural Society in Windermere. Plus Eric looks at how plants survive flooding and a profile of the garden designer Thomas Mawson. The gardening weather forecast is at 2.40pm.

Friday.

3pm, R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. From Cornwall where Bob Flowerdew, Pippa Greenwood, Anne Swithinbank and chairman Peter Gibbs take questions from members of Camborne Fuchsia Society. Pippa Greenwood looks at growing fuchsias and the gardening weather is at 3.40pm.

Saturday, February 27.

7am, BBC Radio York, Julia Booth. Presenter Julia Booth and horticultural expert Nigel Harrison hold their weekly plant surgery.

Looking ahead to open garden season

THE NEW open gardens season is imminent and with it comes the publication of the Yellow Book 2010, the tome that lists all the gardens open for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) in England and Wales.

The NGS is a registered charity and was established in 1927. Over the past ten years alone, more than £25 million has been raised for causes including Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, The Royal Fund for Gardeners’ Children and Perennial (Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society).

In Yorkshire, there will be more than 100 gardens open starting with Goldsborough Hall near Knaresborough on Sunday, March 28, and ending with RHS Harlow Carr on Sunday, November 7.

As well as returning to old favourites, visitors will be able to visit new gardens, as there are several in the area this year. Among these is the above-mentioned Goldsborough Hall, on Church Street, in Goldsborough village. This 11-acre garden with formal parkland, double herbaceous borders and long lime tree walk was last opened for the NGS in 1930 and has recently been restored by the present owners. The Grade II-listed 17th century house is the former residence of HRH Princess Mary, daughter of George V and Queen Mary. The Yellow Book 2010 is on sale in bookshops now and costs £8.99.