Most of the summer flowers have gone from the garden now, but this is a recent event with many having survived in tact until the end of November.

We are several degrees warmer here than gardens away from the centre of York so it may be a different story where you are, and the garden is small and sheltered by brick walls. We even notice a difference between our sunny back garden and the shadier front garden where things have to be hardier to survive damper soil and lower temperatures. However even those protected townie plants would have to toughen up to cope with a garden in the Wolds or up nearer the moors.

Our dahlias have begun to blacken and need to be lifted soon. I usually leave them to chance their luck in the garden through the winter, and although they coped with the very wet winter we had last year, I wonder if they will be so fortunate this year. A number of other plants failed to materialise this summer and I don't want to lose any more.

Once dahlia foliage has been blackened by frost cut all the stems down to about 15cm above ground level and gently fork out the tubers. Remove as much soil as possible, cut off damaged roots and place upside down for a week to allow excess moisture to drain away. Traditionally the tubers are then stored, upright, in boxes of peat placed in a dry frost-free place until they start into growth the following year. However, if you prefer to avoid using peat then one of the peat free composts should be all right to use.

Tender bedding is still in flower in a window box in the sheltered yard by the house. This small area faces south and is protected on three sides by brick walls, which extend the flowering season of a number of plants by several weeks. However, there is no time for complacency as the frosts will eventually reach these areas and kill off anything that isn't hardy. Clear the containers out and replace the plants with winter bedding or small evergreen plants and shrubs that can be put out in the garden next spring.

Updated: 15:54 Monday, January 21, 2002