Out in the cold

MY GARDEN seems to get neglected in December. Other things are on my mind - the days are short, giving less opportunity for popping outside, and the weather can be off-putting, so plants have to fend for themselves for a while.

Two, I notice, are doing very well. They have been planted for three or so years, quietly settling down and growing with little attention.

The first is a Pittosporum bought at the Botanical Gardens in Wales three or so summers ago - these gardens, which don't get as much press as the Eden Project, are well worth a visit if in the area.

There are large glasshouses enclosing a wide range of plants with differing climatic requirements; an educational centre where children can go pond dipping; a large, double-walled kitchen and flower garden; prairie planting and much more.

Just writing about it makes me want to go again and the plant bought there is a good reminder of our trip.

Pittosporums are evergreen shrubs with a reputation for tenderness. However, many will survive in northern gardens so long as they are planted in a warm, sheltered spot and in well-drained soil.

Mine grows against a south-facing wall where it has developed into an attractive plant about 1.3m/4ft high with many dark, almost black, thin stems covered in tiny variegated yellow and green wavy leaves.

I don't know its name, the label was lost some tine ago, but I think it is a variety of Pittosporum tenuifolium, which is the most popular species grown.

This species will sometimes produce purple or brown flowers on a mature shrub in a warm climate. Varieties include 'Silver Queen' with white-edged leaves, 'Pupureum' with reddish purple foliage and the dwarf 'Tom Thumb' with purple leaves.

The second plant that has really filled out this summer is Euphorbia 'Humpty Dumpty', bought several years ago from the garden centre at Castle Howard. It occupies a narrow bed running alongside a path which gets the afternoon sun in summer, but little in winter when the sun is lower in the sky.

The small original plant has grown into a shrub-like specimen with many stems carrying bluish green soft evergreen leaves. Each stem curls over at the top and will remain like this for the winter.

In early spring they begin to straighten and tiny flowerbuds form and swell, eventually opening into a mass display of long-lasting lime green blooms.

The stems are biennial so they grow one year and flower the following season, after which they should be cut back to the ground. By this time new ones will already have grown to take their place, so it is important not to remove them otherwise a spring of flowers will be lost.

Weekend jobs

IT WAS very cold in November, but the forecast has promised milder weather for the next few days, an excellent opportunity to finish planting tulip bulbs. These need to be planted much later in the year than daffodils, and November and December is ideal.

However, there is always the risk that the ground will be frozen at this time, as it has been recently, so any suitable time needs to used.

Wallflowers and sweet williams can also be planted out in a mild spell as can other spring bedding such as pansies, violas and primulas. Most will provide greenery for the winter and flower in spring, but the violas and pansies will probably flower soon, giving a splash of colour for a few weeks. They can be cut back after flowering and should bulk up and bloom again a few weeks later.

Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow

9am, Radio York, Down to Earth. With William Jenkyns. (Repeated on Wednesday at 8pm).

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

Monday

8.30pm, R4, The Garden. Writer and conservationist Roger Deakin presents an audio diary of a year tending his ancient Suffolk garden. We follow his experiences as he lies in a field swathed in the movement of grasses and flowerheads, or dives into the green water of a moat to share the space with newts and dragonflies. The programme partners the one Deakin did about his home, the 450-year-old wooden farmhouse Walnut Tree Farm, which was broadcast in February 2004.

Wednesday

9pm, BBC1, Life In The Undergrowth. Not strictly a gardening programme, but this fascinating study of these tiny creatures is well worth watching for the insight it gives into the animals that inhabit our gardens. This week David Attenborough looks at the silk spinners including spiders, lacewings and glow worms.

Friday

7.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World: Britain's Gardening Heroes. Monty Don celebrates the plantsmen and women, botanists and writers who have influenced gardening over the past fifty years. (Revised repeat).

Saturday, December 10.

8am, Radio York, Gardening Phone-in. With Nigel Harrison. Telephone number 0845 300 3000.

Updated: 16:28 Friday, December 02, 2005