For sweet pea flowers in December sow seeds now in a position that gets the morning sun with bright afternoon shade in well-drained, rich soil.
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Their subtle charm and fragrant blooms will be a delightful addition to any garden.
Provide a support for the climbers to cling to.
Dwarf varieties are great in containers and hanging baskets.
ROCKERY STAR
Lewisias are lovely little plants ideal for rockeries, alpine gardens and containers.
These North American beauties come in many attractive colours ranging from white and pink, through deep rose, apricot and orange.
They form rosettes of fleshy, narrow waxy leaves that help to conserve moisture.
Plant in groups in full sun in free draining soil, preferably mixed with rock rubble or coarse sand.
Place small pebbles around the base of plants to prevent rot.
SIZE DOES MATTER
I am often asked what defines a shrub.
Shrubs are small-to-medium-sized woody plants that do not exceed six metres in height and have a number of stems coming from the base.
Small low, semi-woody shrubs that grow to less than two metres tall such as roses, lavenders, marguerite daisies and fuchsias etc are known as sub shrubs or subligneous meaning partly woody.
GARDEN STANDOUTS
It is always worthwhile keeping an eye open for the plant that decides to be different.
We treasure a couple of clumps of pure white jonquils, which for some reason, best known only to themselves, flower well before any other jonquils in the garden.
One of the many joys of gardening is knowing your plants.
RESILIENT RHUBARB
Rhubarb will grow almost anywhere if given plenty of manure and water with most varieties cropping throughout the year.
The colour of the edible stems can vary from green to dark red to pink with some of the newer varieties being sweeter.
Grown in a moderately shady spot, rhubarb will crop well in summer but for winter production an open, sunny spot is required.
Propagate by division of existing clumps in late winter.
DAMP DISEASE
Damping off is a disease caused by a number of common soil-borne fungal organisms that usually attack young seedlings and seeds soon after they emerge through the soil, causing the stem to rot and the plant to topple over and die.
This condition favours cold, wet soils, poor ventilation and plants that have been planted too deep or over-crowded.
It is far better to avoid these conditions rather than apply remedial measures after the problem has shown up.