Colin Evans

The sweet scent of Viburnum Bodnantense 'Dawn' and Winter Honeysuckle 'Lonicera Purpusii' fills the air on these balmy few days of February.

To add to the scene, daffodils and crocuses are showing that, in spite the very varied temperatures, they can still make a fantastic show.

As with so many things in the garden at this time of the year, so much depends on the state of the ground. To date the earth is now drying after the long spell of wet weather.

Potatoes

Last week on my Sunday show I recommended that the vegetable patch be prepared for early potatoes. This can be done by digging the soil down a good fork depth and adding some organic matter in the form of leaf mould.

However, don't dig too much as potatoes are not happy sitting in wet conditions. You can, if you like, heat the soil up before digging with some polythene, as this dries out the soil and warms it up a bit.

Potatoes

Once dug over though, tread the soil and firm it and rake to surface to a fine tilth ready for planting in March.

When ordering your early spring potatoes choose disease resistant varieties such as Home Guard, Arran Pilot, Maris Bard and Red Duke Of York.

These four varieties are the best to grow, especially if it's your first time. They all work well in the open ground or in large tube or bin liners. Once you get them home they should be stored in the light but kept cool and dry.

In March I will tell you all you need to know about getting them planted.

As I am planning to make my garden a little more tropical this year I have decided to include a fern garden in the sheltered part of my garden.

Dicksonia Antartica

The centre piece will be tree fern Dicksonia Antarctica - a tree native to New Zealand which is finding favour here amongst us garden designers.

Soil preparation for ferns is mainly digging deep and incorporating as much mulch as you can manage to dig in. However, when it comes to the tree fern, because the stem is with roots, I'll just dig a hole and firm the stem in. It's as easy as that.

The growth comes from the top and, short of making sure that bit stays damp and giving the plant shelter in the winter with a nice fleece coat, there is little to do.

Tree ferns work well in pots too so if you fancy something a tad different then treat yourself to one of these magnificent ferns.

Bulbs

Buy summer flowering bulbs especially Lily Of The Valley, Tiger Lilies, Canna Lilies and African Blue Lilies. These can all be planted into pots of multi-purpose potting compost to be stood outside in a sheltered position.

African Blue Lily

Make sure when planting that the bulbs are planted at least three times their own depth down.

Polyanthus

Trim off dead leaves and flowers from Polyanthus to keep them clear of over-wintering pests and diseases. Dig around the base of each plant to loosen the soil to prevent compaction and to get a little air into the roots.

Top dress with Sulphate of Potash, being careful not to get it on the leaves. Then finish off with a mulch of forest bark or compost.

Happy gardening!