February - the last of the Winter months

• Hardy annuals can be sown now under cover, or with some indoor or propagator warmth, you can get a useful head start on many summer vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, salads, and broad beans, as well as many half-hardy flowers.

• Start stored Dahlia tubers back into life for early displays by watering lightly and storing the tubers in the light to encourage new shoots prior to planting

• Plant Lily and Dutch iris bulbs and start gladioli corms into new growth by again positioning them in the light

• Continue to prepare vegetable beds and start onion sets and garlic in modules under cover or in a sheltered spot

• Seed potatoes can be chitted now by standing them eyes up in a tray and keep in bright light indoors for the stubby green shoots to grow

• Prune winter-flowering shrubs once flowering is over

• Also prune climbers such as Wisteria, Virginia creeper, ivy, Campsis, winter-flowering jasmine, and the late-flowering Clematis – ones that flower on the new season’s growth

• Continue to ventilate greenhouses on warmer, sunnier days or give it a pre-Spring clean inside and out and ensure that the glass is clean to allow as much light in as possible