The greenhouse is full with all sorts of plants. Some are slightly tender perennials which are over wintering in the safety of the greenhouse. There is a tray of autumn sown Sweet peas which I have just cut back, again, as they are  growing steadily in the (so far) warmer winter. There are also several trays of hardy perennials which I bought as tiny plug plants, very cheap, which I have been nuturing for planting out this coming season. Since the plants are still small, image bottom right,  I didn't want risk them outside for the winter. But, and so often there is a but, the winter has been damp and mild which gives rise to mould, botrytis, often present with poor ventilation.  One way to try and prevent it is to open the greenhouse doors as often as possible on milder days. If it does strike, as in image on the far left, cut away and clear up all affected leaves and this may well halt it. The image center shows the plant  with the leaves all cut off and cleared up. It's a good idea to cut off and bin anything in the greenhouse looking like this which may infect other plants and just tidying up in this way can contain the mould.

The good news is the Autumn planted garlic, which I put under glass because of the soil conditions, is sprouting up now and hopefully can be planted out early spring for a longer growing season. I will plant it along side spring planted garlic and see at the end of the year if either crop fares better than the other. Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow for advise how to plant garlic this spring 

Most sweet peas are germinated and grown in the spring, and they are easy to germinate. For tips on germinating and growing sweet peas.  The same will apply to the autumn sown sweet peas, will they flower longer and earlier. or is it just not worth the trouble?  It will be fun to find out and I will post to the blog at the end of the year. 

Variegated shrubs can lose their variegation 

The plus point to growing an evergreen variegated shrub is the leaf colour which the variegation brings, especially in the winter. It can happen though that over time the shrub starts to throw out stems which are plain, they have lost their variations. In the images below, on the left is a popular, evergreen garden shrub Elaeagnus Pungens 'Maculata' a bit of a mouthful, but looking  the images shows it's bold,  brightly coloured variegated leaves. It's a great garden shrub as it is fast growing which makes it good for hedging, suitable for coastal gardens, tough and tolerant of many conditions.

In common with other variegated shrubs it can start to grow shoots without variegation, as in the image on the right.  This is called 'reversion' and maybe caused by low light levels  especially as  variegated shrubs are often grown in semi shade and they may have a lower level of chlorophyll. Winter is a good time to check shrubs, and if you find some shoots with plain non variegated leaves, the solution is to prune them out to maintain the variegated nature of the shrub. This will not do the shrub any harm and keep its interesting colour. Just cut off the non variegated branch close to the trunk in a clean cut, and prune out all other non variegated shoots. This is best done during a mild spell or left to early spring.

More about Growing Evergreen Shrubs

As the year turns, even though the weather will remain miserable for a while yet, inevitably gardeners start to think about what to grow this year and how to do it better.

One decision I made late last year was to abandon any summer bedding plants in favour of wildflower which I intend to seed around the garden. Firstly, to see the aesthetic effect and to consider the impact on bees, butterflies and other pollinators. I have for the last two years grown a patch of annual wildflowers,  and found it much easier than expected; for ideas and tips on growing a  wildflower meadow.  I haven't yet decided on which flower mix to use, more research needed.

We had a dry summer last year and, instinctively, I feel the chances of another are not great so I'm thinking of trying blight resistant potatoes this year, the Sarpo range.

Having been introduced to James Wong's book the Homegrown Revolution, he has inspired me to try something different. I will dip my toe into an unusual array and try New Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia tetragonoides) and Persicaria odorata (Vietnamese coriander)  as my ordinary Coriander is not always a wild success and I am told this is easier to grow. If you haven't already had a bash at growing Thai basil this is well worth it, not a lot of effort, much the same conditions as ordinary Basil and a great herb for stir fries.

I am, however,  amazed to discover from James's book  the plants which are eaten around the world, which I  have previously always regarded as garden decorations, such as Hemercocallis (Daylilies,) apparently the flowers are very tasty, and Hosta a Japanese delicacy.

I have for some time recommended Amaranth (love lies bleeding) as a really interesting annual which is easy to raise from seed, and has lovely plumes in the summer, as the image right shows. I now know that Amaranth is known in many countries as Callaloo and widely eaten  in the Caribbean, India, and Africa in a similar way to  spinach. In fact, everything in the summer container in the image is edible including the Nasturtiums and Begonia flowers.  I didn't know until recently you could eat it all, although  I am still not sure I will;  see what the summer brings.

I must admit, I am a bit of a fair weather gardener. At this time of year there's chat about the virtue of digging over the plot on a crisp winter day, but I confess it's not 100% appealing to me. I do garden in poor weather, but not happily so. I don't much like the rain dripping down my face and frozen hands. Still, given the mess out there, I did venture out to try and clear some of the summer debris not least on the veg plot which was still supporting spectres of Broad beans, (disgraceful!)

I soon warmed up tackling both debris and weeds, of which there was plenty. Fortunately Santa brought me this Grubber  which is a good bit of kit, image below left.  I don't recommend much equipment on this web site as everyone has different tastes, but it's hard not to like this Grubber ( check out the web site if you are interested http://tiny.cc/eln28w )  if you are ferreting out the weeds and raking over the soil. It seems well made, and has a good weight; I found it was even sturdy enough to use as a prop in one hand when reaching across a border with the other........ although don't try that at home in your garden,  as clearly not what it was designed for. Anyone flat on their face in soil has only their own folly to blame not me.

Interesting  getting close up to the borders to see how much life and growth there is at ground level, albeit encouraged by the mild winter, the perennials are on the move.  Not surprising as perennials will, all being well and  providing they are hardy, come back year after year. Buying plants is expensive, and so picking a plant which is fully hardy in your garden is important. Recently, in 2013, the RHS revised the hardy rating system and for more information about this follow the link RHS hardy rating system

In the image below right you can make out the new tiny shoots of Alchemilla (Lady's mantle) just starting to come through. Alchemilla is a lovely, late spring/ early summer flowering perennial which mixes well with many plants. It's fresh foliage in the spring is a frothy green and Alchemilla is easy to grow.

But don't worry if you are looking at some part in the garden and there are no shoots, just bare earth, but you do remember a plant there last year. You are probably looking at the gap of a herbaceous perennial, which is different, as herbaceous plants die back totally in the winter leaving bare earth until the spring when they regrow. Examples of herbaceous perennials are Peony and Hosta. The growth above soil all dies back but the plant survives under ground for the next spring. Many  herbaceous plants are among the most showy of the summer flowering plants such as Delphinium and make great border plants. I am not trouble by bare earth in the winter providing it's not full of weeds.