Hi everyone,
As you will have read last month, I’m having my garden made over! However, it isn’t quite done yet, and I want to wait and for you to see the finished product, so sadly you have to wait a little longer to see it all… (PS though, if you follow my social media, you will have already had a few sneaky peaks, I know!)
But I’m really happy with how it’s gone, I feel incredibly lucky, and can’t wait to get out there and plant things! Thanks for all the suggestions you guys left on last month’s blog.
This month, I’m going to look back over the Today’s Special Value offers and Product of the Month deals that we’ve had in our gardening and advise you on a bit of after-care with the items where I can! So, let’s kick off with January’s Begonia offer.
If you purchased this giant flowered begonia pack, you’ll be pleased to know that you can save the corms for the year after. Simply allow the foliage to turn yellow, and die down, and then carefully remove from the corm. Dry the corms out for a few days, then store in boxes of barely moist compost. Water occasionally to prevent shrivelling. Next spring, pot them up and grow warm until they’re well-established.
Back in February, we had a very popular TSV with a patio plants kit. Now, whilst these plants aren’t hardy, you can enjoy them for a few weeks yet, simply take off the dead flowers and more should appear. You may find that the Nemesia is hardy over the winter months though, so don’t be too hasty to dig that one up!
During lockdown, we attracted more viewers to the shows, and put together some special offers to help first-time gardeners. One of these was a fruit TSV, which included strawberry plants, blueberry plants, raspberries and gooseberries. generally, your plants won’t need pruning in their first year, so don’t worry too much. They’re also very hardy, so won’t need any winter protection. You’ll find that in year two the plants will be bigger and better than ever!
Gerbera! Now, this year we went even bigger, with the six inch patio types! These are different to the hardy Gerbera and will need some winter protection. However, the good news is, if you keep them happy over the winter, you can bring them back as even bigger plants in year two!
The brightest plant of all, was the May product of the month, the Purple Sun Osteospermum. I put this into my “indestructible” group of plants, because it pretty much is. Even though it’s not hardy, if you avoid excessive winter wet, you’ll often find they will grow back in year two. Bargain!
July brought us the amazing Hydrangea product of the month, and it was incredibly popular. This was a particular type, which is easier to grow than the very thirsty microphylla. You won’t need to prune in year one either, I would leave it as is. However, every year there on, you can cut them down almost to the base, and it’ll come back! They are mega hardy and will last for years.
And, to finish off, one of the more recent Product of the Month deals, the autumn planting kit. This was very popular during August, and hopefully you have your packs by now. The varieties selected are perfect for cool season flowering, so will be looking good right about now! You don’t need to water them much over the winter, and they don’t need much food either, just leave them to their own devices!
I hope that helps you out a little bit with the after-care for some of our key offers, and that you’ll stay with us during 2021 for more flower fun!
PS I’m back on the 18th October for another show, where we will have the awesome October product of the month, and it’s super Christmassy!!
Michael 😊
