Gardening: Time to start thinking about your roses

Mid-February sees the garden try and wrestle free from the frosty grip of winter and creep towards a more tepid early spring.

In two weeks’ time it will be March again and we’ve made it to warmer climes where the beds are hopefully a blank canvas clear of last seasons growth.

Give the roses a light prune to stimulate new growth and ensure a full display later the summer. While you’re on rose duty, think about planting a dedicated rose garden however small the area is.

I quite often see gifted roses planted as a secondary consideration, lost in a bed of tall perennials.

They are deserving of their own patch which makes them easier to care for in terms of mulching and feeding together as well as companion planting to reduce the risk of fungal infection.

Alliums, lavender (‘Hidcote’), dianthus and geraniums all keep pests away and attract pollinators. Alliums are the greatest benefit if you can only choose one.

They provide additional nutrients in the soil for roses and also deter slugs, snails and nematodes that can cause irreparable damage. There is also some anecdotal evidence that they help prevent black spot but roses most definitely love having alliums nearby.

After the light prune, give them a shovel full of well rotted horse manure and keep them well watered. You’ll soon find the rose garden becomes a mild obsession a bit like the lawn and dahlias can be.

You can also get brownie points for bringing in roses for a partner which in my case buys me extra time in the garden.

Valentine’s Day is also the traditional time to sow sweet peas. Have a good think about colour and varieties rather than just buying a packet of mixed seeds however good they are.

Try the bright scarlet ‘Air Warden’ alongside the pure white ‘Swan Lake’ with its ruffled cuff like petals. ‘Beaujolais’ is crimson so deep it’s an almost black variety.

There are so many colours and varieties now you can tinker around with them. I have a fellow gardener who grows sweet peas in football team colours to give to friends for example.

On the plot

Don’t forget about perennial vegetables such as asparagus, rhubarb, and artichokes. These hardy plants require minimal maintenance but will always benefit from some attention at this time of year.

Remove any lingering debris from last season, apply a layer of compost or well-rotted manure, and mulch around the base to suppress weeds and conserve moisture.

After that they’ll repay you in exotic vegetables, although rhubarb isn’t a fruit or vegetable, or even very exotic.

February is the sowing season for a whole raft of edible plants. Chillies, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, brassicas all need long hours of sunlight. Not sowing them now will lead to a frustrating September where you have healthy plants but very little fruit.

Start them indoors now. Excitingly, chillies, tomatoes and aubergines are part of the nightshade family so need a bit of warmth underneath to start the fire of germination.

Aubergines in particular are enjoyable to grow and can be planted outside once they’re robust enough. ‘Slim Jim’ and ‘Moneymaker’ are two varieties I’ve grown on outdoors in a sunny sheltered area and they’ve been heavy croppers.

Now is a great time to be attending seed swapping events, which are growing in popularity now, possibly as a response to there being less money around for people. They also provide some personal interaction with other gardeners and their growing tips and tales that I suspect many people are eager for away from the keyboard.

Heirloom varieties of tried and tested strains of seeds lovingly saved and dried can be picked up for next to nothing.

These often come with free advice and guidance thrown in to widen your pool of horticultural knowledge.