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Plant up hanging baskets, and leave them in a sheltered spot before hanging fully outsidePlant out potted alliums in groups to add interest to flower bedsPrune spring-flowering shrubs immediately after flowering, such as forsythia, ribes

Deadhead flowers of lady's mantle before they set seedWater camellias to make sure they don't dry out while the flower buds are developingBuy bulbs for autumn planting including tulips, narcissus, alliums, iris and crocusTake cuttings from tender

Collect seed from allium seedheads and sow straight away into seed compostPlant evergreen shrubs and conifer hedgesCarefully dig up gladioli corms and overwinter in cool, dry storage conditionsLift and pot up tender perennials to protect over winter

pods that taste much better than any out-of-season beans in a supermarket.Plant tender crops outsideDig out perennial weedsWash dust off the foliage of houseplantsAround the gardenPlant up hanging basketsPlant out potted alliums to add interest

is an organic method of maintaining a natural balance in your garden, aiding pollination and keeping pest numbers down. Common plant combinations include growing herbs with roses to deter aphids, and planting alliums around carrots to ward off carrot root fly

thinned apples are much better than unthinned apples.The second area is a bit of border by my kitchen window that, a month ago, was overflowing with Geranium psilostemon, salvias, alliums and Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' (catmint). Sadly their moment is over

and berriesBrowse allium varietiesView plants with attractive seed heads

to growing exotic plants from seedCollect allium seedsSow seeds indoors

are no longer brown, but covered with the tufts of emerging bluebell leaves.In the garden the mulch (about which I wrote the other day) is no longer a quiet brown duvet over everything but is now pierced by alliums, anthriscus, aconites and loads of other plants

the display will flower againFor a more rustic look, try growing the display in a half wooden barrel, or for a more formal look, a faux lead planterExtend the season of interest by adding later flowering bulbs such as 'De Caen' anemones, dwarf alliums