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This week at the Chelsea Flower Show there are thousands of gardeners admiring out of season daffodil blooms in the show gardens and floral exhibits.In order to get their daffodils blooming at this time of year, growers force the bulbs to grow using

I love daffodils. To get the best from these wonderful flowers, I plant up a dozen plastic aquatic baskets with spring bulbs in autumn, choosing varieties that flower at different times. When spring arrives, I pop one basket after another

Carol Klein explains how to hand-pollinate hellebores and guides you through the process, offering practical tips and advice.springMore advice on propagating plantsCarol Klein demonstrates how to cross-pollinate daffodils.Collecting allium seeds

that the days are, finally getting longer. I succumb to the odd bunch of flowers from the market or supermarket, somehow feeling that daffodils from Cornwall are an ethical treat, having not involved so many fossil fuels to grow and transport them.But it's far

and fritillariesMore spring pot displaysCreate a pot display of daffodil, celandine and corydalisCombine daffodils, tulips and crocusGrow thrift, phlox and saxifrage in a potPlant up a pot of primroses and primula

The first of the snowdrops are up, my daffodils are romping away - I can almost believe that spring will actually arrive. But it's the seed potatoes that are really firing me up.I can't resist buying seed potatoes, and have bought three batches

I've always been a great fan of bulbs, in all their shapes and sizes. I couldn't get through the winter without snowdrops, and the prospect of daffodils, heralding spring. But right now, in (a rather cold and wet) May, alliums are centre stage

with low-growing stems can be propagated by layering, such as honeysuckle, mock orange (Philadelphus), rhododendron, magnolia and forsythiaDig up and divide clumps of winter aconitesPlant new shrubs and hardy perennialsCut away old foliage on Christmas

Plant out tender summer-bedding plants, such as begonias, once all risk of frost has passedLook out for aphids on lupins, and spray with a soap-based insecticide if infectedPush canes into pots of tall-growing lilies and tie their stems

Keep lawn edges trimmed by cutting with a half-moon edging toolLook out for cabbage white butterfly eggs and rub them off with your fingersRemove blanket weed from pondsFeed hanging baskets and patio pots every weekPrune fast-growing hedges like