What to do in the garden for September with Pugh's Garden Village
- ontargetmedia8
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 24 hours ago
Our monthly column from Roger Crookes, the garden expert at Pugh's Garden Centre, gives us his top tips for beautiful gardens.
Gardening, for me, is another opportunity to create memorable magic moments – just like the time I was taking a lunch break all on my own in Regents Park, when working down in London, about 10 years ago.
I ‘wandered lonely as a cloud’, and did find a host of golden daffodils, but what took my breath away was the amazing lawn of purple crocus flowers you can see in my picture.
Everyone in the Park seemed to be as mesmerised as I was, the carpet of flowers looked almost unreal; so I checked, and they were very real indeed!
Now is the perfect time to plant your own ‘patch of purple surprise’ (or whichever colour of crocus you fancy) you will find around 10 different varieties of Crocus in both of the Pugh's Garden centres. According to my calculations they can cost as little as 12p – 33p per bulb which when you consider they can last for several years makes them great value. ‘Beloved’ and I have some in our garden, which have been there for around 10 years and they seem to be multiplying!
We have some growing in pots, as well as some in borders ... and we have even been planting some on roadside verges on our housing estate (we did check with the council first) so we and our neighbours can enjoy them when passing.
Crocus are very easy to grow! I plant the bulbs at least a couple of inches deep in the soil (so at least 5 cms) so they are deep enough to be protected from cold frosts and mice / squirrels who might like a nibble. After planting there is not much else to do other than wait for signs of shoots in late February / early march: despite me checking almost every day in February they never cease to surprise me as the buds suddenly appear out of the soil and burst into flower!
And here’s the bonus – it is not just us humans who love the early flowering crocus … our endangered and much loved little bees also love to grab some pollen and nectar at a time of year when there are not many food sources for their ‘early spring breakfast’.
So, come on and join me in planting some purple surprise!
