Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

I mentioned in my post of late October that I would be  planting my  Narcissi Paperwhite bulbs in the hope they would be in bloom indoors for Christmas.   A delicate Narcissi they actually don't do very well outdoors in the UK, it is native to the Mediterranean, but will grow happily in a pot indoors and, in theory, if sowed that last weekend of October should be in flower for Christmas - flowers 8-10 weeks after planting. The first flower bloomed 30th November, just four-and-a-half weeks after I popped them in the pot! All being well there are plenty more of the delicate little flowers to come, and I am tole they last some time, so fingers crossed they can still form part of the centrepiece  for the Christmas table.  Confession time, I am behind where I wanted to be clearing the plot and generally tidying up for winter. Late October and November have been wet to say the least, and it has been difficult to find the time to get all the jobs done in such rubbish conditions. I don'

I am writing this article on an unseasonably warm Saturday morning in October, the thermometer tells me it is twenty Celsius. The garden is still looking surprisingly fine considering the clocks go back this weekend and next week we are into November. The Salvia Hot Lips remain covered in bloom, Marigolds are still in flower in their pots, I have tomatoes ripening outdoors (hopefully anyway) and one of the Agapanthus still has a bloom on it!  I will be pruning the Climbing Rose this afternoon and as it is now pretty established it is a simple case of training the stems I want to keep horizontally to encourage flowering and cutting back where it has outgrown its support. As for new stem for next season which will carry the flowers, w hen pruning climbers, cut just above a bud that points in the direction that you want a new stem and let the rose do what it does.  I have already taken a few cuttings from my Zonal Geraniums,  P elargoniums to give them their correct name as I understand i