It’s almost the middle of August and I am already planning for the coming year, in particular late winter and spring. It’s normal for gardeners and designers to be thinking that far ahead. Providing interest during those early months is especially important as the weather can be dull, with little to be cheerful about. So, a bit of colour in the garden can make a big impact.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) and Winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) are both early flowering bulbs that will form a carpet of white and yellow as they grow and spread in humus rich soil and are useful plants to grow under the canopy of deciduous trees where the winter sunlight will spotlight their beauty.

If you are going to plant these as dormant bulbs, do it straight away, now, as dried out bulbs which have been languishing out of the soil will not flourish well. Otherwise, plant them in clumps when they have just begun to sprout leaves in winter, what we call “planting in the green”.

Another thing to consider when planting bulbs are their companions; the plants that will look good next to them. So see what else might be of interest at that time of year. Christmas box (Sarcococca), leathery leaved Hellebores and the marble leaved Arums looking at their best in late winter will provide a lovely foil of green to complement snowdrops and winter aconites.

Daffodils are such cheerful flowers and vary in size and colour. Apart from the ubiquitous yellow, some are white, pale green and others have pinkish orange trumpets, so quite a lot to choose from. The smaller varieties such as ‘Tete-a-tete’ and ‘February Gold’ flower earlier than the bigger ones and look good grown in clumps some place where they can be easily seen from the window of a house. Daffodils can also be planted mixed with tulips of similar colour (See photo above) to give a variety of shapes.

I really like to to grow lots of tulips in containers and borders in the garden. Again, I don’t look at them in isolation but try and work out what will make good companions for them. Honesty, (Lunaria annua) flowers in spring around the same time as mid-season to late season tulips, so I usually site a container full of bulbs near them.

August and September are surprisingly good times of the year to plant autumn flowering crocuses and colchicums. The saffron crocus will start blooming in October and will attract comments from those who do not realise that some of these tiny beauties flower in the Fall.

So, I hope this gives you a few ideas of what can be done now to give a bit of added sparkle to those cold months ahead.