Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2013 | Page 82

GARDENING

With a spring in your step
it's time to get growing
with Thompson's Nursery
Spring is an exciting time of the year.
We emerge from cold, short days with
daffodils and snowdrops, encouraging
us that spring is on its way.
Planning and preparation are the
keys to a successful garden, but I have
to say impulse buys on plants are also
a welcome treat!
To lift spirits in spring a pot of early
flowering primroses will cheer any
doorstep or patio. Primroses are not
just in buttermilk yellow but a vast
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spectrum of pinks, yellows, oranges
and blues, and planted with miniature
daffodils they make a cheery sight.
For summer colour there are bulbs,
tubers and corms that can be planted
from now onwards for a beautiful
summer display. There are traditional
favourites and some interesting new
additions.
If you didn’t lift your dahlias last
year the tubers may have rotted with
all the wet weather we have had. But

do not despair as there are many types
of dahlias available varying in colour,
flowering type and heights; so why not
try something new?
Other bulbs available include lilies,
gladioli, and my favourite agapanthus
with spheres of blue-like bright blue
lolly pops.
For the vegetable grower we have
a new range of seed potatoes; Albert
Bartlett small taster packs of unusual
varieties suitable for pot growing and