Gardening with Pat Duke: 'Time for daffodils'

Already we are into February and for a few days it really has felt like spring.
The uplifting sight of snowdrops is slowly spreading across gardens and hedgerows.
The thought of seeing the first snowdrop or daffodil is part of what gets some of us through winter. However, when they start to wilt and fade they need to be divided and replanted in separate clumps. If left alone they produce fewer and weaker flowers. Dividing them helps encourage new bulb growth and they can be dotted along paths or spread across a shaded floor under trees interspersed with cyclamen.
There are over 500 recognised varieties and they can flower from October to March. Each one is slightly different with their dab of green nail varnish showing up differently on the white petals. If you don’t have any then try Galanthus ‘Wisley Magnet’ for larger petals or Galanthus ‘Hippolyta’ which is a double variety with a more prominent green edging.
The milder temperatures also assist in the sowing of annuals. This will not only save you a fortune in June but it will allow you to have more unusual varieties for the beds and window boxes. There is much more choice in the racks of seed packets than the sad looking left overs in the garden centre when everyone else has panic bought annuals.
Start this week with geraniums. petunias, begonias and antirrhinums in a tray of compost on a windowsill where you won’t get into trouble for making a mess. Apparently the living room isn’t the appropriate place for soil, I'm reliably informed.
Place the trays on newspaper and keep moist. Petunia and geranium seeds are almost microscopic and hardly need dusting to cover them. When they have around three to four leaves then they can be potted up a few inches apart. This should take you to the end of the month at the earliest.
Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t dry out and then give them their own pots where they start to get crowded. As long as there’s a decent amount of light and warmth you’ll have enough to give away when the time comes to plant outdoors.

On the plot
Order asparagus crowns now so they're ready to plant in March.
This is a long-term project but well worth it. It’s not unknown for growers to dash in from the plot to shorten the time that elapses between picking and cooking.
A reliable variety is Connover’s Colossal, which if you buy two year old crowns means you'll have your own crop in two years time. This will just keep going for around 15 years as it's a perennial plant. Each crown should produce around 20 stalks every year so it's worth the time and love you’re giving it.
Prepare a sunny, well drained and sheltered bed and keep weed free. Asparagus loves a bed high in nutrients so make sure its got some decent compost or well rotted manure dug in there.
Turnips can be sown in trays now too but harvest them when they are baby sized and sweeter than the bigger hoary varieties that can be bitter and reminiscent of 1970’s school dinners.
If you have enough space and trays you can start sowing members of the squash family under glass now. This will be useful as they will have plenty of time to not only grow but also to develop a thick skin to aid keeping properties through autumn.
Getting out there when it’s dry and having a potter works miracles for lifting the spirits after a very wet December.
Even if its tidying up fallen and windblown sticks and having a small fire and a mug of tea then it allows you to see what needs doing before spring finally springs in a few weeks.