Table of Contents
Asia delights
Asian pears produce delicious fruit, grow brilliantly in our climate, and can be planted now. Buy two different varieties for best pollination.
Plant cuttings
Hydrangeas can be propagated now. Take a length of stem 1ft long, remove the tip and insert into a trench in a sheltered spot. Don’t be tempted to do a general prune, as the old flower heads protect the new flower buds over winter.
Time for tulips
Tulips are so forgiving to tardy gardeners, being happy to be planted so much later than all the other spring-flowering bulbs. But this is the perfect time to plant, so try not to miss it. I fancy a bit of drama in my spring pots, so have gone for Tulipa ‘Gavota’, which is an unusual Czechoslovakian hybrid with striking yellow and darkest red bicoloured flowers (peternyssen.com).
Cool for winter
Many beautiful silver-foliaged bedding plants are on sale now to use as a foil to winter bedding, but consider making an entire basket of Centaurea cineraria subsp. cineraria, Helichrysum ‘Silver Mist’ or Senecio ‘Silver Dust’.
Sow salad
Now is the perfect time to sow cut-and-come-again salad leaf mixtures on a sunny porch, lean-to or unheated greenhouse. Try ‘Oriental Salad Leaf Mix’, ‘Mixed Spicy Salad Leaves’ or ‘Autumn and Winter Salad Leaf Mix’.
Use your polytunnel
For anyone with a polytunnel, November is the month to put it to good use. You can sow an abundance of crops including Broad bean ‘Super Aquadulce’; Oriental greens komatsuna, mibuna, mizuna; Oriental mustard ‘Red Giant’; Salad rocket; Lettuce ‘Vailan’; Mangetout pea ‘Herald’ and Carrot ‘Amsterdam Forcing 3’.
Spruce up your allotment
This month, consider sowing winter-hardy broad bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ and pea ‘Meteor’ in your garden or allotment. Now is also a good time to plant autumn planting ‘sets’ of overwintering onion ‘Senshyu Yellow’, and shallots ‘Eschalote Grise’ or ‘Hative de Niort’ and dormant rhubarb crowns.
What to prune in November
Prune roses
Prune climbing roses, tying them into their supports as you go. The aim is to tie in a framework of branches and to shorten the side branches. You will need a long afternoon and a big dose of patience. There is a guide at rhs.org.uk.
Cane prune
Prune autumn-fruiting raspberries to the ground once they have finished cropping. There is still time this year to plant new canes too, look for bare root plants. Available from victoriananursery.co.uk.
