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I've just done my 'Before the frosts come' packaway. I have a small covered patio area- I take out the table and chairs and put up my metal winter staging. Then I add the cycad, the agaves, a agapanthus, and a cestrum nocturnum (queen of the night).

While most gardening stops around this time of year there are still plenty other things you can do dividing hostas pruning and pruning roses, etc. The wonderful time comes in the spring really , I got plenty bulbs in for a great new year

The echiums have self-seeded like mad this year, so they are now wrapped up, with heated aluminium rods in the pots, that I switch on if there is going to be a deep frost. Hopefully, next year the bees will be so happy!

The the musa basjoo enjoys it's last sun this season, before the leaves come off, and the straw cage is built, and the stems are protected.

Then I add the lemon/lime cross 'La Valette', which is _the_ variety for gins and tonic!

Freeman 264 Obv2 RevC

Absolutely. _My_ gardening year is over by April/May- I then hand over the reins to my plants and stand well back. October and November are my planning and re-potting months. I re-pot before putting plants away for the winter. One tip I discovered- when re-potting a tall plant with a single stem/trunk, re-pot it off-centre. Then, in a tiny green house, you can turn the pot and it moves the position of the plant to fit in better, or, you can leave the plant where it is, and turn the pot so it's not under your feet! Another trick is you now have a bigger single area of bare compost by the plant's stem, onto which you can stand another plant pot...cram 'em in!! Some plants don't mind going dormant, but some plants from sunny places, like aeoniums and agapanthus don't like a dark winter. Agapanthus flower stems become rare the next year, and aeonium schwarzkopf ( the black form ) goes green!. Aeoniums, also, only grow in the winter, so you don't let them dry out- you know you have it right when they start flowering... Cannas, too, hate being dry for the winter- always keep them slightly moist. Canna 'Shenandoah', the best pink flower you will ever see, likes bright light in storage, and the summer outside, but not too powerful a sun, since it hammers the blooms, BUT of all the cannas, this is the one that needs heat. Lots of it. It's the one canna that's the easiest to lose if it's cold and too wet. If you have room to overwinter plants, and you have a shady garden, but want a tropical show, get a Brazilian Plume Flower. Just hack it back each autumn when you bring it in. The cuttings root really easily, so you will have a good display the next year! The main thing with a lot of plants from hot places, is to check whether, where they are from, like in deserts, there are some frosts, but never when it's wet.......:-) I

This thread really isn’t for me, but I cannot help but be impressed by your dedication to this, and I of course love your historic referencing in this particular post…amazing passion, input, and care! Superb!

Then I put up the heavy tarp and that's everything in for the winter.

Then I drag under the small potted musa basjoo, and add small pots of ecballium elaterium (skirting cucumber).

Next up is the skinny jacaranda, and Queen Victoria's favourite canna 'Shenandoah'.