November in the garden means twothings to me - it’s time to start plantingtulips and sowing sweet peas.

I’m obsessed with tulips and always have hugenumbers of old favourites (as well as new ones I’vediscovered in Holland earlier on in the year) readyto get into pots or in the ground for flowering nextspring. I don’t tend to grow one tulip in splendidisolation, but put together a combination of three orfour complementary or contrasting colours tocreate a living flower arrangement to revel inoutside; with enough going spare to pick the oddbunch to display inside too.

My current favourites are a mix of the red‘Couleur Cardinal’, orange ‘Prinses Irene’ andblack ‘Havran’ in our Venetian tulip collection.That’s been a favourite for years, and is nowjoined by another stunning stalwart, the

will be fine in a light potting shed, stored on a window ledge. Pinch out the sweet pea’s leader- the growing tip - when there are three or fourpairs of leaves already grown. Just squeeze thetop off between your finger and thumb, reducingthe plant to about two inches. This promotesvigorous side shoot formation.

Your sweet peas will then be ready forplanting out in the garden in March just as yourtulip flower procession begins.

Sarah Raven has been running cooking, flowerarranging, growing and gardening classes ather East Sussex farm since 1999, and haspresented on BBC Gardeners World. She alsohas her own website, where you can purchaseflowers, seeds, kits and view a full list ofcourses, sarahraven.com

The queen bee of the British gardening scene reveals her planting advice for the month and shares a fantastic offer with you

Sarah Raven

OUTDOOR IDEAS Winter tips

Brandysnap quartet of conker-orange ‘Cairo’,purple ‘Ronaldo’, copper ‘Bruine Wimpel’ and thedelicious latte-coloured, ‘La Belle Epoque’.

On miserable, rainy days, I retreat inside frombulb planting to sow sweet peas, which flowerearlier and stronger if you get them in this side ofChristmas. The one thing you need to be carefulabout at this time of year is mice. Their numberone favourite winter feast is a good tray of sweetpea seeds. So, to stop your precious plants frombecoming some lucky critter’s supper, set amousetrap, or soak the seeds in liquid seaweedfertiliser overnight to make them unpalatablebefore you sow.

Check your sweet peas for germination afterone week and, once the seedlings appear, keepthem cool, at about 5 degrees centigrade. A coolgreenhouse or cold frame is ideal, but your plants

GARDEN GOSSIP

Reader offerPeriod Ideas readers can get free P&P* (worth £4.95) on Sarah’s exclusive tulip collections, sweet pea mixes and more. Simply visit sarahraven.com or call 0845 092 0283 and quote offer code PD14NOV

*Offer valid until the 30th November 2014 and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Previous purchases are not valid.

PERIOD IDEAS 17

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