IT'S mid-November and most of the leaves have fallen off the trees now, although the Parrotia I mentioned last month is still full of colour. My garden though has a surprising number of flowering plants in bloom at what is generally a stark and barren time of the year. Most colourful of these are arguably the nerines with vivid, shocking-pink flowers held on leafless stems. More muted pale pink and white forms also exist, including my personal favourite ‘Stephanie’. Nerines are bulbs which come from southern Africa, however despite their exotic origins, the most commonly encountered species, Nerine bowdenii is a superb garden plant, hardy in most situations. The bulbs readily form clumps which are best left undisturbed as this seems to improve flowering. In the greenhouse the less hardy Nerine sarniensis is also giving a good display. Its common name of jewel lily refers to the specks of gold on the petals that glisten in the sunlight. This popular species is perhaps better known as the Guernsey lily, which according to folklore, is a reference to how bulbs were washed ashore on Guernsey following a shipwreck in the seventeenth century. The bulbs have been grown on Guernsey ever since.

My first snowdrops are also in flower but not because of any anomalous weather conditions. These are autumn-flowering species that grow wild in Greece and Turkey. The somewhat unseasonal-looking flowers will look even stranger in a week or two alongside my first dwarf daffodils. Most of my bulbs were planted in August and September but I still have a few to put in and in fact some such as tulips are generally best planted late.

In the vegetable garden at college the climbing beans are being cleared away in preparation for next year. The roots of legumes can be left in to enrich the soil with nitrogen as they break down over winter. Legumes are often followed by leafy crops such as brassicas which benefit from the increased nitrogen and firm soil that prevents wind rock. Wind rock through the Winter can also affect a number of shrubs such as roses and buddleias, to prevent this, the stems can be pruned by half now, leaving hard pruning until the spring. The shortened stems that are left help to protect the dormant buds through the winter and so do not be tempted to prune too severely now.

November is a good time for propagating new plants from hardwood cuttings including Forsythia, Hydrangea, Ilex, roses, currants, gooseberries and Salix. Many of our horticulture students will be practising this simple method over the coming weeks along with root cuttings of Phlox and Japanese anemones. Both methods require little equipment and so offer gardeners of all abilities the chance to produce new plants with minimal fuss. Some of the easiest hardwood cuttings are those of the dogwoods that brighten up the winter garden with their colourful stems. Cuttings taken now will root in the Spring and can be planted in the garden the following Autumn. The cuttings can be rooted in deep pots, but it is easier, if room allows, to line them out in a raised bed filled with gritty compost.

Once the leaves have fallen it is also the time for planting bare-root trees and shrubs. Hedging plants, roses and fruit bushes bought as bare-root plants are often larger and cheaper than their pot-grown equivalents but they can take a bit of tracking down since many garden centres do not stock them.

Don’t forget to lift dahlias for winter storage. As the first frosts blacken the foliage cut them back to ground level and ease the tubers gently out of the ground. Dahlia tubers should be stood upside down to dry for a few weeks before storing upright with just the tops exposed in crates of compost or sharp sand. The crates should be stored in a frost-free place.

Leaves may have provided a colourful display but in parts of the garden they can now be a nuisance. On paths they can create a slip hazard whilst on lawns they can damage the grass. Do not through away your leaves however as in a wire bin they will rot down over 18 months or so to create wonderful leafmould. Do not compost the diseased leaves of roses though or the fallen leaves of evergreens that can take a long time to decompose.

Grass will continue to grow through the winter, in fact whenever the temperature is above about 5°C. It is therefore beneficial to give lawns the occasional cut through the winter when conditions allow. Machinery and even boots however can do more harm than good when the soil is wet and sticky, bringing to mind the old saying - if the soil sticks to your boots, keep off it.

For many the garden shuts down at this time of year but there is still much to see and do. Winter stems and evergreens come into their own as the structure of a garden becomes more apparent without the distraction of colourful borders. Subtlety takes over from flamboyance and so it is easy to miss the delights of garden as we move into Winter and that would be a great shame.