Winter wildlife care, bananas and what to do with Colocasias

Its been a week of frantically getting pots under cover, half hardy plants lifted, bananas wrapped and frosted plants cleared. And its time to thing about what we can do to help garden wildlife

Winter really hit with a bang last week with overnight temperatures on Friday falling to -4C in my walled garden, while I suspect it was colder still in Kim’s plot in West Wales. The frosty morning was glorious with its blue skies but the collapsed, frosted nasturtiums lying over the ground looked very sad. They had done so well this autumn, flowering to the last. The day before I was rushing about the garden, moving pots, protecting my bananas and debating which plants I should dig up and which to leave in the ground and hope for the best.

Last week, I mentioned that the dahlias were staying in the ground. Well, the cannas and gingers are staying put too. They coped with last year’s -10C and being one year older, I hope they will cope this coming winter. They really came back with gusto in spring and the display was fab. In the end, I opted to …