A waft of border phlox and suddenly I'm 12 years old again, looking for a tennis ball among waisthigh perennials, writes Nigel Colborn.
Were snowdrops to flower in August, you'd hardly notice them. But when they appear in mid-winter - pure white among the gloom - you know that spring must be coming soon. You can put in snowdrops when green and leafy, in winter, or in autumn as dry bulbs.
Like guardsmen trooping the colour, beds of big tulips are a stirring sight. But you'd never call them subtle. Little wild tulips, though, have a simpler and more endearing charm.
Visit any good garden this week and you'll be surprised by how much is flowering. Even we have wintersweet, viburnum and a winter buddleja blooming.
Ask people to name their favourite winter bulb and most will say: 'Snowdrops.' But a plant that makes my heart leap for joy is the winter aconite.
Poinsettias are wondrous. In the tropics, they can grow 3m high with masses of huge red blossoms. If you want an easy, dependable house plant for Christmas, poinsettia is probably the worst choice.
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Click on images for more info...
The Royal Horticultural Society makes huge efforts to get children gardening. And it's working. Now we need the professional side to be taken more seriously in schools. This is not just teaching youngsters to grow stuff. It's recommending horticulture as a diverse and rewarding career.
With habitat loss and poorer countryside hedges, garden berries are becoming ever more important. In hard times, they're almost as beneficial as feeding tables.
If you haven't sown pea seeds yet - or if there were problems with earlier crops - there's still time to re-sow. Tender plants, newly outdoors, still need to be acclimatised despite the warm weather.
After the recent rain, soil conditions are perfect for some autumn planting. Lift and divide earlyflowering perennials such as brunneras as soon as you can.
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