February in the flower garden

Sow winter-flowering annuals: marigold, chrysanthemum, larkspur, bokbaaivygie, lupin, stocks, nemesia, Iceland poppy, viola and pansy.

Sow sweet peas in well dug trenches prepared with manure, compost and bone meal. Soak the seeds in water overnight before sowing and make sure there is a net or trellis for them to climb on.

Plant winter-flowering bulbs:  gladiolus

Feed lilies with a tablespoon of 3:1:5 dissolved in five litres of water. Mulch well.

Keep azaleas and camellias well watered and mulched. Treat yellow foliage with iron chelate and feed each bush with a tablespoon of Epsom salts.

Feed dahlias with Multifeed or bulb food and remove any faded flowers.

Mulch roses and feed with 8:1:5. Keep them well watered.

Prune summer-flowering plants like pelargoniums, lavender, abelia, weigela, hydrangeas, heliotrope and salvia.

Cut back petunias to encourage a new flush in late autumn.

Prune all evergreen trees, except those that bear flowers and berries in spring.

Divide and replant easy to grow groundcovers and perennials like agapanthus, wild iris, red-hot pokers, hen and chickens, daylilies, alstroemerias, asters and watsonia.