Gardening tips for October: House container plants

If you want to buy any of the plants mentioned below for your own

garden, visit www.countrylife.co.uk/nursery and type or copy and paste

the name into the search. Plants are delivered in sturdy boxes in a

matter of days from one of the finest nurseries in the country.

The summer performance of potted plants of all shapes and sizes on the terrace is coming to an end, frustratingly because, in some cases, they are nicely attaining the desired blowsy magnificence. Nonetheless, they live in containers for a reason, and will not put up with the coming frosts, to which they are more cruelly exposed than plants in the ground. Annuals can be left to linger on until the inevitable cuts them down, but precious specimens of plumbago, agapanthus and pelargonium should be wheeled indoors now, preferably to some frost-free glass-house where they can await attention on some rainy day.

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* Gardening calendar: October jobs