From the Garden with Margaret Wilson from Pacifica Garden Centre

At the time of writing, if the heavy rain continues into February we may have to consider planting rice in the paddy fields of our back lawns!

Hopefully, by the time you read this, your gardens will have recovered and there won't be too much serious damage to your plants.

Looking at local gardens to see what has come through the deluge still holding itself together, a few summer flowering climbers have ticked all the boxes.

Campsis ‘Madame Galen' with large clusters of pinkish-orange trumpets, Plumbago ‘Blue Cape' – a sprawling semi-climber with sky blue clusters and, of course, bougainvilleas in various colours but most spectacularly, the red ‘Scarlet Ohara'.

‘Lady Di'

In my own garden Pandorea jasminoides ‘Lady Di' is smothered in large open white blooms with a yellow eye and has stood up to whatever the weather has thrown at it.

If you grow some of the tough common blue hydrangeas, now is the time to pick some heads for drying.

Choose blooms that are just beginning to show a few brownish florets, signalling they are just about to pass their peak and place them in a vase of water in a shady spot indoors.

Spring bulbs

Allow them to take up all the water and given a little luck, they will then dry off and hold their colour for a year or more.

Very shortly, spring bulbs will be appearing for sale. If you wish to grow tulips successfully in our warm climate, store your bulbs in the fridge in a paper bag for six-eight weeks. Then plant deeply – up to 20cm – and only use a special bulb fertiliser as recommended on the packet.