From the Garden with Margaret Wilson from Pacifica Garden Centre

There is still time to plant bulbs – especially those tulips that knowledgeable gardeners have been chilling for weeks in the refrigerator.

In our warmer climate, tulips need that pre-planting chill to ensure a good display in spring.

As I write, Mother's Day is virtually upon us and some lucky mums may receive a potted chrysanthemum. The important thing to know about this pot plant is it prefers a cool situation with good natural light.

Low light will stop the buds from opening and direct sunlight can reduce the plant's flowering. After it is past its best, it may be planted outside to flower again next year but, because it has been treated with a special hormone to keep the plant compact, it will grow much taller next year.

With our mild climate, we're fortunate to be able to grow winter flowering shrubs to bring colour to drab days and some of the best are forms of Luculia gratissima with fragrant pink flowers or L.pinciana with larger more striking blooms but lacking a little of gratissima's sweet perfume. Plant in full sun in free-draining, moisture retentive soil and prune fairly hard after flowering to shape.

For another splash of winter colour, and if you have a few spare metres of fence or trellis in full sun, plant a Pyrostegia venusta or Flame Vine. Clusters of flaming orange tubular flowers will lift your spirits when they cover the plant during the shortest days of the year. Prune as required to control size.