Any suggestions for something that will look nice in Febrary/March?

[Frieda]

We're about to put our house on the market next month-ish, but unfortunately due to it a) being winter and b) us being non-gardening types, it's all looking a bit manky. We've got a good patch of very fertile soil (dug in manure about 6 weeks ago) where we had our veg patch last year. Can anyone recommend something that we can put in now and will look attractive in a few weeks time? (I realise flowers are probably out of the question, but how about something green?)

Thanks in anticipation

well the nicest thing is spring bulbs, but you really should have planted them already. if you can find some potted sprouting daffodils or snowdrops in the garden centre you could plant them out and they'd do fine, as long as they weren't being sold as pots for the house (they would probably have been kept too warm and would probably die of shock. or hyacinths. otherwise it isn't a great time to be planting at the moment, most things won't take too kindly be being dumped in cold wet soil and then regularly frosted before establishing....

another option is to MOVE some plants from elsewhere in your garden to there, those should cope with it OK if you move them v fast with a lot of soil clinging to their roots in a big hole. but don't step down the soil around them as much as you'd normally do - it is so wet at the moment you'll compact it and suffocate the roots.

Good ideas PPH ? thanks. I'll check out the garden centre tomorrow (sadly, nothing much worth moving from elsewhere in the garden). Funnily enough, we're hoping to move down your way ? don't know if you remember, but you gave me some helpful suggestions on a relocation thread recently. Thanks in both instances!

oh right! well let me know when you get here and I'll tell you where all the good garden centres are

ps winter pansies would be great but they are small. maybe get two big pots, plant up with a single bright colour of winter pansies, and put them on the soil? if that wouldn't look silly where the plot is IYKWIM

If you want a shrub, try Daphne. You should be able to buy one now, it looks glorious, and will be in flower next month. If you get the right one, it will smell beautiful, too.

I have some Forsythia and it really is lovely. hundreds of Bright yellow flowers.

polyanthus/primroses stand out on a cold winters day and you can buy them from white all the way through to deep blue. They are available now in Garden centres/supermarkets and are only £1.00 each or less. They will keep going year after year and you might have to divide them if they get too big.

Jasmine flowers from November through to February, can be cut bak each year and excudes a lovely scent.

If you can visit a market where plants are cheaper and as good a quality as big stores how about a couple of shrubs so the space looks filled. (When moving into a new house having a basic structure to a flower bed is definetely a good thing because if people don't have the time or interest to spend too much time out in the garden, then by adding a few bulbs, annuals and perennials will be all that they have to do). ie. having say choisya, hebe and a climbing euonymus with a few primroses interspersed would look good (shrubs at markets are about £2.50). Hope of some help.