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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Gardening with Ben. You'll go to

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a podcast for all things green and growing. I'm Ben,

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your allotment guide and here to help you cultivate your

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garden and your passion for plants. Whether you're a seasoned

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gardener or just starting out, this podcast is for you.

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Each episode will dig into tips, tricks, and techniques to

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make your garden and allotment thrive from planting, sewing, and growing.

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We will share all the tips and add advice. We

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will also have regular episodes talking about what we have

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been up to on the a lotment. So sit back,

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grab a brew and enjoy today's episode. Hey everyone, and

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welcome back to Gardening with Ben. I hope you're enjoying

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that the podcasts are now back again. Like I said,

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I do apologize that we've had a small little break

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in between recording these episodes, but yeah, we're back now

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now that we're settled into our new place. So, as

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I mentioned in yesterday's podcast, today's podcast, we're going to

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be talking about all the things that you can plant

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in December, whether it be vegetables, whether it be through,

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or whether it be flowers. And I know a lot

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of the times people like to write down these little

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tips and advice, So if you've not got a notepad,

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make sure he keeps some notes on what you can

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plant this month. Let me know if you're going to

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be trying any of them. I always love to hear

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back from you. All. You can anytime message me on

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Instagram and I will always try and get back to you.

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So let's start off talking about what we can grow

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in the vegetable garden in December. You can't believe it's

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December already. This year has gone absolutely so fast. But

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I'm happy that it's gone fast because it's been an

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awful year for growing. So fingers crossed. Next year is

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going to be a much better one and hopefully we

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get some fantastic produce. So what can you sew in

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the vegetable garden this month? Well, last a couple of

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months ago, we planted all our bulbs for our onions.

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But now we need to start thinking about sewing those

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onion seeds. Yes, sewing onion seeds. Now. I did a

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little experiment quite a few years ago on growing onions

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from seed and growing the sets as well, which are

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the small little bulb ones, and actually the seed ones

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did a lot better than the set variety. So I

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may try starting some of these off myself, because I'd

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love to try and get some nice, big onions again.

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And if we start them off now, they'll get nice

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and big in time for July June July time when

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we harvest them. So the variety of onion seeds that

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you need to start sewing at this time of month

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ready for sewing planting out in March April time, or

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the Alicia Craig variety of onion seeds. So if you

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wanted to sew onion seeds this month, you can sew

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Alicia Craig now. You can either start them now or

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start them in January, but obviously starting them now you'll

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get a head start and hopefully get some massive onions

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for next year. So let's get started with some onions everyone.

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I'll have to start some off myself and then you

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can follow along and see how well my onions get

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on this year. Next up is lettuce. Now, if you've

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got a polytonal or a greenhouse, you can continue growing

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lettuce throughout the winter months. You can't grow it outside

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it's too cold. But if you've got a polytonel or

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a greenhouse, especially a heated greenhouse, you can carry on

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growing lettuce throughout the winter months. Now, the variety of

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lettuce that you need to grow this month is winter

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gem or Arctic king. But like I said, it needs

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to be a nice, warm greenhouse. So if you wanted

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to grow lettuce throughout the winter months, sow some winter

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gem or Arctic king lettuce. Next up is broad beans. Now,

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don't do what I did. Well, you can do what

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I did, but I tend to not sew broad beans

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into the soil straight outside because squirrels will get them.

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Rats and they'll get them, mice will get them. Anything

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I'll get them because there's not much growing around at

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this time of year, so they're very vulnerable to wildlife

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coming along and eating them. So I thought i'd start

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mine off in seed trays. However, the squirrels got into

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my shed and they ate a lot of them, so

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you can never win. But however, I've got a little

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plan to get some growing where no wildlife can get

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any of them. So stay tuned for that video because

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it's quite a good little tip, I'll tell you that.

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But if you wanted to grow some broad beans this month,

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this month is the month to grow Aquadulus claudia aquadults

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Claudia broad beans. Now. Obviously, if you're sewing them now,

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they'll be ready to harvest before the black fly even

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up here. So if you don't like the black fly

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all of them, now is the perfect time to be

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picking those sewing those broad beans now. Obviously you can

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still sew them in March, but they'll be ready to

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harvest when the black flight are around, so it's up

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to you. You can obviously try and grow above them,

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but now is the time to grow Aquidullus claudia broad beans.

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So next on is to fruit. What fruit can we

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plant during the winter months. Well, obviously you can actually

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plant most fruit trees at this time of year. Now

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is the perfect time to be planting those fruit trees,

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as it's wetter, it's damper, and the roots take on

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the fruit trees. The fruit trees are dormant mainly at

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this time year, they won't be growing the fruit. They'll

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be concentrating on growing the branches and growing the roots

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at this time of year. Hence why it's the best

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time of year to grow plant your fruit trees. And

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obviously if you're planting them in summertime, they'll be concentrated

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on producing the fruit. That's when they usually produce the fruit.

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And obviously they'll need water in more. That's why we

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plant our fruit trees during the winter months. So any

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fruit trees you can plant during December. You can obviously

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plant your blueberries as well at this time of year.

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If you're planting blueberries, make sure you plant them in

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ericacious soil, which is acid soil, to help them flourish.

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They prefer ericacious to normal soil. Next up is raspberries.

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You can plant your raspberries this time of month, whether

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it be summer fruits in raspberries or autumn fruit in raspberries,

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whichever variety you want. Now is the perfect time to

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be sowing them, planting them, not sowing them planting raspberries.

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Next up is strawberry plants. Now, you know I absolutely

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love strawberries. Now, obviously you can plant strawberries at this

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time of year. The leaves will die off at this

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time of the year because it is cold and the

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frost will get them, but the plants won't die as

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they can withstand cold weather. And make sure they planted out,

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keep them well watered, and you should Inferruy be getting

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some strawberries on him next year if you plant them now.

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So if you're wanting strawberries, ask around, because they won't

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have them in Greek garden centers. Friends, family who've got

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cuttings off over strawberry plants. Ask around and see if

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anyone's got an eight that you can plant at this

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time of year. Rhubarb Now, if you wanted to start

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some rhubarb off, now, it's the time to plant your

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rhubarb crowns, as the dormant and the wet conditions in

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December help the crowns to establish strong roads. However, don't

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try and harvest them in the first year. You need

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to set let us settle in, establish the crown in

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the ground, and then you harvest it on the second year.

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Don't be tempted to harvest it in the first year,

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even if there's rhubarb on it, just let it grow

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and pick it the year after. And obviously you can

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plant your gooseberries as well at this time year. So

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any fruit trees and bushes is the perfect time to

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plant them during December month. Next up is flowers. Now,

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what flowers can be plant in desamber? You might think

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it's too cold to be planting flowers, but now is

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the perfect time to be growing geraniums now. If you

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want in some geraniums to flower next year in summer,

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now is the time to be sowing geranium seeds indoors.

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Place them in a warm, sunny window sill and they'll

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be ready to bloom for a next standard period once

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spring arrives. By sewing them like you can enjoy a

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beautiful geranium for longer in your garden and containers. Now

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I have grown geraniums from seeds, and they are actually

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really easy to grow and obviously saved you a lot

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of money because draining plants are quite expensive. I've dug

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up all my training plants from last year and I've

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put them inside the shed so that the frost doesn't

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get them in the snow, and hopefully i can plant

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them out again next year. So you can't actually keep

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them going year after year if you look after them.

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You can plant some spring bulbs still at this time

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of year in garden centers, your officers see them selling

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them off at this time of year. You can plant

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your tulips, you can plant your daffodils, you can plant

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your snow drops high sims. There's still plenty of times

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to be planting your spring flowers. I've known people plant

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them in sept in January and they still manage to

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get some blooms on them. So if you see an

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on offer, buy them and plant them and it'll encourage

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the bees when they wake up from hibernation to come

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around and help with pollination. Next up our hellabores known

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as the Christmas Those elabows are a winter garden essential.

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These hardy perennials thrive in cool temperature and can planted

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in December to bring delicate blooms to your garden through

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late winter and early spring. They are elegant flowers in

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shades of white, pink, and purple, add a soft, enchanting

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touch to any winter landscape. So if she wanted to

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add some color to your garden, add some hellabores as

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well as that, you can also plant your cyclemen with

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the dainty flowers in attractive foliage. Cyclemen make a wonderful

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addition to a winter garden. They're thriving the cool temperatures

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and can be planted in sheltered outdoor spaces or kept

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in those as a houseplant. Cyclemen blooms in shades of pink, red,

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and white and will add a charming touch to your

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garden throughout winter. If you wanted to add some other

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winter color, you can obviously plant winter pansies, and you

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can also plant your primroses at this time year, so

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there's still plenty of flowers that you can plant during

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this month to add lots of color to your garden

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because there's not much color around in your garden at

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this time of year. So hopefully those will give you

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some ideas on what plants you can plant in the garden.

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So if you're listening to this podcast, make sure you

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do get in touch and let me know what you're

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going to play planting this month. I'm definitely going to

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be a plant of onion seeds, so make sure you

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stay tuned for that YouTube video, and if you want

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to follow along, feel free to follow along while I

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plant mine and let's see who does the best onions.

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I know it probably won't be me, I'm very honest,

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but yeah, I hope you've enjoyed this episode today and

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I hope you've got some useful information from it. Tomorrow's episode,

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we'll're talking about all the jobs which need to be

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done in the garden and allotment this month to keep

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your gardens looking absolutely fantastic and encouraging them for next year.

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So until next time, everyone, remember keep smiling, keep shining,

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and keep gardening. We bet everyone. Thank you for joining

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me on this episode of Gardening with Ben. I hope

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you have found some useful tips and inspiration for your

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own gardening and a lotment journey. If you have enjoyed

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today's episode, please make sure to follow and subscribe to

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the podcast so you'll never miss a new episode. And

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if you have a moment, I'd love for you to

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leave a review and share the podcast with fellow gardening phutyasts.

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Your support helps us grow this community and continue bringing

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you great content. We can also follow us on social

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media on every platform for called Gardening with Ben for

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daily gardening tips and of days, happy gardening. And until

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next time, remember keep smiling, keep shining, and keep gardening

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with Ben.