September is upon us and winter is looming like some unwanted visitor, leaving spring seeming so far away. But now is the time to start making plans for next year’s garden, and here are a couple of considerations that will brighten up your winter evenings and make the colourful joys of spring seem that little bit closer.

Make a plan of your garden – whether it be a small balcony or larger area of ground – and see if you can find some space to plant nectar rich flowers that will feed bees and butterflies as well as numerous other important insects. Bearing in mind that early queen bumblebees will be out and about in March desperate for food, the first consideration could be snowdrops, crocuses and hyacinths. September is the month to start planting such bulbs for a wonderful splash of colour and scent in your garden from late February onwards that will be enjoyed by both you and the early bees.

Planting is quick and easy and, once in the ground, these plants can be left to their own devices for many years to come. If space is limited how about planting some in a large flowerpot placed on a balcony or visible from a window or back door to enjoy their colour on the bleakest of days. Once the flowers are over the pot can be removed until the following year or emptied and filled with later flowering plants for the summer.

Important wildlife-feeding flowers
Seeds for colourful nectar rich plants such as calendula and cornflower plus many others can be planted this time of the year too. Plantings made now will produce important wildlife-feeding flowers whilst spring sown seeds are still contemplating producing flower buds. Most can be grown in pots and borders so challenge yourself and add interest to otherwise dreary winter days by planning and creating a nectar rich carpet of colour for your garden.

Make room for a variety of flower types too because some insects have long tongues and can only feed from tubular flowers such as foxglove, whilst others have short tongues so need flat flowers such as raspberries and sunflowers.

You can double your pleasure from many plants too. Freshly picked flowers will bring summer’s colours and scent into the home whilst sunflowers will enthral grandchildren, children and adults as they grow taller than them. Raspberries in a large pot or sunny corner not only attract lots of insects, but you get to make raspberry jam to enjoy on your scones as you take in next summer’s sunshine.

You could have extra colour and wildlife in your garden next year and part of the fun will be spending rainy days in a garden centre buying seeds, bulbs and plants – and perhaps indulging in a little coffee and cake to keep up your energy levels. Take time to read the labels to check planting and flowering times because you might just surprise yourself and find that you can have something flowering virtually every month next year and wildlife will love you for that.