Amateur Gardening 9 November 2019: Advice on poppies, nerines and pansies

What’s in Amateur Gardening

Create a haven for nature
It isn’t too late to start helping wildlife, says Ruth

How to make fat balls for birds
Provide the birds in your garden with high-energy food

Winter pond-care tips
How to pack up your pond before the freeze weather arrives

Rose hips
How to harvest and prepare seeds for sowing

Winter cherry trees
The lesser-known Prunus is worth considering, says Graham Clarke

All our yesterdays
What gardeners achieved in two world wars

Your ultimate guide to growing poppies
From annuals to perennials, with options for shade and sun, we suggest 16 great varieties

How to help wildlife in winter
Val Bourne offers her top tips for providing food and shelter for our garden visitors over the winer

How to grow nerines
They’re long-lasting, prolific and liven up any autumn display, says Anne Swithinbank

Peter Seabrook
Purple is the new ‘green’ for broccoli and lettuce

Bob Flowerdew
Why not start off raspberries and garlic in tubs?

Val Bourne
We must do more than ‘talk’ green – we have to ‘be’ green, says Val

Lucy Chamberlain’s Fruit and Veg
The best crop protection for winter, check your soil pH, try growing your own pineapple

Ask John Negus
Advice on taking cuttings, dividing nerines, hedges for small spaces, overwintering ginger lilies

Anne Swithinbank’s Masterclass
How to get better runner beans

How to use tools
Tim Rumball explains the best way to make a bonfire

A Gardener’s Miscellany
Conifers are the subject of facts and fancies

Letters to Wendy
Inspiring rocky makeover, the importance of poppies, great recycling idea and a tasty recipe for an apple and nut loaf

Toby Buckland
Toby sings the praises of winter pansies

Damning report by State of Nature published
UK wildlife is in a precarious position, says the report

But there’s good news for some species
Success stories for the bittern and large blue butterfly

Cover picture: Poppy (Papaver somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’)