Gardening with Pat Duke: Planting up and tidying containers will keep you busy in cold weather

Not venturing too far from the house within mug of tea has been a good thing in these Baltic temperatures that is the traditional sting in the tail of winter.

With that in mind, planting up and tidying nearby containers can be a worthwhile task.

I love it that once they’re done, the only care they need is a weekly feed in the summer and a casual weeding when you’re strolling past admiring them.

Pots and containers come in all shapes and sizes suitable for types of plants and even the correct shape to slot into a handy location like window boxes or half barrels. I've seen some large enough to hide in. Plastic pots are warmer than terracotta which tend to absorb a lot of water away from the plants but look much better.

Ensure there is good drainage such as holes and broken stones (crocks) in the bottom before filling up with compost. Once this is done it’s a case of choosing which plants will do well in its final location.

Many garden centres sell plants in groups specifically for this purpose and traditional favourites include geraniums, marigolds, begonias and petunias. Aside from these, or in addition to, roses, cannas, dahlias and hydrangeas all do well in pots.

Grasses like cordyline can do well and agave look great in a pot covered with small stones. Clematis like a deep pot and the variety ‘Rosie O’Grady' is easy to maintain against a sunny wall.

In reality, if you have a pot big enough you can grow anything. Think of those gargantuan olive trees outside garden centres overspilling pots. The important thing is to feed them as the compost only holds enough nutrients for around six weeks so find the correct feed and stick to a regular feeding pattern.

Every spring, top up the pots with fresh compost and once it’s full, just replace the top four inches.

ON THE PLOT

Another antidote to the cold is keeping warm by digging potato trenches in preparation for the traditional Good Friday planting.

The advantage of this is that you have a few weeks to add organic material into the trench for under the potatoes ready to help them along. Grass clippings, vegetable waste, compost and manure are all accepted gladly by the sprouting potato.

Horseradish is worth planting, bought as a root. Make sure it’s in a pot or you’ll have a field of it in no time. Plant the root deep into large pots and cover with horse manure if you have it to make it feel at home. It can be turned into a condiment that makes your nose tingle unlike some bland commercial options. Keep it watered and it will flourish. It’s one of those plants that seems impossible to kill however much you neglect it.

If you’re chitting potatoes in the shed, they will need extra protection is we experience freezing temperatures.

Fill some trays with compost in the greenhouse, shed windowsill or indoors and start sowing celeriac, leek, tomato (Gardeners Delight, Tumbler) and beetroot (Chioggia, Boltardy).

It’s also a good time to start exploring new varieties you haven't grown before and looking for heirloom varieties or types of crops you haven't grown before but might be successful where you live.

The Dorset naga is one of the hottest chillies on the Scoville scale and is well suited to our climate in South Devon. Another good but unusual option is the Micro Cherry tomato - erfect for hanging baskets producing hundreds of very small tomatoes.

Purple Sun unsurprisingly is a deep purple carrot close to the original variety before Dutch horticulturalists started meddling with the bright orange strains of colour.

It’s researching seeds at this time of year that makes gardening exciting and dynamic so you might as well join in the fun.