It seems that my thoughts of a late Indian summer were just that, and October seems to be following August and September in being another wet month.

The days are also getting colder and the nights are beginning to cut in, so it seems strange to think of October as a time to be sowing seeds.

Well you might recall I talked recently about sowing wildflower seeds, both perennials and hardy annuals. The idea is to get the hardy annuals to germinate and over-winter, whereas for perennials the winter helps breaks the seed dormancy for germinating in the spring, though some may germinate beforehand.

Many hardy annuals can also be direct sown now, again to get them germinated before the onset of the winter so they will be ready to burst into growth in the spring, leading to earlier flowering next year. In fact, it is the ideal time to sow sweet peas (themselves a hardy annual and with a huge range of varieties and colours to choose from).

When sowing sweet peas it's best to sow either in deep pots or "root trainers" which are simply deep-celled trays. This allows more room for root growth as sweet peas have a deep root system, and also cuts disturbance when transplanting.

Do use a gritty compost for seed sowing so they are not standing in water over the winter months.

Sweet peas are best if grown in a sheltered area over the winter and they also need to be protected from pests which may be foraging around as food supplies dwindle. Mice and birds are fond of the pea growth along with slugs and snails as the weather warms in early spring.

There are also quite a few garden perennials that can be sown this month such as hollyhocks, aquilegia, hellebores and oriental poppies. Again these are best sown in trays or pots in a sheltered location and overwintered in a cold frame or cold greenhouse.

Don't forget the vegetable garden! It's also time to sow winter-hardy peas and broad beans for early cropping next year, along with winter lettuce, autumn-sown onions and sowings of spring onions.

If you have space in your cold poly tunnel or greenhouse following your tomatoes, try sowing a few winter salads or ‘micro greens’ for harvesting leaves in a few weeks’ time.

October is also the time for clearing the summer displays and taking down the baskets. If you have a few planters, then these can be planted again with spring-flowering plants such as pansies, wallflowers and primroses (several outlets are still selling plants including online suppliers). They will also look nice if you can add and plant in between a few spring-flowering bulbs.

Talking of bulbs, if you haven't already done so it is the month to get them planted, especially the earlier winter bulbs such as snowdrops and winter aconites, though as I say it best if you can try to get bulb planting completed by the end of the month, of course weather permitting.

As we move towards the end of October, it's the time when we can at last begin to think about lifting and splitting overgrown garden perennials, moving plants which have been planted in the wrong location or simply become too large. Lifting, moving and planting tends to be more beneficial to plants that are planted before Christmas than in the spring, as this provides more time for freshly planted material to establish, more so, if we have a mild winter and will make more established plants if we face a dry summer.

It also means that we will soon be able to buy plants as bare-rooted plants, which are a lot cheaper to buy than plants grown in a container, though they do need planting as quickly as possible following lifting. Though, bare rooted plants can be temporary healed in the ground if the weather is too bad for immediate planting.