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Better to benefit from the pigs within the field or the sty and the sowbreads inside the garden, and it’s at the moment of year that the 1st of the cyclamen appear – pushing up their delicate reflex-petalled flowers in shady spots among trees and shrubs in my garden.

The autumn flowering cyclamen, Cyclamen hederifolium, is a beauty and never difficult to thrill. I inherited a cluster of plants on the foot of a tremendous conker tree once we moved into our present house and garden 11 years ago, and that they continue to do well with very little help from me.

The botanical name indicates that their leaves are like ivy, hedera, nonetheless it is the flowers that you’ll notice first, since they beat the leaves within the race to unfurl.

If you grow them among a low rug in their namesake, ivy, you’ll spot them reaching for the sunshine – tiny, delicate flowers of pale pink or white – as early as late August. Plant them now in case your garden is lacking interest in any shady nooks and crannies.

You can find dormant tubers on the market in spring arE and summer, but take care when buying these since they could has been taken from the wild where this cyclamen becomes rarer by the year. It’s more sensible to purchase them now as growing plants, while you could be sure that they’re going to were raised in cultivation and they’ll settle in additional reliably.

Plant them about 6in apart in order that the tubers rest slightly under the outside of the soil, and avoid burying them too deeply which they do not like. I’ve amassed more of them within the earth below a plantation of bamboos.

Large, dormant tubers might have dried out and could produce a poor show of bloom, if any in any respect, so the pot-grown plants win hands down.

In bare spots around shrubs, or shady borders, where they are often positioned on the front, they’ll delight you all the way through autumn, and because the flowers keep opening, so the leaves start to appear – wonderfully patterned with silver grey and price a detailed inspection.

Pick some of them – at the side of half a dozen flowers – and pa them in a tiny jar or bottle to your table or desk. They’re going to provide you with untold pleasure and prove that autumn doesn’t need to be a dreary time of year. Don’t miss Alan’s gardening column today and each day within the Daily Express. For additional information on his range of gardening products, visit www.alantitchmarsh.com.