Love your gardening valentine

:: Rustic Heart Planter: If your partner likes a country garden look and you want to add some love to it, this lightweight white heart-covered planter could be the one (£12.99, www.homebase.co.uk)

:: Personalised Garden Tools by Cove Calligraphy: Have your own words engraved on a selection of gardening tools. The message you give is 'pyrographed' (wood burned) by hand on to the solid wood handles. You can have a maximum of 20 letters on each tool using two lines of writing, with a maximum of 10 letters per line, one above the other. The set includes a weeding fork, small trowel and large trowel (£22.95, www.amazon.co.uk)

:: FloraBrite Bypass Secateurs: Is your partner always losing his or her hand tools in the undergrowth? Burgon & Ball has come up with a new range including forks, trowels, secateurs, pocket pruners and snips with handles in two fluorescent shades - yellow and pink - which show up in beds, borders and anywhere else you leave them. The RHS-endorsed secateurs are made of high carbon steel, come with a 10-year guarantee and have robust alloy handles (£18.99, www.burgonandball.com and good garden centres)

:: Camellia gift tree: Pick a gift that keeps on growing, choosing from a flowering camellia (symbolising love and devotion), a glossy cherry tree (good fortune and future happiness) or an entwined pear - a beautifully intertwined pair of trees that will blossom and grow together forever, symbolising good health and happiness, from The Present Tree. Each tree is carefully wrapped in organza and placed in a luxury parcel, along with details of the tree's ancient symbolism and a full care guide (£40 for camellia approx 50cm high, thepresenttree.com)

:: Personalised Wooden Trug: Does your loved one have an allotment or vegetable patch at the end of the garden? What better for collecting the fruits of their labours, than a stylish, personalised wooden trug? You can choose the loving message to your green-fingered friend, in a black script font, and pick from the selection of subtle colours (£34.99, www.gettingpersonal.co.uk)

:: NT Gift Membership: If romantic settings are your thing, National Trust membership may be for you and your partner, so you can fall in love with breathtaking views and centuries of romantic tradition at some of the most striking historic houses and gardens in the country. Individual membership is £63 a year, joint membership, £105, which gives you free entry to more than 500 special places, free parking at most NT car parks, a handbook full of ideas for days out and the NT magazine three times a year (www.nationaltrust.org.uk)

:: Herbarium Reference Cards: Ideal for people who are organised and would like a handy reference guide to herbs, this informative and stylish herbarium box from Thames & Hudson houses 100 index cards with a guide on how to grow, cook and heal with essential herbs (£14.95, www.amazon.co.uk and good book shops)

:: Valentine's Day Floral Box: Push the boat out for the woman in your life with this floral gem from Jo Malone, a bottle of your favourite scent inspired by seven of the world's finest roses nestled among freshly cut rose blooms in a glorious package created by renowned British florist Philippa Craddock (Available from February 7-14, £130, www.jomalone.co.uk)

:: The Alnwick Garden and Afternoon Tea for Two: Discover a fascinating world of horticultural wonders with this great day out for two at The Alnwick Garden, inspired by the Duchess of Northumberland and featuring beautiful gardens, magnificent architecture and unique features - including a treehouse, Poison Garden and the marvellous Grand Cascade (£59, www.buyagift.co.uk)

:: Designer gloves: A new pair of gardening gloves never goes amiss. Now the designer and illustrator Brie Harrison has teamed up with Burgon & Ball to create a colourful new pattern for their latest garden gloves, which have padded palm for extra cushioning (£14.99, from good garden centres and at www.burgonandball.com)

BEST OF THE BUNCH - Japanese quince (Chaenomeles)

These ornamental shrubs with spiny branches are often grown as wall shrubs and are really useful for brightening up shady spots with their red, pink and orange blooms. The flowers unfurl on bare branches in February and are great for cutting and for Japanese planting schemes. Pale-flowering cultivars blend better with other shrubs, while the more vivid types are more suited to walls. Some early varieties have yellowing fruits in autumn. Chaenomeles speciosa 'Moerloosei' is among the best, producing beautiful apple-blossom flowers in early spring. These hardy shrubs will thrive in most soils and are easy to grow, but they do need cutting back immediately after flowering to stop them becoming untidy.

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT - Courgettes

Given the news that courgettes are now in short supply because of the terrible weather in Murcia, southern Spain, where most of our courgettes come from, it's about time to grow our own. It's too early to start them off now, but have a look at seed catalogues to decide which type you want to grow. Sow seeds singly in small pots indoors in late April, planting out the seedlings in early June when all danger of frost has passed, hardening them off first. Space them 60cm apart in each direction for compact types, or 90cm-1.2m apart for regular varieties, which need a lot of room. Water young plants regularly and apply liquid tomato feed every week when the fruits are forming. You won't need more than two or three plants to have more than enough to eat all summer.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

:: Start to sow slow-maturing bedding plants such as African marigolds and antirrhinums under glass

:: If weather permits, prepare seed beds on free-draining sandy soil by lightly forking over the surface, breaking down large lumps and raking the soil to a fine tilth

:: Continue to bring in forced bulbs for indoor flowering as they become ready for extra warmth

:: Examine stored dahlia tubers for any sign of rotting

:: Check trellis, pergolas and arches which are supporting climbers and repair any that are damaged

:: Before plants start growing actively, check on the ties that secure them to supports. Replace any that have rotted and add extra ties if needed

:: Continue to plant bare root fruit trees and bushes if the soil isn't frozen or waterlogged

:: If you have bought bare-root hedging plants which you can't plant because the ground is waterlogged, open them out to allow air to circulate, cover roots with straw and store in an open, rodent-free place, keeping the roots moist to avoid dehydration

:: Pot autumn-rooted fuchsia cuttings into small, individual pots

:: Continue winter-pruning trees, roses, climbers and shrubs before spring growth gets under way

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