Northern gardeners will be seeing signs of growth now that the winter is nearly over. With some forward planning the Air-Pot containers which were full of summer crops all those months ago can be useful during this quiet time .

I have some iris, tulips and muscari bulbs coming to life which  will give some colour, and little Walking Onions which will be good for salads. These onions (a.k.a. Egytptian or Tree Onions)  produce small bulblets similar to little onion sets high on the flower stalk. These can be planted in the Autumn to provide a big pot full of Spring green onions. Elephant Garlic is another edible bulb which I have in Air-Pot containers. The 1 litre Prop Pots are perfect to get them off to a good start prior to planting out on the plot as the roots do not get congested, as they do in a conventional pot.

Christmas trees in pots stand a good chance of surviving until next festive season if they are well watered. Surprisingly conifer roots are actively growing now and many Christmas Trees sold in pots have had their roots hacked about, so watering and feeding will be crucial until they have recovered. My tree is now in an Extra Large Air-Pot and has been our Christmas companion for four years.
Potatoes can be planted now if you are prepared to protect shoots from frost. Three tubers in a 50 litre Air-Pot Potato Tower can produce several kilograms of extra early potatoes in a greenhouse. This year as an experiment one Potato Tower has been wrapped with sturdy bubble wrap to create an individual mini greenhouse and to ward off hard frosts which might penetrate the soil.