If like me you find it hard to resist a bargain plant even if you have no room for it you will buy your flower bulbs in spring when all the ones in the garden are out in full bloom, and take your chances for next year. However, if you want a good display next spring now is the time to get planning and ordering bulbs from catalogues and having a look round the garden centre. There is still plenty of time to order bulbs for autumn and Christmas flowering also, ideally you need to get them by early September, and plant them as soon as you can. It is much easier to plant the bulbs in September and October than mid winter when the soil is waterlogged and the bulbs will find it harder to get going and may have stunted flowers and retarded growth. • This is a very busy time on the allotment with all the crops being ready to harvest almost all at once but if you don't keep picking the crops will stop producing. It is a regular task to cut the courgettes and pick the beans, this year I have had such a massive crop of runner beans I have been picking them into sacks. The onions and shallots should have been lifted and on sunny days put them out to dry in the sun. • The great thing about hot weather at this time of year is the fact that crops that can go either way will prosper things like butternut squash and sweet corn. Unfortunately this year I have been in a race with a family of rats to get the sweet corn so I have had to pick it early, but it is young and tender.

• The fruit area needs some attention also; the summer fruiting raspberries have done so well this year, with a great crop from early July. Now is the time to prune out all the fruited canes from this year to allow the new canes that will fruit next year to come up. The new canes will also need to be thinned; the aim of this is to reduce each plant to 3-5 healthy stems that can be tied into the training wires to produce a good crop next summer. This is known as the renewal system of pruning, it is tempting to leave more than five canes on each plant but the quality of the crop will suffer, as the canes compete for light and nutrients.

• It is worth mulching the canes with well-rotted farmyard manure or good garden compost as this will add nutrients and improve the soil. Raspberries are shallow rooted so applying mulch will help prevent the roots from drying out in the summer. Take care not to pile the mulch up around the stems as this can cause them to rot.

• Other fruits such as blackcurrants should also be pruned now that the fruits have been harvested. Cut out any weak growth to the base of the stem. The aim as with the raspberries is to open the plant up to allow light and air to get in around the branches as this will improve the quality of the crop and reduce diseases. You want to have a bush with 5-6 strong upward facing branches that form a goblet shaped framework.

• One last tip all the shops and garden centres are selling off much of the summer stock now!