Rosebie Morton’s October Gardening Guide 2025

The weather’s getting gloomy and autumn has arrived. Brighten up your interiors by moving your bulbs indoors, recommends Rosebie Morton, founder of The Real Flower Company. From hyacinths and narcissi paperwhites to acorns and avocado trees, here’s your October gardening guide. 

Gardening In October: What To Do This Month

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As the nights draw in, it is a good time to be thinking about putting bulbs indoors to bring some cheer to the winter months. Christmas is still many weeks away (thank goodness) but if you have aspirations for beautiful hyacinths flowering for the festivities, now is the time to get them going! You can of course cheat and buy bulbs which are just coming into flower at the last minute but there is something hugely satisfying about growing your own.

You can order prepared bulbs online from any of the reputable bulb suppliers or alternatively head down to a garden centre. It is important to remember that the bigger the bulb, the better the flowers will be so it’s worth spending a bit more to get the best. Plant the bulbs in your chosen containers using a bulb fibre or a good compost with only the bottom third of the bulb submerged. Water lightly to dampen the compost and then place in a cool dark garage-slash-shed or a room which does not get above 9°C. A black bin liner over the top of the container will ensure that no light will penetrate the emerging bulbs. Check the pots occasionally to see if the compost is still moist. Once the bulbs have grown one to two inches in height, transfer them to a cool light room for a week or so before putting them in their final place ready to fill the room with both scent and beauty at Christmas. 

Another true star of indoor bulbs is narcissi paperwhites. These are guaranteed to fill a room with exquisite scent. They are incredibly easy to grow and very effective planted in any container such as a tall glass vase, a mason jar or a ceramic pot. They will grow not only in compost or bulb fibre but are equally happy planted in gravel, marbles, pebbles or even shells for a very decorative look. Nestle the bulbs in about 5cm (2″) of whatever you have chosen to use, ensuring that the bottom third of the bulb is in the growing medium. Water the bulbs so that the water just touches the base which will help ensure that the roots will find the water. Avoid putting the paperwhites in too hot a room because they will grow very leggy and the flowers will go over very quickly. 

On that note, if you don’t fancy faffing around with twigs to support your paperwhites, then once they are showing 2.5–5cm (1–2”) in growth pour all the water away and replace with one part gin, vodka or whiskey to seven parts water and use this mixture to top them up as and when they need it. This amount of alcohol will have no effect on the quality of the flowers, it merely shortens the stem length! Planted every two weeks, you can have a continuous supply throughout the dark months to bring joy and perfume to your home.

Finally, if you are getting withdrawal symptoms from gardening then check out an acorn or avocado vase to keep your green fingers occupied. It’s a bonanza year for acorns; most parks will have some and one acorn placed in an acorn vase will give you hours of entertainment, plus an emerging oak tree for the generations to come. Despite global warming, we can’t guarantee that the same will happen with an avocado bulb but equally fun to watch it growing!