Short clue in garden plot, of late (6)
I believe the answer is:
behind
'late' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'short clue in garden plot' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'clue' becomes 'hint' ('hint' can be a synonym of 'clue').
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'garden plot' becomes 'bed' (I've seen this before).
'hint' with its final letter removed is 'hin'.
'hin' going within 'bed' is 'BEHIND'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for behind that I've seen before include "Astern" , "bum" , "Seat" , "Following - trailing - supporting" , "In arrears; guiding" .)