NICE TO SEED YOU AGAIN...
Time to get your orders in ready to start planting
NOW the big day’s over, presents unwrapped and vast quantities of turkey consumed, we can turn our thoughts to the year ahead. One of my favourite jobs at this time of the year is flicking through the seed catalogues, surfing websites and fantasising about what I’m going to grow from seed next year.
I love the excitement of receiving that little paper or foil packet with its promise of so much from tiny beginnings. It’s the most basic form of gardening and so satisfying as it is truly creative. Chiltern Seeds are always a good place to start. They have a wide range of seeds and their website is informative and full of fun facts as well.
They have a pretty new dwarf snapdragon, Antirrhinum ‘Twinny Apple-blossom’ which will grow to just one foot tall. These compact, bushy well- branched plants will bear masses of beautifully ruffled blush pink blossoms.
Surface sow the seeds indoors from January onwards onto moist but well-drained seed compost at 18oC to 20oC. They can be grown in cooler conditions but not planted out until late spring after the last frost (£2.95, info@chilternseeds.co.uk, 01491 824675).
If you don’t have a vegetable plot but have always fancied growing your own, microgreens might be the answer. These are baby leaves of easy to grow veg such as beetroot and radish, as well as salad and herbs which can be grown on a windowsill. Some can be ready to pick in as little as two weeks with the vitamin-rich leaves adding nutrients and flavour to cooking.
Johnsons Seeds has developed a nifty Microgreens Kitchen Seed Sprouter which is a convenient and economical way to produce continuous crops of fresh seed sprouts such as alfalfa and mung beans, as well as the baby leaves of microgreens (£11.99 available from garden centres).
Kings Seeds in Colchester, has been in the seed business for over a hundred years on its 300-acre farm. It has a great selection of vegetable seeds, including organic varieties, as well as flowers and herbs.
I like their field and hedgerow wildflower mix which is ideal for a border or along a hedgerow and includes a minimum of
10 varieties such as nettle leaved bellflower, campion, cowslip, ox-eye daisy, poppy and scabious.
British wildflowers support a host of native wildlife including bees, butterflies, beneficial insects and birds, and if you grow a small patch you will be contributing to a healthier environment.
Sow outdoors where you want it to grow in March and April into a weed-free seedbed and cover to protect from birds (3g of seed is enough for 2 sq m and is £3.75, kingsseeds.com, 01376 570 000).
Plants of Distinction is a small family-run business in East Anglia and it’s a good place to look for unusual plants – those that are a little different though not necessarily rare.
One such is Nicotiana Bronze Queen, the tobacco plant. Instead of the more common white, pink or green colours available, these flowers are hot chocolate brown.
Sow indoors from February to May and harden off for several weeks before planting outdoors after all frost is past (£2.50, plantsofdistinction.co.uk, 01449 721 720).
Get ahead of the posse and order early to ensure you get what you want. In the meantime, wishing you all a very Happy New Year!