Gardening: seeds.
Choosing seeds for borders, containers and the veg garden is one of the most enjoyable times in the gardening year. We all have our favourite plants: mine include scented sweet peas that flower over a long period, and vegetables with some disease resistance that produce a good harvest. These will certainly fill most of the garden.
When compiling the seed order, check you really need to buy more of your favourites – you might well already have some from last year. Vegetable-seed packets carry a sow-by date as they must meet minimum germination standards. Germination rates fall with age, or if an open packet is stored badly. A few vegetables, such as parsnips, have a very short shelf life but others, such as brassicas and legumes, will be viable for longer than is suggested on the packet. When germination rates fall, I merely sow more seed than I'll finally need.
I keep on top of my sowing programme by having a large envelope for every month of the year. The varieties are written on the envelope, so when ordering fresh supplies, it's easy to check seed packets against the list and order if necessary. I simply add new varieties to the list and remove any that weren't up to the mark. I also find it's useful to prepare a database and record sowing, planting and harvesting times, with a wee comment on how the plants fared.
By the time I harvest a new crop in, say, September, I've often forgotten why I chose it way back in January. Old age, I guess. The solution is to have a column on my database to remind me why I selected a new variety. This makes it easier, when pricking out and planting, to keep it apart from the plants I know well. The calabrese variety, Fiesta F1, is a fine, traditional vegetable with a good head, but I'll be trying out Brokali Apollo F1 this year and will treat it differently to the other calabrese by cutting the head early to get lots of side-shoots.
There's always the risk that a new variety might not live up to expectations, so I limit myself to a few each year. One of these is Relic, a new loose-leafed lettuce – ideal for a sandwich. This was bred from the heirloom Deer's Tongue, it's apparently mildew-resistant and is slow to bolt during hot weather, both common problems with lettuces. Another I wouldn't be without is broad bean. Sadly, dwarf ones such as Bonny Lad are hard to track down. I've not been happy with The Sutton, so will certainly be trying out the new Robin Hood.
It's frustrating when a favourite, such as Bonny Lad, disappears from the catalogues but seedsmen are constantly developing more disease-resistant and uniform varieties. These are usually F1 hybrids, and though they solve some of our problems, there may be drawbacks. Because they were first developed for commercial growers, they will reach maturity at the same time, so may not give the long picking time we gardeners want. They may look alike, but may not be as tasty as the more traditional heirloom varieties. Old varieties, like the potato Highland Burgundy Red, often have an amazing flavour but no disease resistance. So, when choosing seeds, remember that F1s and heirlooms both have strengths and weaknesses.
If you have a yen for something unusual, the internet will come to the rescue. Suffolk Herbs – at www.suffolkherbs.com – offer an impressive selection of traditional cottage garden flowers and herbs including my favourite sweet pea, Painted Lady, with pink and white flowers and an unbeatable scent. Other plants with a difference include Ageratum Blue Ball, boasting subtle pale blue flowers, Papaver Moondance, an outstanding poppy with lemon-yellow flowers, and the dark purple-blue flowered Larkspur consolida ambigua.
For a selection of sweet peas, you needn't look further than Sarah Raven at www.sarahraven.com. She provides 45 stunningly different choices, like Lathyratus odoratus Almost Black. This sits beautifully beside the plain white Mrs Coller's. When thinking about flowers for cutting, Raven offers a wide selection, including nicotianas. One cracker is Nicotiana alata Lime Green with velvety, acid-green trumpet flowers that mix with any colour.
There's also a reasonable selection of nicotianas at Nicky's Nursery, www.nickys-nursery.co.uk. Hot Chocolate has starry ruby red to chocolate flowers and works well in borders or large containers. Salvias are another speciality. Salvia maroccana Beakbeano produces a mass of distinct arching spikes with lots of beak-like flowers, in a soft powdery lilac. I'm only giving a whiff of these sites, but I can guarantee you'll find something out of the ordinary there.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article