I can't remember if I mentioned Dr R. Uvedale to you, which I grew last year - I know I mentioned it somewhere on the forum. A very good flower and a nice rich purple I grew Black Knight a few years ago- also very nice. There's another one with a similar name, but it wasn't as good. I'll try and find it so that you can avoid it! I also grew a rich pink one last year - Roosterville, but it wasn't as floriferous, and I struggled to get decent seed pods from it, so I ordered more to give it another shot this year. Not sure if I have a pic but I'll have a look. I've also bought a dwarf one - Solway Velvet, to put in a container to trail down. I've done it with ordinary s. peas in the past, so I thought I'd give that a go.
I mainly grow whites/creams and rich purples/reds. I don't like blue/lavender, or pastel colours in any plant, so I avoid those completely.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The watering in my garden is SO time consuming, not to mention bad for the environment (luckily and somewhat amazingly no hosepipe ban yet). I hate to admit it but it really was almost every day in the summer - because my soil is stoney and I have no shade it doesn't retain moisture at all. I hope to be able to gradually improve it with mulches and as the trees grow.
I suspect I'm not going to be keen on the Crimson colour either - I'm more into blues and pastels - but thought I'd give it a shot! Are there any other favourite sweet peas you've tried that you like / would recommend?
Where are you? If you're in South Bucks I can show you how to set up drip irrigation that can connect to a hose. It uses 70% less water than using a hosepipe and is favoured by market gardeners and flower farmers (me). Not leaky hose but flat tape with emitters spaced along its length. Makes such a difference.
@rachelQrtJHBjb I've been looking into irrigation systems and saw various types, but it seemed to be coming in it at around £2k though which is out of my budget at the moment - but maybe I was looking at the wrong kind of thing! Is there a particular product you'd recommend / could share a link for? I'm in Essex unfortunately so a little way away. I really do think on both time and the environment it will be a worthwhile investment for me though. Side note: this is the first year I'm planning on growing flowers specifically for cutting, I've spaced off a reasonable sized area. Can I ask what you find best to use for support - is it horizontal netting? Flower farming = the ultmate dream!
@Fairygirl that is a BEAUTIFUL sweet pea, I'll have to try it next year. I do love a rich, dark purple. Last year I grew Henry Eckford (wasn't keen on the orangey/pink colour) Blue Velvet which was a beautiful colour (but didn't do so well in the heat), Erewhon (ditto) and King Edward VII (not bad).
How much you spend depends mainly on where you buy and whether you go for a well-known brand or not. I have that Titan timer from Screwfix timer and it's fine. The main thing is to do some measuring so you have a reasonable idea of what you want. You'll probably end up changing it around somewhat as your garden develops. It would cost a lot more if you wanted someone to plan and install it for you.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thank you @JennyJ ! I think probably started looking at someone installing it as it all seemed a bit confusing - I am really not very good at DIY and practical things like this. My garden is about 20 x 10 metres - obviously not all of that is flower bed, but I do have a sizeable amount. I think I'd need an awful lot of drip heads to make a difference to my sun baked garden, but perhaps that's normal? Also - and probably this is a very stupid question - what I didn't understand was do you just leave the back water tap turned on all day? I couldn't understand how it would work
Also my flower beds aren't in rows - not sure if that makes a difference - they're in curved circles!
If you use a timer, it has a valve in it that opens and closes according to how you set it and you leave the tap on. Without a timer you turn the tap on and off yourself as necessary, so you do need to be in to do it.
For beds/borders rather than containers, you might be better with seep
hoses - this sort of thing - https://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/hydrosure-100m-soaker-hose-13mm.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItNmh8LC__AIVFeztCh1skgcUEAQYASABEgKeo_D_BwE (there are probably cheaper ones if you shop around online) wound around the plants. You'll need a lot if you want to cover
the whole area. You can use lengths of normal hose and push-fit connectors to get to where you want the seep hose to start. I just have a couple and put them around newly-planted plants/areas - the rest fends for itself because I choose plants that prefer
or at least tolerate the well-drained soil and dry-ish climate here -
otherwise I'd be forever watering.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks for the info @JennyJ I really appreciate it as I looked at the Gardena products today and it's very confusing! I had been looking at seep hoses and wondering which were better. My only concern is that having the garden tap turned on makes a really loud noise in my house - do you have a rough idea of how long they generally need to be on for during the day in the summer in order to get the ground properly wet?
Depends on how hot it is! My seep hoses only wet a few inches either side so they are targeted at particular plants and I put the water on and off manually for them. I don't try to thoroughly wet the ground all over because it's not necessary for my planting. The drip system for my containers goes on the timer for 10 minutes twice a day unless it's very hot and/or quite hot and windy as well, in which case I change it to 15 minutes. I have a splitter on my tap (similar to this https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-2-way-multi-tap-connector-1-2-3-4-/428PT?tc=BT6 ) with the timer and drip system on one side, and I use the other side to connect the hose or seep hose, whatever I want to use. I also do targetted watering with cans from the butts. It all depends on what really needs water, how much time I have and whether there's stored water in the butts. And of course whether we have a hosepipe ban (I got confirmation from Yorkshire Water that the drip system on the timer is OK to use).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thank you @JennyJ - I won't keep asking questions, sounds like I need to do some proper research into the best type for my garden.
Ten minutes twice a day! Maybe I'm misunderstanding how much "flow" the drip systems provide. Ten minutes of drips (I'm imagining it like from a leaking tap) wouldn't do much to the soil in my garden
Just to clarify, the 10 minutes is for the containers - baskets, big pots, tomatoes etc. It keeps them going without being soaked. I try to use as little water as I can (we're not metered, but it's the principle).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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I grew Black Knight a few years ago- also very nice. There's another one with a similar name, but it wasn't as good. I'll try and find it so that you can avoid it!
I also grew a rich pink one last year - Roosterville, but it wasn't as floriferous, and I struggled to get decent seed pods from it, so I ordered more to give it another shot this year. Not sure if I have a pic but I'll have a look.
I've also bought a dwarf one - Solway Velvet, to put in a container to trail down. I've done it with ordinary s. peas in the past, so I thought I'd give that a go.
I mainly grow whites/creams and rich purples/reds. I don't like blue/lavender, or pastel colours in any plant, so I avoid those completely.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl that is a BEAUTIFUL sweet pea, I'll have to try it next year. I do love a rich, dark purple. Last year I grew Henry Eckford (wasn't keen on the orangey/pink colour) Blue Velvet which was a beautiful colour (but didn't do so well in the heat), Erewhon (ditto) and King Edward
Blue Velvet, Erewhon and Matucana:
Matucana, King Edwaed and a lone Erewhon
Also my flower beds aren't in rows - not sure if that makes a difference - they're in curved circles!
Ten minutes twice a day! Maybe I'm misunderstanding how much "flow" the drip systems provide. Ten minutes of drips (I'm imagining it like from a leaking tap) wouldn't do much to the soil in my garden