I had 2 pelargoniums, one a soft salmon pink and the other bright pink (Flower Fairy Rose) Very easy from seed. They live in the back porch, but the door is open a lot in summer so they get pollinated. I now also have seedlings from last year and this and some of the crosses are really distinctive while others look more like one of the parents. They are filling the porch with flowers now and will carry on through the winter. Some haven't flowered yet so more to look forward to and so cheering when it is gloomy and bleak outside
I have that in the narrow passageway at the side of the house. It lives in dust with very little light or sunshine. Strangely, it doesn't venture onto the patio or the grassy path leading to the passage. Very hardy but particular, it seems.
In theory any plant that produces seed can be multiplied a thousandfold from that seed but heed the words I read many moons ago, "He reaps what he sows, except the amateur gardener".
I have spent a small fortune on seeds over the years and there are some things that never grow for me or which have produced only one plant after a lot of attempts. Violets......I have a ton of them in the garden and all of them brought by ants or birds. Corydalis Lutea.....grew one plant decades ago and now it spreads everywhere. Aquilegias......never got any purchased seeds to germinate but the garden is full of self seeded plants. Echinacea.....all self seeded from one purchased plant. Just four of the many failures which now fill the garden.
Best to go for something that is easy and doesn't require special care. Avoid anything that only has five seeds in a packet (difficult to grow and expensive) and go instead for a variety that has 200 seeds per packet. If you can't get the seeds to grow then buy a plant and if it likes the surroundings, it will happily broadcast its seeds and fill the garden with its offspring.
Chiltern Seeds have a sale on at the moment so you might find some decent perennials at a reduced price. https://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/
... heed the words I read many moons ago, "He reaps what he sows, except the amateur gardener".
...
Best to go for something that is easy and doesn't require special care. Avoid anything that only has five seeds in a packet (difficult to grow and expensive) and go instead for a variety that has 200 seeds per packet.
Agreed. The voice of experience. I know Chiltern are are reputable supplier & I've no complaints but even there, there are perils for the over ambitious (& i include myself of course!) because alongside the common "good do-ers" there are all those tempting rarer plants that none of the big players (Suttons, Fothergills, etc) seem to stock. I wont bother listing all my failures but suffice to say: if you can ONLY get a particular seed from a specialist, there's probably a good reason for that.
I've had success with Dianthus carthusianorum, Lychnis coronaria and Verbascum chaixii 'Album (all indoors under growlights and flowering in their first year), and Dorycnium hirsutum (sown outdoors in pots last winter and coming on nicely). Unless you've got lots of space and time, I would restrict to either plants that will bulk up fast and flower in their first year, or ones that are very unusual and special.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
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