I just throw the seeds of plants like nicotina, larkspur, forgetmenot, poppy, nigella etc around the garden in September, by the time winter comes they are good strong plants and able to cope with the cold -16 here. I only did this once when I moved here 5 yrs ago and now they just selfseed everywhere so all I have to do in Spring is thin them out and move some to another place.The only one I cant do this with is Cosmos so I save the seed then do the same in March, if the ground is too cold they will just sit and wait till it warms up then germinate. It saves all the messing around with plants on a windowledges growing long and leggy, pricking out and coldframes. Ive even started to do this with tomatoes, i leave the last couple of each variety on the ground thro winter, when the ground is warm enough they germinate then I pick the strongest and replant in their proper place.
Weeds I understand. Sometimes I wonder why we are gardeners as everything seems to be against us. Slugs and snails weeds all the worlds population of greenfly blackfly and caterpillars etc seem to decend into yr garden and in my case the worst of all moles !. When we finally think we have most things under control along comes the weather which brings floods drought and winds etc
That about sums it up galest. Still love it though. Be nice when I'm not paddling about or getting stuck in the mud. I haven't even got the leaves off the hellebores yet and all last years dry perennial stalks, (usually standing through the winter, frosting nicely), are soggy messes facing every which way.
One warm sunny day and all will be well, In my head if nowhere else
Yes yr right it doesnt seem to matter what nature throws at us we are all still there in January chomping at the bit to start again. Ive just been outside for a couple of hours as 80% of the snow has gone and I needed to look for life whatever sort it was! Plenty of bulbs coming up and the buds are showing on many of the shrubs so that cheared me up. Very cold tho -5 with the north wind but the sun was out so a nice change from being stuck inside. Ive got rid of around 25 mole hills numerous parcels of what doggies leave and was suprised at how well the soil has drained this year considering we had almost 3ft of it so I got a few bulbs planted. By that time the toilet was calling yet again and so was the kettle. Off to watch A - Z of gardening now I just hope its better than last week!
Im sure you ll love Cleome is a lovely plant its one I make sure I have every year. It takes awhile to get going but once is does it doesnt take long to get to its full height. Its late season so nice to have when the big rush of flowers are finishing and here it flowers till the first frosts. Make sure you keep the seeds of your fav colour for next yr.
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Do the snapdragons need to go out side in a cold frame? mine are indoors still looking a little weedy now not sowed them this early before
I just throw the seeds of plants like nicotina, larkspur, forgetmenot, poppy, nigella etc around the garden in September, by the time winter comes they are good strong plants and able to cope with the cold -16 here. I only did this once when I moved here 5 yrs ago and now they just selfseed everywhere so all I have to do in Spring is thin them out and move some to another place.The only one I cant do this with is Cosmos so I save the seed then do the same in March, if the ground is too cold they will just sit and wait till it warms up then germinate. It saves all the messing around with plants on a windowledges growing long and leggy, pricking out and coldframes. Ive even started to do this with tomatoes, i leave the last couple of each variety on the ground thro winter, when the ground is warm enough they germinate then I pick the strongest and replant in their proper place.
Hi galest, I think the difficulty I have with self sown annuals is the enormous number of weeds I have to remove, dislodging other seedlings as I go.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Weeds I understand. Sometimes I wonder why we are gardeners as everything seems to be against us. Slugs and snails weeds all the worlds population of greenfly blackfly and caterpillars etc seem to decend into yr garden and in my case the worst of all moles !. When we finally think we have most things under control along comes the weather which brings floods drought and winds etc
That about sums it up galest. Still love it though. Be nice when I'm not paddling about or getting stuck in the mud. I haven't even got the leaves off the hellebores yet and all last years dry perennial stalks, (usually standing through the winter, frosting nicely), are soggy messes facing every which way.
One warm sunny day and all will be well, In my head if nowhere else
In the sticks near Peterborough
Yes yr right it doesnt seem to matter what nature throws at us we are all still there in January chomping at the bit to start again. Ive just been outside for a couple of hours as 80% of the snow has gone and I needed to look for life whatever sort it was! Plenty of bulbs coming up and the buds are showing on many of the shrubs so that cheared me up. Very cold tho -5 with the north wind but the sun was out so a nice change from being stuck inside. Ive got rid of around 25 mole hills numerous parcels of what doggies leave and was suprised at how well the soil has drained this year considering we had almost 3ft of it so I got a few bulbs planted. By that time the toilet was calling yet again and so was the kettle. Off to watch A - Z of gardening now I just hope its better than last week!
Im sure you ll love Cleome is a lovely plant its one I make sure I have every year. It takes awhile to get going but once is does it doesnt take long to get to its full height. Its late season so nice to have when the big rush of flowers are finishing and here it flowers till the first frosts. Make sure you keep the seeds of your fav colour for next yr.