I've already ordered and received mine - the usual trusty stalwarts I sow every year, like cosmos and zinnia, plus a few new ones I'll be trying for the first time - tithonia, ricinus and cerinthe.
I already sowed some of my snapdragon seeds I saved from this year's plants - they've just germinated on a windowsill so I moved them to the greenhouse today.
I couldn't take it any longer...cleaned up from Christmas and put all the decorations away and brought up the seed shelving to get it ready for March. I'd bought new timers for the grow lights, so I set them up. Every time I walked by the empty shelves it became more and more difficult to contain myself, so I ended up sowing some of the seeds I had collected from my garden over the late summer and autumn. As I dropped them into the tray I kept whispering to myself, "It's just to see if they're actually viable...I'm not going to start any more than can fit in this tray..."
I've sowed Gerber Daisy, Prairie Coneflower, Blue Mist Spirea, and a Rudbeckia that my mother had in her garden that I coveted.
I really need a greenhouse...
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
I am determined to not sow tomatoes until April this year. The last few years I have sown mid March and ended up with 4 foot plants, desperate to be potted into their final pots, a good month before they could go outside. Last year I thought that I would be able to put them in my unheated greenhouse earlier than they would go outside, but it turned out that it was colder in there at night than outside, so there was a jungle in the sitting room again for about a month. I am also determined not to sow chillies this year as I don't eat enough of them. I may fail in both of the above pledges to self. I will be sowing some aubergines though. Black Beauty, maybe Prosperosa. Any other suggestions? Ditto sweet peppers. I need to do a seed assessment in a bit but a while to go before I start sowing things... apart from peas, broad beans and maybe more sweet peas. Need to do those asap. Might do some tomorrow to go in the greenhouse.
I grew the tondo courgettes last year, but they were an abject failure - I tried them in the Quadgrow system, which they didn't like at all. I had a few, admittedly, but not the glut I'd hoed for. Interestingly, this is what one seedsman has to say about them
Courgette seeds - Chiaro Tondo Di Nizza
The courgette is probably the most popular form of all the marrow family. Picked young it can be used in a host of delicious dishes; fried with garlic butter or stuffed! Light green mottled fruit but the difference is that Tondo is round. Pick when the fruits are about 10cm in diameter.Trailing habit, needs space.
When harvesting please discard any bitter tasting fruits. We suggest carrying out a "tongue tip taste test", particularly when harvesting the first fruits from a new plant. For more information please click here.
An interesting read @Penny_Forthem - thanks I recall a couple of years ago there were many posts here about bitter courgettes which I think turned out to be down to bad seed from a well known supplier..
I'm moving my strawberry bed this year and plan to grow 1 Tondo di Nizza in the old strawberry bed after adding plenty of manure. It'll have about 2sq m to grow which should be plenty.
I'm not sure a quadgrow system would have enough space for the root system which is huge.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Yes, I'll be going back to tried and trusted planting this year, especially as we have no more hens to eat everything. I know they'd have had to be kept locked up because of avian flu, which they'd have hated.
I was so happy with some of the seeds from last year (all apparently idiot-proof too, which is always a bonus ). They just kept flowering for ages and were all such pretty colours, so I'm sowing the same again:
Tropaeolum majus milkmaid Cosmos purity & gazebo red Various nigellas Cornflower blue diadem Thunbergia alata & rhodochiton atrosanguineum
Chiltern had run out of sweet pea mrs collier so I've got cathy & dorothy eckford for this year - hopefully they smell as nice. Then I've got a bunch of tomato seeds which I'll try as well, though last year was a massive fail.
I've got the thunbergia & sweet peas going already, but am trying really hard to resist sowing the rest too early. Wasted so many seeds last year doing that!
Cathy is very reliable @puschkinia , if slightly 'muddy' in colour. Good scent. I like it a lot. I grew D. Eckford a few years ago and it was also lovely. I probably have some Mrs. Collier I could send you if you'd like, although I found it difficult to get seed from it. It wasn't as obliging as some others Milkmaid [nasturtium] is nice.
@Simone_in_Wiltshire - your conditions dictate the sowing time, not what the packets say. That's part of the problem with info. It's very variable. We're easily around 3 to 4 weeks later here to be sure of decent germination. The light is in shorter supply as well as warmth
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
such a lovely offer, thank you @Fairygirl It's alright though, happy to try new ones. Last year I had some prince of orange and anniversary which I did not like *at all*. And ofc all the nice labels I made for the seedlings got lost over the months I was growing them, so they all got planted together. While I'm not a fanatic about colour matching, white lilac and orange do not go together in any way. They looked vile So I'll spend the next few years finding my favourite white one!
Posts
I already sowed some of my snapdragon seeds I saved from this year's plants - they've just germinated on a windowsill so I moved them to the greenhouse today.
I am also determined not to sow chillies this year as I don't eat enough of them.
I may fail in both of the above pledges to self.
I will be sowing some aubergines though. Black Beauty, maybe Prosperosa. Any other suggestions?
Ditto sweet peppers.
I need to do a seed assessment in a bit but a while to go before I start sowing things... apart from peas, broad beans and maybe more sweet peas. Need to do those asap. Might do some tomorrow to go in the greenhouse.
I had a few, admittedly, but not the glut I'd hoed for.
Interestingly, this is what one seedsman has to say about them
Courgette seeds - Chiaro Tondo Di Nizza
The courgette is probably the most popular form of all the marrow family. Picked young it can be used in a host of delicious dishes; fried with garlic butter or stuffed! Light green mottled fruit but the difference is that Tondo is round. Pick when the fruits are about 10cm in diameter.Trailing habit, needs space.
When harvesting please discard any bitter tasting fruits. We suggest carrying out a "tongue tip taste test", particularly when harvesting the first fruits from a new plant. For more information please click here.
I recall a couple of years ago there were many posts here about bitter courgettes which I think turned out to be down to bad seed from a well known supplier..
I'm moving my strawberry bed this year and plan to grow 1 Tondo di Nizza in the old strawberry bed after adding plenty of manure. It'll have about 2sq m to grow which should be plenty.
I'm not sure a quadgrow system would have enough space for the root system which is huge.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I ♥ my garden.
Tropaeolum majus milkmaid
Cosmos purity & gazebo red
Various nigellas
Cornflower blue diadem
Thunbergia alata & rhodochiton atrosanguineum
Chiltern had run out of sweet pea mrs collier so I've got cathy & dorothy eckford for this year - hopefully they smell as nice. Then I've got a bunch of tomato seeds which I'll try as well, though last year was a massive fail.
I've got the thunbergia & sweet peas going already, but am trying really hard to resist sowing the rest too early. Wasted so many seeds last year doing that!
I grew D. Eckford a few years ago and it was also lovely.
I probably have some Mrs. Collier I could send you if you'd like, although I found it difficult to get seed from it. It wasn't as obliging as some others
Milkmaid [nasturtium] is nice.
@Simone_in_Wiltshire - your conditions dictate the sowing time, not what the packets say. That's part of the problem with info. It's very variable. We're easily around 3 to 4 weeks later here to be sure of decent germination. The light is in shorter supply as well as warmth
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...