This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Itchy fingers
Joyce Goldenlily
Posts: 2,933
in Plants
For anyone wanting to "do something" in the garden. I have just had a reminder from a seed merchant reminding me it is time to sow sweet-scented stock for next year. I assume you would need a greenhouse or cold frame to overwinter them as I have never tried autumn sowing them.
0
Posts
https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Sweet-Scented-Ten-Week-Stocks-Seed/
but other sites [including G's World] say they're hardy annuals, and are best sown direct [as they apparently don't like being transplanted] if you're in a milder, frost free part of the country, otherwise sown in late winter, through spring.
I'm sure you could sow now [although it seems very late] but they'd need warmth, and then you'd have to keep them warm enough until they can go out. Might be better to get them, but wait until early next year.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
2. Touch it to a seed
3. Wipe the seed off on the strip of paper towel at the appropriate distance.
4. Repeat until you have the length of your row.
5. Leave it to dry overnight, roll it up, store in a labeled bag.
It makes it so much easier to just lay down the strips in the row hole and top fill at the correct depth. It also scratches those 'itchy fingers' in the middle of winter, from the comfort of the kitchen table. I have no issues with germination or growing. The egg whites dry quickly and make a great water soluble 'glue', and the towel just rots away.
I thought I was bad enough sowing onion seed individually in modules, I think I am going to wait until Spring to sow the stock outside. I cannot be doing with faffing over baby seedlings all winter, indoors, only to have them turn up their toes when moved into the big outdoor world in the Spring, or to be munched on as slug and snail fodder.
I did buy a packet of Brompton Stock seed so I have scratched my itch. Just.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
On a clear, warm, sunny day my fingers always itch!
I'm looking out at about 4" of snow, and it's currently -12.5 C out there.
Heaven knows when I'll get to the greenhouse .... and if anything in there will be alive.
But I am gardening .... on paper. I have a new bed to set out in the spring. It's a fair size and currently only has 3 Betula jacquemontii in. I'm aiming for a winter interest look with mostly shrubs and some ground cover type perennials.
I'm no artist ... but I love this type of thing and am happily cutting out shapes and tracing paper and having a whale of a time thinking about leaf shapes and ultimate heights etc.
Feels like a bit of gardening to me.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
You need somewhere to grow them on too ,until they can go outside. With warmth. I no longer have a large conservatory, or a heated greenhouse.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
An idea for winter interest in your new border Beewitched? The berries are a stunning bright purple and the birds seem to leave them alone.