Clearing out the spare room, and I keep bumping into the big pile of
seeds (which is currently on the bathroom floor). Seriously, I've
accumulated a whole carrier bag full of the damned things, with a bit
of overflow.

I'm pretty much ok with veg. I can do the chinese veg and the lettuces
and leafy wintery things now. Then in a couple of months it'll be the
overwintered broad beans and peas, if I can be bothered.

What I need to do is to work out which of the millions of flower seeds
I never get around to I should be planting now, without having to go
through all of theindividual instructions on the packets. A quick
list of common flowers that can be planted between now and Christmas
would be hugely appreciated!

--

wrote in news:a9h3bkF4gvU2
@mid.individual.net:

Clearing out the spare room, and I keep bumping into the big pile of
seeds (which is currently on the bathroom floor). Seriously, I've
accumulated a whole carrier bag full of the damned things, with a bit
of overflow.

I'm pretty much ok with veg. I can do the chinese veg and the lettuces
and leafy wintery things now. Then in a couple of months it'll be the
overwintered broad beans and peas, if I can be bothered.

What I need to do is to work out which of the millions of flower seeds
I never get around to I should be planting now, without having to go
through all of theindividual instructions on the packets. A quick
list of common flowers that can be planted between now and Christmas
would be hugely appreciated!


Well, I have sown winter pansies and they are looking good I think, just
the 2 leaves at the moment but time will tell.
Violas are something to plant if you like to see colour in the garden
during winter. This advice is sort of first and second hand because my next
door neighbour always has these flowering during winter, and this year I
will do the same.

My advice on broad beans and peas is to motivate yourself and get a
smallish row of each in. I put my peas in as thickly as possible, no silly
2" gaps, lay them in thickly, almost touching. Same with broad beans but
one seed per inch, forget the instructions on the packet. Then in Feb.
March, April and May get more into the ground. Keep plenty of seed from
your crop for next year.

The pea I swear by is Hurst Greenshaft, very nice and sweet if podded early
and expect 9 peas per pod! IME/O the best by far. But it is classified as
maincrop which I think is blx.
The broad bean I swear by is Bunyards Exhibition, it has on average 6 beans
per pod and that is counting the 10 on a few and 2 in some . These plants
grow to about 6' and carry lots of pods. I never counted the pods.

I have to say that this year has been a washout. None. For difficult
circumstances.

Hope this is helpful.
Baz

Baz wrote:
Well, I have sown winter pansies and they are looking good I think, just
the 2 leaves at the moment but time will tell.
Violas are something to plant if you like to see colour in the garden
during winter. This advice is sort of first and second hand because my next
door neighbour always has these flowering during winter, and this year I
will do the same.

I'll see if I have any of these. Pretty sure I have packets of both.
Large-headed winter pansies and black violas, iirc. Problem of course,
being I have no idea how old some of these packets are, I just want to
get them planted and out of the way!

My advice on broad beans and peas is to motivate yourself and get a
smallish row of each in. I put my peas in as thickly as possible, no silly
2" gaps, lay them in thickly, almost touching. Same with broad beans but
one seed per inch, forget the instructions on the packet. Then in Feb.
March, April and May get more into the ground. Keep plenty of seed from
your crop for next year.

*nod* We've had 3 lots of beans this year, think the first were over-
wintered, the second I sowed under the disasterous french/runner beans,
and the third are back on the original over-wintering spot, just to keep
it busy. The first came and went, the second and third are both cropping
at the same time, now!

The pea I swear by is Hurst Greenshaft, very nice and sweet if podded early
and expect 9 peas per pod! IME/O the best by far. But it is classified as
maincrop which I think is blx.
The broad bean I swear by is Bunyards Exhibition, it has on average 6 beans
per pod and that is counting the 10 on a few and 2 in some . These plants
grow to about 6' and carry lots of pods. I never counted the pods.

I cant' remember what the broad beans I have are. I did have Bunyards at
one point, but I also had a bag or two from the potato day last year, and
they are still going strong, or at least, the saved ones are. I don't
think they were named, they were just white-flowered and crimson-flowered.
THe crimson-flowered ones are so pretty! They produce a much tougher bean
which keeps its shape better if you accidentally overcook!

We are terrible with peas. We grow loads every year, or at least, Nick
plants loads and takes up greenhouse space with them, then fails to make
a patch to put them in until they are straggley, then he never goes to
pick them, and I tend not to want to interfere with them cos they're his,
and we end up only getting half a dozen! Also, he won't keep the varieties
separate properly, despite me asking and asking, and we end up not knowing
which are mange tout!

Grumble over. :-/
Thanks.

On 21/08/2012 13:02, Baz wrote:
wrote in news:a9h3bkF4gvU2
@mid.individual.net:

Clearing out the spare room, and I keep bumping into the big pile of
seeds (which is currently on the bathroom floor). Seriously, I've
accumulated a whole carrier bag full of the damned things, with a bit
of overflow.

I'm pretty much ok with veg. I can do the chinese veg and the lettuces
and leafy wintery things now. Then in a couple of months it'll be the
overwintered broad beans and peas, if I can be bothered.

What I need to do is to work out which of the millions of flower seeds
I never get around to I should be planting now, without having to go
through all of theindividual instructions on the packets. A quick
list of common flowers that can be planted between now and Christmas
would be hugely appreciated!


Well, I have sown winter pansies and they are looking good I think, just
the 2 leaves at the moment but time will tell.
Violas are something to plant if you like to see colour in the garden
during winter. This advice is sort of first and second hand because my next
door neighbour always has these flowering during winter, and this year I
will do the same.

My advice on broad beans and peas is to motivate yourself and get a
smallish row of each in. I put my peas in as thickly as possible, no silly
2" gaps, lay them in thickly, almost touching. Same with broad beans but
one seed per inch, forget the instructions on the packet. Then in Feb.
March, April and May get more into the ground. Keep plenty of seed from
your crop for next year.

The pea I swear by is Hurst Greenshaft, very nice and sweet if podded early
and expect 9 peas per pod! IME/O the best by far. But it is classified as
maincrop which I think is blx.
The broad bean I swear by is Bunyards Exhibition, it has on average 6 beans
per pod and that is counting the 10 on a few and 2 in some . These plants
grow to about 6' and carry lots of pods. I never counted the pods.

I have to say that this year has been a washout. None. For difficult
circumstances.

Hope this is helpful.
Baz

Also you could [plant some Onion and shallot sets, also garlic. It has
been a pretty poor year, but I have had some winners, in particular
brassicas, broad beans and raspberries, also I have started on what
promises to be a lovely crop of runner beans, my wife absolutely adores
them, so I will be fed up with them by October, but frozen they are a
good standby when frozen, which they do will IMHO. Whatever you do all
the best of luck.


--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

Moonraker wrote:
Also you could [plant some Onion and shallot sets, also garlic. It has
been a pretty poor year, but I have had some winners, in particular
brassicas, broad beans and raspberries, also I have started on what
promises to be a lovely crop of runner beans, my wife absolutely adores
them, so I will be fed up with them by October, but frozen they are a
good standby when frozen, which they do will IMHO. Whatever you do all
the best of luck.

Thank you, but as I said, I'm pretty much ok with veg planting, it's the
flower seeds I need advice with. :-)

As a general rule of thumb, it'd be worth having a go with any hardy perennial or hardy biennial. (After all, this is the time of year that seed will be dropping to the ground)

Things that aren't going to be hardy over the winter won't be worth trying, unless you have somewhere warm for them through the winter. And even then there might not be enough light for them to be healthy.

And genuine annuals - things that grow, flower and seed in one season (as opposed to things we grow as annual but which aren't really - things that won't survive winter or which go leggy after flowering) will probably need planting in the spring unless the packet says otherwise.

Anything that needs stratifying - ie needs a cold period to stimulate germination - is well worth trying now - leave them outside over the winter and they should germinate in the spring.

As to specifics - calendula and eschscholtzia can be planted now, and sweet peas are better planted now rather than in the spring, if you've got somewhere to keep them over the winter.