2023 Gardening Thread

I like aquilegia ‘granny’s bonnet’ for April/ May they come in lots of different colours. The flowers don’t last very long but are beautiful for a short while. They self-seed easily too! I have the deep coloured ‘William Guinness’ version which contrasts well with the lighter catmint and alliums.

Edit: it might be Blue Barlow that I have

When would you sow aquilegia (and what part of Ireland?) Collected a few seeds (cough, nothing to see here) at a local garden last year... was wondering when to put them out. I guess March.

Aquilegia do not always come true, but if nothing else you will get the purple ones, probably some other colours but eventually they all revert to purple/pink. They self seed so I have always just let them get on with it, they scatter their seeds in late summer/autumn, they are naturally scarified over winter and will grow (everywhere) the following year, though the best flowering is the year after. You could sow them now, they are very easy and will grow regardless of what you do.

I rather ruthlessly pulled up so many of them that now I don't have many at all, and I was just thinking I would put some in for this/next summer.

I got this from seedaholic

Sowing: Sow February to June or September to October.  

Seeds can either be sown directly where they are to flower or can be sown into pots and grown on, before transplanting. Avoid the hottest and coldest parts of the year and sow in early spring to early summer or sow in autumn. 

Sowing Direct: 

Find a cooler part of the garden that enjoys dappled shade. If you have plenty of seed start by sprinkling seeds straight onto the ground in late-summer. Rake so that the seeds are covered with a small amount of soil. The seeds will germinate by the following spring. 

Aquilegias will self-sow into choice plants, so only sprinkle the seeds where it will not matter.

Sowing Indoors: 

Sow seed on the surface of lightly firmed, seed compost in pots or trays. Cover seed with a light sprinkling of vermiculite. Stand the pot in water until the soil is moist and drain. Either use a plastic lid or seal container inside a polythene bag to keep the moisture in. Keep at 15 to 20°C (59 to 68°F).

After sowing, do not exclude light as this helps germination. Keep the surface of the compost moist but not waterlogged. Always stand the pots in water: never water on the top of seeds. 

Expect germination within 2 to 3 weeks. Overwinter September sowings in a cold frame and plant out the following spring. When large enough to handle, transplant seedlings into 7.5cm (3in) pots or trays. Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10 to 15 days before planting out after all risk of frost, 30cm (12in) apart.

I fully agree with the 'some flowers in the grass' policy. The absolute exception being creeping buttercup, as it does not stay in the grass and invades everywhere. However...some clover, daisies, self heal, medick, scarlet pimpernel, all pretty, green when mowed and flowery otherwise, and mowing does not reduce the flowers, it seems to encourage them - much more interesting for the kids playing rather than flat monoculture, you might as well put down syntho grass. Much as I like plantain 'flowers' and allow a few to flourish in splendid sculptural plants in odd corners, those and docs and dandelions I would be more inclined to weed out.

Anyone receive their seed potato order from fruithill yet?

FYI, got this from them yesterday (as part of an email about substituting part of my order):

"We're due to receive the remaining potatoes this week and will begin packing and shipping them soon"

What would be good flowers for March to put in planters. I have two 4 foot planters for the front of the house.

Want some flowers that will be relatively low maintenence

There's some nice heather at the moment. You could pair that with primroses in complementary colours. You could transplant the heather somewhere else come May and start adding showier summer plants. It's relatively cheap and looks really pretty.

You are going to struggle to get flowers in a north-east facing area. My house front also faces north east and I am gradually establishing what will grow there.

Last year pansies (the small flowered ones) did extremely well for the summer, I fed them and mulched them and they seemed very happy. Heucheras will do pretty well, they are not showy flowers but the leaves make up for it in colour. I have some hellebores that are doing well and are in flower at the moment.

Pretty much everything else is climbers which are doing fine but would not be suitable for your planter. I had three roses that were supposed to be suitable for shade but one has been moved already, it really didn't like the aspect.

Ferns would be good. Berginia is good in shade but buy one in flower, some of the colours (shades of pink) can be very feeble. Sarcococca is a small glossy leaved shrub with scented winter flowers that does well in a container. You can get lily of the valley pips at the moment that would flower in shade in the summer - its suggested you plant them in pots and transplant in May to give them a chance to get started. Once established they are vigorous and spreading.

Don't waste money on things like petunias and other summer annuals, the area will not be sunny enough for them.

I planted a Winter Beauty clematis in the ground against a post on the north east side of the house and it has grown vigorously and was a lovely show of flowers for the past couple of months since Christmas, they are just dying off now. I have several other clematis in the same border, a pink montana is doing well but hasn't been big enough to produce flowers yet, they are only in 12 months. One particular honeysuckle is also doing very well and had lots of flower last summer, the others have not been in long enough to know yet, though seem to be happy. With the exception of Golden Showers which did reasonably well, the roses didn't do much.

Was planning on putting a new polytunnell up on Saturday and planting sugarsnaps, radishes, lettuce and pak Choi in my outdoor planters…

Should I put it all off until this cold spell and risk of snow has abated?

Ours just landed today

It seems too good to be true. Have you checked what are the “ingredients “?

For instance, I see the Fast Grow Seaweed fertiliser is actually a blend of chicken manure and seaweed but I can’t find the ratio.

Used coffee grounds, what do you make of that as a fertilizer