I love anemones, and none more than the cerise-flowered La Sylphide and the rich blue Mr. Fokker. I’ve planted up several pots and couldn’t help but notice an enormous difference between the big chunky corms from Sarah Raven and the far smaller ones from elsewhere. People do complain that Sarah Raven is very expensive but if I want consistent quality I will happily pay the extra to get top notch flowers.
When I tasted Strawberry Malwina at a press event last year, I knew it was a variety I had to grow. Its fruit are a deep luscious red and the flavour is equally good. I took my delivery of bare root plants straight to the greenhouse and potted them up into pots deep enough to accommodate their substantial roots. I will be planting them outside in due course, but with very cold weather forecast and space to spare in the greenhouse I thought I would give them a headstart.
October sown Sweet Peas
The early October sowing of sweet peas is coming along nicely. I’ve followed Sarah Ravens advice and sown 2 plants to a pot so that they develop a really strong root system. I’ve decided to experiment with pinching out some plants and leaving others. Sweet pea specialist Roger Parsons says side shoots will develop naturally and pinching out is unnecessary. On the other hand the plants that Sarah Raven sends out are the bushiest sweet pea plants I’ve ever seen and the sweet peas in her garden always look magnificent.
Rather than leave a clump of cyclamen seedlings at the mercy of the builders boots, I transplanted them into gritty soil-based compost in cells. They are on the east side of the greenhouse where I can keep an eye on them and once they are large enough I will plant them with the hellebores underneath the tulip tree. I have found upturned wire hanging baskets a brilliant way to protect cyclamen plants until they are well-established.
Cyclamen seedlings
Hardy annual seedlings
It doesn’t seem like a year since my last seed harvesting. I’ve saved quite a lot of seed this year too and in late September I did an autumn sowing of Sweet Rocket, Calendula, Cornflower and Ammi Majus, all of which are growing nicely on the shelf in the greenhouse. If it stays relatively warm and they keep on growing I will pot them on, but they seem happy where they are right now.
