The seeds are in – at least most of them. Some are still to arrive, hopefully before their due sowing dates! Some old favourites are sadly no longer available, but we have found good alternatives.
Now the planning begins: things like peppers and tomatoes need an early start to take full advantage of the summer, but annual bedders have a shorter season and it is important not to sow some things too early.
This year we are trialling some exciting new varieties and are very grateful to our seed suppliers Ball Colgrave and Moles for permission to use their lovely images.
- Asarina Summer Snow and Mystic Sky Blue – annual climbers with foxglove like flowers
- Marigold Fireball and Strawberry Blonde – marigolds are some of the most reliable bedding subjects but do not fit into everybody’s colour schemes. Both of these new varieties have multi-coloured double blooms with the colour changing as the flowers mature.
- Zinnia Zahara Double – one thing we learned from taking orders during Lockdown 1 was how many of you want zinnias. We have always grown some in pots, and will still, but up to now we have not found a zinnia with good double flowers that we could grow in a pack. Zaraha Double fits the bill: good sized flowers and an excellent colour range.
- Nasturtium Baby Rose – bright rose flowers on compact dark leaves. Easy to grow but like all nasturtiums will not flower if overfed.
We shall try and grow some of all these ourselves, but feedback is important to us, so if you grow any do let us know how you got on.
NB: Clean seed trays are essential for seed sowing and do not forget to give your watering cans a good scrub as well!
Asarina Mystic Sky Blue 
Asarina Summer Snow 
Fireball French Marigold 
Strawberry Blonde French Marigold 
Nasturtium Baby Rose 
Zahara Double Mix Zinnia