seeds

Winter Sown Sweet Peas

Sweet peas were one of the first plants I grew from seed – or, now that I think about it, from seedlings. It was quite a long time ago when my children were still small, and I felt the urge to grow something in our little garden. It needed to be easy and rewarding and I remember picking up some small sweet pea plants in cardboard pots from somewhere – probably a local garden centre.

They succeeded, and the love of growing was awakened from deep within, although at the time I had two youngsters and a job and not very much time to do anything about it. Fast forward a few years later and sweet peas are still one of the stalwarts of my garden. I sow some in late autumn/winter and usually some in the spring too, aiming to have at least two or three large frames with a variety of colours and scents, and a steady supply of flowers to pick and bring inside for the vase.

As far as I’m concerned these are fair game to sow at any point between now and spring. I sometimes even make a point of sowing on New Year’s Day – a welcome break from the festivities to mark the turning of the year and the beginning of a new growing season.

Autumn/winter sown sweet peas are generally stronger and flower earlier than spring-sown, but you do have to have a bit of space somewhere to raise them and overwinter them. This year I’m germinating mine on a windowsill in a small north-facing sunroom at the back of the house, and will then move them to the greenhouse where they can grow on, slowly and steadily, until spring when they can be planted out surprisingly early – sweet peas are hardier than they look.

Sowing

Some people soak sweet pea seeds first but I’ve never done this and my seeds usually germinate very reliably. I use a mix of general purpose peat-free compost with a couple of handfuls of horticultural grit and perlite. For pots, I either sow one seed each into rootrainer modules (like these from Sarah Raven) or three seeds into regular square 9cm pots.

The benefit of the rootrainers is that they are nice and deep, giving the roots lots of space to develop, running up and down the grooves inside each module. And once the seedlings are big enough to be planted out there’s very little root disturbance as you can just pull apart each module and plant out the whole seedling, roots and compost and all.

Although not quite as deep as rootrainers, 9cm pots also do a good job, they save a little bit of space and compost as you can sow three seeds into each one, and you can opt to pop the three seedlings from container to ground as well, no need to pull apart each plant.

Pinching out

This needs done when the seedlings have put on some good growth, which is likely to have happened by spring. When the plant has three or four pairs of leaves, either snip or squeeze off the top of the main stem, leaving one or two pairs of leaves. This means side shoots will develop, leading to bushier plants and more flowers.

Planting out

This will depend on the spring weather! For me, in Scotland, I choose an opportunity in April or May when the weather is reasonable and there’s no imminent heavy frost or cold snap. This wouldn’t necessarily kill them off, but would certainly check their growth, so ideally I’ll try to wait until I’m fairly sure the weather will be settled to let them get established. If it’s very mild it’s possible (but perhaps more risky) to plant out in March. As I said above, sweet peas are tougher than they seem and although a touch of frost may nip the youngest leaves, it shouldn’t do more harm than naturally pinching out the top growth.

Support

Sweet peas need support, and when they’re first planted out they may need tied in or at least pointed in the right direction – as they grow they’ll develop little twining tendrils which will keep them attached to the structure you provide (or to nearby plants!) So check on them regularly and tie them in with soft wool or jute twine to ensure they’re growing against the structure, otherwise the weight of the stems or a stiff wind could bend them over and damage the plants.

I used to craft a V-shaped structure out of bamboo canes and twine – until summer 2022 when most of the twine was stolen by nesting squirrels, leading to major structural integrity issues! Last year I bought a couple of these willow obelisks from Wilko and they’re fab – they look natural and are really easy to pop up and place wherever you want them in your garden. I put them onto the surface of the raised beds where I grow most of my cut flowers, but they’d blend in really well in a mixed border too.

Varieties

When it comes to what kind of sweet peas to grow, that’s entirely up to you and there’s a plethora of colours, sizes and scents to choose from. There are different groups of sweet peas, so you can choose broadly depending on what you’re looking for:

Grandiflora – as the name suggests, have large flowers and a good scent

Spencer – bred to be frilly and brightly coloured, good for showing

Species/heirloom – these have smaller blooms and simpler colours and a really strong scent

There are also dwarf varieties – these are compact and good for containers.

NB – there’s also an everlasting sweet pea – this is a perennial variety, so it comes back year after year, but it doesn’t have any scent so if that’s important to you then make sure you go for the annual types!

Recommendations

I’ve grown a lot of different varieties – I usually mix it up year to year, going for colours that I’m drawn to, or names that are meaningful – or simply sowing whatever packet I happened to have received as a gift or special offer!

These are some of the sweet peas I’ve enjoyed most in recent years and would be happy to grow again: Jimmy Shand, Cupani, Judith Wilkinson, Cream Egg, Erewhon. I also usually grow a packet of heritage mix, which reliably provides a variety of colours and good scent.

New Year, new blog post, new garden plans

It’s 2023! Garden-wise January can be a bit of a grim month. Everything looks brown and soggy and the days are still very short and usually cold, offering far fewer opportunities to get outside and do anything more than tidying up fallen leaves or cut down decaying stalks.

I do always get strangely excited about the turn of the year though, because I know that very soon I’ll be seeing the first little shoots of bulbs poking through the soil – and in fact many of them are already doing just that. January also means it will soon be time to start some early seed sowings. True, it’s still much too early for most annuals or vegetables, but there are a few seeds which do benefit from an early start, especially in Scotland, if you can time it right.

Bulb shoots are nosing their way out of the soil in my back garden

Instead of making new year resolutions, I prefer to consider what I’ll do more of and what I’ll do less of each year. These are small shifts, as opposed to grand gestures, which are more likely to fall by the wayside.

In the past 12 months I’ve moved up from part time working hours to full time – and that has definitely impacted on the time I can spend in the garden, so I’m taking that into consideration for my 2023 growing plan.

What will I do less of in the garden this year?

Grow dahlias – I tell myself every year not to buy too many dahlias, and I inevitably fail miserably! However this year I think I’ve really learning my lesson – the dahlias definitely suffered because a lack of time, not to mention the very cold weather we had quite suddenly in November, and as a result of not lifting them and protecting them at the right point I’ve lost most of this year’s tubers. So this year I will grow fewer dahlias and look after them better. I’m certain I’ll enjoy growing, taking cuttings and nurturing a smaller group, especially if it results in a better display of flowers from them this year.
Growing less, better! – Again, my time in the garden is more limited than it used to be – and I want to avoid spiralling into overwhelm because I have 40 million seedlings to pot on, grass up to my knees and borders full of weeds! So simplification is the key – growing a smaller collection of vegetables, cut flowers and hopefully keeping on top of things as much as possible.
Spend less time in the garden – but MORE OFTEN. This is key – I may not have 2 hours to spare every day but I can still get a lot done in 10/15 minutes, or half an hour here and there – and I’m reminded of that every time I do it. Pulling a few weeds, deadheading flowers, pricking out a few seedlings – these things never take quite as long as I think and even a short spell in the garden or greenhouse is time well spent on my own health and a welcome break from work or home life!
Hatching chicks – we love hatching and raising little chicks, but after a difficult time rehoming a number of boys last year, I swore I would not do it again. I’m planning to sell the incubator and enjoy the lovely hens we already have this year.

What will I do more of in the garden this year?

Design – I need to revamp one of the main patio areas in the garden; it’s been looking sad and bare (apart from the weeds) all winter and it’s one of our main sitting areas when the weather is good, so I really need to crack on, decide what we’re going to do with it and then get it done! I have a vision for a combination of circular paving, gravel and some drought tolerant, airy planting.
More design – I’m interested in Scone Palace’s design competition (details on their Facebook page) – I have no idea if I can do it, but I’d love to give it a try and I already have a few ideas around a possible theme… it seems like a good starting point to test my garden design skills, which I am currently studying to acquire so that I can pass some…
…exams – I’m determined to complete the RHS Level 2 course this year so that I can finally achieve a horticulture qualification. Two more exams to go in February – fingers crossed!
Pollinator friendly plants – more, more, more. I think this (and a decent level of drought tolerance) will be guiding my decision making this year – I just love seeing bees, hoverflies, butterflies, bee flies, ladybirds, all manner of insects flying or crawling around the flowers in my garden, so I’ll be choosing and growing more of the kinds plants which attract them and feed them.
Podcasting?? This is a very tentative late entry. I miss writing and recording and meeting new and interesting Scottish gardening people. I might need to experiment a bit with format, content or routine, but if I can work out a way to make podcasting fit into my life alongside work, family and the garden itself, then you might be seeing some new episodes of The Scottish Garden Podcast in 2023…

I’ll be growing more pollinator friendly plants in 2023, like this Knauti macedonica, which bees love

September Stars

It seems I have a late summer garden – there’s more colour on show in September than there has been during the rest of the year.

The front garden is currently showing off all its colours – yellows, pinks, peachy dahlias and flashes of reds from the crocosmia, roses and even a few second-flowering geums. I haven’t really planned a late summer garden, but each season I have been adding layers of colour and texture so there’s as much interest throughout the year as possible. It looks like I’ve certainly been attracted to late season plants!

I do love my dahlias, of course, and they’re really hitting their stride at the moment. I’m also really enjoying the echinaceas which are flourishing, the rudbeckias (still small, only sown this year) and the cosmos, which is a great gap filler. I bought a couple of sedums several weeks ago and love to see the bees still busy around these flowers as they deepen in colour each day. These are all being propped up by some of the shrubs and plants which may have finished flowering but are still providing essential structure and mass – the two cotinus, the damask rose, teasels and eryngium for example, whose spiky texture is also providing soft browns and purples.

Some of my front garden plants have had a second wind, most likely due to the very warm summer we’ve had. The geums I’ve already mentioned – these first bloomed in May I think and are still popping out a few flowers! The hot pink salvia is coming out again for another throw, along with the geranium ‘Lace Time’ with its pretty veined pink flowers.

But the stand-out repeat flowerer has to be the rose ‘Lady Marmalade’. I might be wrong, but I think she’s currently in flower for the third time – and still looking beautiful.

‘Lady Marmalade’

It’s lovely, as the summer slips away and the temperature starts to fall, that the hot colours are still warming up the garden. I feel a bit sad about the season changing – I really loved the hot weather – but I can still enjoy the summer blooms. Plus now is the time to collect seed, take cuttings and begin thinking about next year. I know – it’s only September! – but I’m already thinking of what I want to grow and/or sell in the Secret Garden next spring and what I will add to the borders, front and back, to keep building those layers of colour, texture and foliage.

The hit list for next year includes more Stachys byzantina for its gorgeous soft leaves and rich pink flowers; more Verbena bonariensis as it’s so bee-friendly, the usual cosmos, sweet peas and aquilegia, and a plan for some new plants – Sanguisorba (inspired by a recent visit to Cambo’s walled garden) and Cerinthe major (which I loved at Chelsea). I’ll also be sowing some Stipa tenuissima as I want to add some more soft grasses and I just love the texture and movement of this feathery grass.

Sanguisorba and Stipa tenuissima in the beautiful perennial borders at Cambo

And that’s just a small selection of the seed packets I currently have spread out across my dining room table! There will be a lull around November/December but between now and next spring there’s a lot of sowing and growing to do. If you want me, I’ll be in the greenhouse…

Learning lessons…

This summer I have been learning a few lessons. Not the book-reading kind – I’ve taken a break from horticulture studies as I decided that it would be madness to add this to the summer agenda of school holidays, parenting, working, enjoying the heatwave and almost constant watering. I plan to resume studies in September (seems like a good ‘new-term’ kind of time to do it) but there have been plenty of other things to learn on a more practical level during the past few weeks:

1. I CAN have a nursery in my back garden. This is number one because it’s been the most exciting and satisfying lesson of recent weeks. For quite a while I’ve dreamed of having my own nursery – growing the kind of plants I love to sell to others – and I’ve take a big step forward by simply doing it. I had quite a large number of surplus perennials and annuals which I had grown for planting in the front garden. So I started a Facebook page, listed a few plants on FB Marketplace – and people actually wanted to buy them!

I’ve called this a micro-nursery because it really is tiny – both in size and in stock availability – compared to a proper commercial nursery anyway! It’s very small-scale and I have not made a huge amount of money – perhaps enough to re-invest in some plants and seeds for next year. But it has been worth it for the experience of producing plants for others, learning how to market them and deal with customers and moving towards my dream of owning a little independent nursery growing wonderful perennials, annuals, herbs and shrubs suitable for Scottish gardens. In fact, I suddenly realised that not only moving towards it but I’m actually doing my dream – the Secret Garden micro-nursery is my own little corner of the earth for doing just that. It may be small, and I may not make a living from it just now – or ever – but I’m doing it! Having dipped my toe in the water this summer, so to speak, I’m excited to see how I can take it forward. I am already planning ahead for next year: which plants to grow again and which were not successful or less popular; better ways to market the business, how to grow and expand via social media…. I have so many ideas for how to keep going and growing – and I’m so glad I’ve taken the first step.

2. Echinaceas are tricky to grow from seed.

When they do succeed and flower in the garden they are gorgeous and are currently providing a fantastic pop of pink in my front border. But I have been trying since early spring to grow the intriguing looking variety ‘Double Decker’ and this is the result…

Barely an inch of growth for the entire season. I don’t know if it’s the seed, the soil, the conditions, or my lack of faith. But those echinaceas are not going to grow into beautiful, flowering plants. Mainly because I’ve composted them.

3. Don’t grow cucamelons too close together.

This was a difficult lesson to learn, resulting in me recruiting my eldest daughter to help me untangle about 20 young cucamelon seedlings which had started to twine around each other as well as other plants in the greenhouse. We spent some time separating the cucamelons’ delicate tendrils, trying not to damage them. Finally we got them all apart, so I potted up the ones I wanted to grow on, supporting them with bamboo canes. I also potted a few more into a hanging basket, to see if they’ll grow as successfully hanging down. However I was still left with quite a number of plants which no-one showed any interest in buying (I guess my local customers are not as interested as I am in experimental or exotic fruit/veg!) so I had to compost these too. Which leads me to the next lesson…

3. Don’t sow too many seeds!

I do this Every. Single. Year. and tell myself I don’t care – I just want loads of plants!

But inevitably there are Too Many Plants. So I have to spend more time and effort potting on, watering and resisting throwing them away because I hate getting rid of potential plants. However they do end up going in the compost as I have no room or they’re not selling or become too poor quality to sell. If I want to raise more plants to sell I must be more efficient with space, materials and my time. So – I will sow more sensibly next year. I will sow more sensibly next year. I will sow more sensibly next year… I will…

4. Don’t dig – and don’t do green manure

I wanted to have a no-dig policy this year…but then I also decided it would be a good idea to sow green manure. But these two things are not entirely compatible. Yes, I think it is possible to do both – but I ended up doing neither very well. The green manure grew well in some beds, but not so well in others, at least giving me an indication of the soil quality in each one. But in the spring I then had to cut down and either remove or dig in the plants. I tried to remove the majority of the largest plants, but eventually ended up digging over most of the soil, which still had shoots and roots left in them. This is, of course, what you are supposed to do with green manure – but didn’t comply with the no-dig theory! This autumn I will try to mulch the beds and may well cover some over if they are bare. I don’t tend to grow many winter crops so I think I will mulch, cover and officially begin my no-dig policy next spring.

5. It’s all about layers

The front garden is looking well – probably deserves its own separate post to update on how it’s developing – but I still see lots of gaps. I can see bare soil and smaller-than-they-should-be plants. When I visit other gardens, I notice the fullness of the planting, how each plant blends together and merges to create a whole effect. I think I am moving towards this, but it’s taking time. And that’s ok. I’m learning that I can’t achieve this look in one growing season, unless I empty the bank account at the local garden centre (not an option, according to my husband). But I appreciate that this year there’s an extra layer that wasn’t there last year. And next year there will be another and then another, until I’ve got the overflowing herbaceous border that I can see in my mind’s eye! I’m playing the long game – and that’s good, because I’m really enjoying it.

20170821-DSC_0438 — Echinacea purpurea – as it should look – in the front garden

Sow many seeds…so many seedlings

I’ve been on a sowing frenzy.

Although I work part time and theoretically have two days each week to spend in the garden/greenhouse doing lots of lovely gardening…it never usually works out that way. Family/work/home responsibilities often creep into this time and so I have to grab gardening opportunities with both hands and make the most of it. This sometimes means that I will sow like mad or get planting even if conditions aren’t perfect or if it’s a bit early or late – because if I wait until just the right time, I may miss it.

Yesterday gave me just the right opportunity for a bit of seed-sowing: some spare time, a sunny day and the need to stay close to home to nurse a poorly hen (latest on her on my Instagram feed @mycorneroftheearth). Also we’re into another month – February! – and this brings with it a whole new set of seed packets to crack open and sow to get things off to a nice and early start. I realise this can be a risky move, as seedlings can end up leggy or be exposed to frosty weather if sown very early. However, where we live (North-east Scotland) it can be fairly cold and even frosty right into April/May and summers are frustratingly short. So this year I’ve decided to give many of my plants a good head start so that they can flower for as much as possible of that short window of time when summer properly begins and autumn hits us again.

So my greenhouse is already looking pretty busy…

This panoramic shot makes it look like the bench is bending under the weight – but we’re not quite at that stage…yet! We have: sweet peas, calendula, greater knapweed, leeks, wallflowers, more sweet peas, nasturtiums, various cuttings, astrantia (taking a while to germinate!) two varieties of cosmos and shasta daisies.

And outside I’m hardening off the seedlings which were sown in the autumn and have been overwintering in the greenhouse…

This selection includes aquilegia, gypsophila, some geum cuttings, plus hollyhocks and stipa tenuissima. What you can’t see on the ground under the table and along the fence is all the extra teasels, lavender and various cuttings of shrubs and fruit trees which I grew last autumn too!

What am I going to do with all these plants? Well, some of them will definitely be planted out in the front garden. I’m deliberately sowing a lot of herbaceous perennials and hardy annuals according to my planting plans for the front. However, I know I’ll end up with too many. Some, I will probably gift to family and friends but if I really end up with a lot of extra plants, I’m seriously considering selling them – I’m just not quite sure how to do that yet. More on that later, perhaps.

Bearing in mind all this new growing activity, I’m going to need more kit. I will definitely need more pots. Thankfully I spied a bargain recently which will help with hardening off all these new seedlings – my local B&Q was selling off hardwood cold frames marked down from £48 to £20, so I snapped up two! My husband very kindly put them together for me yesterday.

So that’s what’s going on in the Secret Garden at the moment. Lots of sowing and growing already – and I haven’t even started on veg and/or cut flowers for the raised beds yet! Spring isn’t quite here yet but I’m getting ready for her…

Planning…

It’s time to get planning. For the past few weeks and months, a lot of ideas, plans and wish lists have been floating about in my head or, when possible, noted on my phone (Notes, Reminders and Evernote are the gardener’s friends for recording these on-the-go). I’ve also sorted through the seeds I have left from last year as well as ordering a few to sow this year. Now the moment has come to commit these to paper and decide when to plant it all and where to put it all.

I’ve made use of this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch year planner and made myself a visual guide – each packet’s been placed on the month which is the earliest they can be planted. If I follow the plan exactly, the next couple of months are going to be busy! However, I suspect the timings will be very much dependent on climate and opportunity. I hope that I’ll get a few peas (sweet and savoury) off to a start in the greenhouse by the end of this month, however where we are (East Scotland) it may be worth waiting until a little later to sow many of these plants, so that by the time they are ready for planting out, the weather will also be ready to welcome them.

Until then, I’ll keep tweaking The Planting Plan and I have some work to do in the front garden – I’ve begun moving a few shrubs to clear various areas for new planting. I’ve been reading quite a bit about garden design and collecting a few resources to help with this task (more on these in another post) and am looking forward to giving the front beds a serious overhaul.

We’re still in the middle of winter…but Spring is coming!

Wee pea shoots

Great excitement – the first shoots are emerging from my peas!

I reckon it really doesn’t matter if it’s your first time or your hundredth time planting seeds and watching them grow – those first little nubs of green pushing their way through the soil always give you a little rush of excitement; a sense of satisfaction that you are officially Growing Something. Nature and you are working together, you are a TEAM!

Nature and I are also working on some aubergines, peppers, sweet peas, lobelia – and as of today, some cosmos, zinnia and marigolds.

I may be running out of room in the greenhouse-utility room already…

The Thrifty Gardener

Aldi is my friend! I have been in need of a few bedding plants to fill some spare pots and was very keen to add some bulbs to the garden after a fairly poor showing last year. However I’m also trying not to overspend after a month which saw a few extra payments leave the account. So I decided to get down to Aldi, having had a good experience there previously, picking up ten – TEN! – bare root roses for just 90p each! I’ve also had a cherry and two raspberry canes from Lidl and all of these, planted early last winter, seem to be doing ok. And even if they weren’t, I would be safe in the knowledge that I hadn’t wasted my money killing off a pricey plant!

Aldi came up trumps this time too – allowing myself £20 to spend I managed to scoop dozens of bulbs, four trays of bedding plants, 20 packets of seeds (just 19p each!) and two small patio roses, all within my budget.

Here’s the haul in all its glory…

…and here’s the final result.

I spent sunny afternoon potting the bedding plants into an assortment of spare containers, including an old chimney pot (which I think we found at our previous home and subsequently moved it with us!) and an abandoned giant teapot which I found beside a skip at the local dump and ‘reappropriated’ for my garden. I’m really happy with this mini burst of colour and interest in my fast-fading garden, particularly with the cyclamen – I love these little twirly flowers!

Julianne Robertson

writer | communications consultant | garden media specialist