welcome to my little suburban oasis, filled with flowers,fruit trees and vegetables

Wednesday 16 September 2009

sowing again

setting flower seed today - lupins and christmas roses in the stenhouse, and oriental poppies, veronica and two types of foxglove- excelsior hybrid and summer king, though home collected seed - in a propagator in the greenhouse. It's not the normal time of year to sow perennial flowers but I find that it works well if the seedlings can be kept warm enough in the greenhouse over winter. Normally these would be set earlier in summer to have small plants able to be planted out now to next year's flowering positions but we have a much greater problem with slugs over summer and problems with keeping trays of small seedlings watered while we are on holiday. Sowing them now gives them time to germinate and grow into seedlings before any really cold weather, and, although they will most likely die back over winter, being in the greenhouse protects them from the worst of the weather and enables them to start growing earlier in spring.
have also set a tray of spinach for autumn/winter salads.

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