Being a self employed gardener means I am no “fair weather ” worker. It has on occasion been a bit cold and wet ( well it is winter) but with the correct clothing I have been perfectly happy pruning, planting, propagating and digging my way through 30 hours of gardening each week.
Working in my own garden during winter is an entirely different matter. The last couple of weekends, have been too wet to do any practical work outside. I truly love spending time in my garden and I’m waiting for an entirely dry day to get stuck in. Fruit trees need pruning, my allotment needs a visit, and all the perennial borders need to be inspected, so that I can decide which plants are keepers, and what might be heading off to customers gardens as “gifts “. This latter task is really important, as my seed order arrived today. There are 22 packets of annual and perennial flowering loveliness that will need sowing over the next few months. I definitely need to make some space…
Even though it has been a really wet and cold today, I felt the need to take a walk around my garden. Some might say it resembles a heap of old dead stems, I would beg to differ, and I continue to find it incredibly interesting to look at, I might just leave it for another week or two before I cut them back.
Many a foxglove seed was sown in late August 2020. I thought I had timed my propagation to perfection, in that they would germinate, form a good root and basal leaves prior to their winter dormancy, and then my garden in 2021 would be full of Digitalis. Sadly this was not the case, as I sowed the seeds to late . However my expectations for 2022 will be dozens of very tall and very floriferous stems. I believe they will be well worth waiting for.
And to finish off, this is the anniversary for my blogging – nine whole years and 231 WordPress blog posts later, all about my gardening life, and I hope you have enjoyed this one.
Sally Wicks 
Love the aster ‘ghost’ flowers. Looking forward to spacious propagation space soon. Xx
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Thanks Lou, all the Asters are from Wildegoose. We will make a visit together there, one of these days .
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My seeds arrived yesterday as well, many of the same packets! Looking forward to seeing how yours and mine do!
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Thanks Pippa, I actually had made 2 pages of notes on seeds that I really was interested in growing , so whittling it down to 22 packets was a real effort. I’m particularly interested in growing the Echinaceas and the mixed Miscanthus seeds .
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I most certainly have Sal! Xx
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There’s 231 others to read as well … and all entirely legible as they are typed .
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Congrats on your 9 years of blogging. Once again some interesting info. I have a question for you Sally. Do you ever sew leftover seeds after they have gone past their best before date? I have, mostly vegetables, but rarely have any success.
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Thanks Sarah, I have started to save flower seed over the last few years, as seeds are becoming so expensive, but as you can see, I still do still buy quite a few… I do sow left over flower seeds, that have passed their best before date, as I see the date only as guidance. Most annual seeds germinate really quite quickly, but you could test them, by just sowing a few of them on damp kitchen paper, and keeping them warm , and it they germinate, sow the rest of the packet in a more typical compost type of way . I wont be sowing big batches of my seeds for a month or two yet , as my greenhouse is unheated, but at work we have heated benches and we are sowing already ( mainly ornamental grasses at the moment ). I will be looking at all the recommended sowing times over the next week or so though, of my seeds so I can make a list of what needs sowing first..
Sally x
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