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The Cottage Garden and the Old-Fashioned Flowers

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NightHawk:
I am hoping you are right about the Nigella I sort of got carried away and bought a large variety of seeds :) I have method in my madness here by hoping to gather seeds from them to plant next year. Same with the poppy seeds I bought from chiltern.

The seeds I bought for the primula vulgaris are from thompson and morgan and they don't state I need to pre chill them. So fingers crossed. They reckon on 15-30 days to germinate....hhmm we'll see if they are as quick as that!

I had planned to get sowing today but we are getting heavy rain and those darn winds are back. Looks like being typical bank holiday weekend weather to look forward to.

Kathy :-*

ideasguy:
Heres a garden for you to study, Kathy and Laurie
http://www.ideasforgardens.com/gardens/pics0032/picdets.html
This is another husband and wife team, but I regret to say the lady in the photo died about 2 years ago.
Her husband was affected badly, but he is bravely carrying on, and the garden is once again looking pristine.
I walk past this garden most working days, and always linger to have a peep (usually in awe!).

That garden relies on small Rhodos, Azaleas and bulbs in spring. In summer, they plant out loads of stuff, all raised from seed and brought on in a greenhouse.
Two groups of plants to recommend (well, lots more, but we'll start with two)
The Tagetes Gem Series.
Desmond collects the seed every year, and gave me a packet. I had them for a couple of seasons and I can vouch for their performance.
Fantastic little plants, and perfect for a front garden.

The other is Delphinium grandiflorum 'Tom Pouce'
Last time I tried, I had difficulty sourcing that one (its a really nice deep blue), but you'll get as much pleasure from the species:
Delphinium grandiflorum (add it to your database and click the Google button) which can be grown from seed.
Its perennial, but I suspect its short lived (at least mine was!). I grew mine from seed supplied by Desmond.

Its good enough for Kew!!!!
http://www.kew.org/plants/summerbedding2004/southend.html
They have it (#23) as
Delphinium grandiflora ?Tom Pouce?
I checked on RHS plant finder, and the species is grandiflorum, not grandiflora (tee hee)

Unlike the tall Delphiniums we are more accustomed to, grandiflorum is quite small. Perfect for you, and a gorgeous little plant.

NightHawk:
I've found a seed company offering Delphinium grandiflorum 'Tom Pouce', sky blue, gentian blue and white.  They sell it by gram weight - "Moles Seeds" - http://www.molesseeds.co.uk.

ideasguy:
Well done K&L!!  8)
They're based in Essex, England folk.
That is a terrific find, since they offer the Series. Theres Gentian Blue (like the one I had in that photo) Sky Blue and Snow White.

I hadnt heard of them before. Have you?

I see we can place an order through reps:
http://www.molesseeds.co.uk/cgi-bin/mf000001.pl?ACTION=SHOWFORM&NOLOGIN=1
I'll send Peter Wyatt an email!

Are you tempted? Any room in that greenhouse  :) ;D

NightHawk:
I did purchase a copy of The Cottage Garden and the Old-Fashioned Flowers by Roy Genders, I got it second-hand through Amazon.co.uk for £3.68, including postage.  A very reasonable price.  ;D

This is the New Edition that was published in 1983.  It contains revised text and over 100 new colour photographs.

It is a very fascinating book (as Andre - "Greenfinger" will attest to.)  ;)

Below is a photograph of the new edition, and you will notice that the front cover has been changed.  (Compare this with the original cover in the photo at the top of this page.)

Laurie.

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