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Post by sweetpea on Feb 14, 2013 20:08:08 GMT
moonlight, re your pansy seeds. If memory serves me right they do not like too warm a temperature for germination and growing on. Keep quite cool.
Perhaps someone else can confirm this or otherwise as it is a few years since I grew my Roggli giants from seed.
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 14, 2013 21:00:03 GMT
Found 2 interesting links on strawberries:
Why have strawberries lost their taste?
The secret life of the strawberry
I think that the best thing to do is to give up on those strawberries, even with the seed packets, that I, in a worst case scenario could be used in the Seed swap next time.
If it is meant to be it will happen if it then it won't and it isn't worth the stress worrying or fussing over whether or not it should or shouldn't have happened. 
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Post by Geranium on Feb 15, 2013 11:33:56 GMT
moonlight, re your pansy seeds. If memory serves me right they do not like too warm a temperature for germination and growing on. Keep quite cool. Perhaps someone else can confirm this or otherwise as it is a few years since I grew my Roggli giants from seed. They prefer a temperature of 18 - 20 degrees to germinate. When they've been pricked out, they don't like it too warm. I grew violas and V. cornuta last year, and have some in my propagator at the moment, with vermiculite as a covering. |
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 15, 2013 21:16:44 GMT
On route to kissing girls' 'Good Night' noticed that the Jasmine ring has finally begun to open up.  (In the toilet but not literally  ) It smells gorgeous. I love that thick, heady smell that you get from Jasmine and now that I've had good sniff, even though the flowers are upstairs and I am downstairs I can still smell them. Gorgeous. Hope that they flower for ages. More importantly I hope that the smell does not aggravate HH's hay fever.
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 16, 2013 0:18:58 GMT
My sister came round today and one of the things that we chatted about was Dad's dahlias and Mum's tomatoes. She has got a much better memory than me. I was telling her about the seed swap and how I wanted to get Allicante but decided against it (maybe next year ) and that I was going to grow some beefsteak tomatoes, like Mum and her Red Whopper tomatoes. My sister said no they were not called Red Whopper they were called 'Whopper' 
A 2second tap on the computer keyboard led to this:
So there you go who needs a bunch of roses (or a strawberry plant and 3 packets of seeds, special offer) when you can draw upon tasty memories of the past of massive tomatoes and fried tomatoes. Yum yum yum. So I am happy now. Doesn't take a lot really. 
So I have got my sister to thank for finding Whopper tomatoes (that I have searched on and off for about 10 years  ) and I still believe that it was my sister that got Dad growing dahlias again after she started growing regular garden dahlias. She really grows fantastic plants and although she seemed quite down about the plants that she lost because of the naff weather last year, I am sure that she will grow more fantastic plants this year and who knows maybe the girls and I might be able to give her a few of ours if we can get any of our seeds to grow.
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Post by Cherry on Feb 16, 2013 6:33:03 GMT
If your sister lives nearby, it would be easy to swap seedlings as they grow and you would not need to grow so many. She was a help with putting you on the trail of the memorable tomatoes. I just looked them up. They are really big.
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 16, 2013 23:11:56 GMT
Another full on day with no gardening other than garden magazine window shopping. HH has decided that 'Garden Answers' is his favourite and mine are anything with a packet of seeds stuck to it. Pirate Yellow Wellies was in shock when I didn't, "Why did you buy it Mummy, it hasn't got a packet of seeds on it?
HH is frustrated, he wants to crack on with the garden clear out and I want to do some sowing and make some decisions re. my sweet pea sticks but we have been planning a trip to the British Museum for tomorrow. Fairy Pink Wellies has been learning about Egyptians this term and has a half term project is to produce a factual booklet. Our plan is to go to the museum soak up the history, take lots of photos for it and we hope that we can use these to help make this project a lot less tortuous than the last one and the hours spent researching on the internet. Last term Pirate Yellow Wellies' topic was dinosaurs, so went to see the Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and we loved that (Fairy Pink Wellies had a ballet exam in the morning and pm was the dinosaurs).
We have got too many things to do this half term.
Monday & Tuesday we have plans, Fairy Pink Wellies has Thank yous to do and Pirate Yellow Wellies has invites to do. Then there are the wooden spoon monsters to make, pasta pictures to create and paper daffodils. Not forgetting practising cup cake making all for the Spring show.
And some how or other we need some quality time in the green house and garden. Fun times ahead? I hope so just need to get the project out of the way 1st.
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 17, 2013 0:00:48 GMT
Still worried about my sweet pea sticks:
With Little Miss Spotty in the middle doing nicely.
And here is Little Fairy Pink Wellies' (aka the one with the green fingers in our family) Daffodils getting bigger and mine are just doing nothing 
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 17, 2013 22:48:14 GMT
I've emailed T&M  T&M are generally excellent Moonlight, let us know what they say. your girls are very pretty ;D I love the fact they are so interested in gardening at a young age ;D My 2 never were
Mr F's website was easy to add the special offers. Don't know why I could not do T&M but it obviously isn't meant to be.
Rosie, not sure about my girls being pretty, it was a bit dark to see the plants, let alone their faces. but they are interested in the gardening but Fairy Pink Wellies more so. I think that Pirate Yellow Wellies will become more involved once we sow her cabbage seeds or her nectarine / peach stones which is understandable. |
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 17, 2013 22:55:07 GMT
moonlight, re your pansy seeds. If memory serves me right they do not like too warm a temperature for germination and growing on. Keep quite cool. Perhaps someone else can confirm this or otherwise as it is a few years since I grew my Roggli giants from seed. They prefer a temperature of 18 - 20 degrees to germinate. When they've been pricked out, they don't like it too warm. I grew violas and V. cornuta last year, and have some in my propagator at the moment, with vermiculite as a covering. |
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Post by sweetpea on Feb 17, 2013 22:57:26 GMT
re the sweetpeas moonlight. Going by the pics they have had too much warmth and not enough light. They appear to be drawn because of this. get them up to the glass in UNHEATED g'house or frame for a few days then outdoors open to whatever the weather apart from TORRENTIAL rain.
Sweetpeas must NEVER be mollycoddled unlike some plants.
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 18, 2013 1:28:25 GMT
re the sweetpeas moonlight. Going by the pics they have had too much warmth and not enough light. They appear to be drawn because of this. get them up to the glass in UNHEATED g'house or frame for a few days then outdoors open to whatever the weather apart from TORRENTIAL rain. Sweetpeas must NEVER be mollycoddled unlike some plants.
Tomorrow I shall I tell the girls "Uncle Sweet Pea says our sweet pea babies have got to go and live outside and he is the expert."
Me mollycoddle a plant, never but I am trying to not to kill any, I never mollycoddle a plant. 'onest guv'nor, ask Sammy Sparkle if you don't believe me |
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Post by sweetpea on Feb 18, 2013 13:57:55 GMT
Ooohh so I'm an uncle again ;D I hope to be sowing some sweetpeas in the next week or two so I will try to take some pics as I go along, good bad or indifferent. I am not doing loads like I used to and although I will be doing cordons I don't intend showing - these days are over for me I think. I also intend to grow a few on the bush which should give me a supply of seeds but as the saying goes, 'The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley' If all goes well I will try and demonstrate how to display in a show vase as so many folks at local shows do not seem to know how to do this. Anyway that's the hopes wonder what the reality will be? |
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 18, 2013 14:48:46 GMT
 I asked Pirate Yellow Wellies what was her favourite part of her trip to see the Egyptian Mummies at the British Museum.
"The stairs"....................................
You can probably work out which is my Fairy and which is my Pirate |
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 18, 2013 14:56:27 GMT
"Mummy I can read the Rosetta stone"
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(In the toilet but not literally 
) It smells gorgeous. I love that thick, heady smell that you get from Jasmine and now that I've had good sniff, even though the flowers are upstairs and I am downstairs I can still smell them. Gorgeous. Hope that they flower for ages. More importantly I hope that the smell does not aggravate HH's hay fever. 
) and I still believe that it was my sister that got Dad growing dahlias again after she started growing regular garden dahlias. She really grows fantastic plants and although she seemed quite down about the plants that she lost because of the naff weather last year, I am sure that she will grow more fantastic plants this year and who knows maybe the girls and I might be able to give her a few of ours if we can get any of our seeds to grow. 
