Topic: Yorkshire in June

[Tee Gee]

Just a few I took today;

Zantedeschia



Sweet William



Sweet Pea



Sweet Pea



Cistus (Rock rose)



Philadelphus (Mock Orange)



A new rose with apt name; New Dawn



and again;



Iris



Hebe in flower



Ferns;

[caroline7758]

Lovely, TeeGee. Hope they've all survived the wind & rain this week!

[GrannieAnnie]

The sweet william is so full of blooms! What is your secret? And the lavender sweet pea shot captured their delicacy perfectly.

[Tee Gee]

The sweet william is so full of blooms! What is your secret?

No secret really!!

I treat them as a true biennial, in fact I noticed this morning that this years seed sown eight days ago has germinated.

When big enough to handle I prick them out into 3" cells/pots and grow on in the cold frame until planting out. This is usually when I have space in the garden after removing spent annuals. Then they are left to their own resources.

I think variety can also play its part the ones in the picture are called; Auricula eyed' Sweet William

Last year I sowed on the 20th June and they took five days to germinate and they were pricked out on the 2nd of July.

[GREENWIZARD]

beautiful

[GrannieAnnie]

The sweet william is so full of blooms! What is your secret?

No secret really!!

I treat them as a true biennial, in fact I noticed this morning that this years seed sown eight days ago has germinated.

When big enough to handle I prick them out into 3" cells/pots and grow on in the cold frame until planting out. This is usually when I have space in the garden after removing spent annuals. Then they are left to their own resources.

I think variety can also play its part the ones in the picture are called; Auricula eyed' Sweet William

Last year I sowed on the 20th June and they took five days to germinate and they were pricked out on the 2nd of July.

Ahh, there your climate has it all over ours. If we tried transplanting out in July it would fry without continuous irrigation. Our garden gets very scraggly and spotty after Spring. I envy your full gardens in Summer which are unsurpassed.

[caroline7758]

I've got some ,ovely sweet williams this year. Sowed them last year and planted out in pots and around the garden. Forgot they were biennials  :-[ so was disappointed last year but left them and now they are beautiful, althought he ones in pots are too close together really so a bit overcrowded. Will they flower again next year, TG?

[Tee Gee]

Will they flower again next year, TG?

Well they would considering they are technically a perennial, but they tend to be a short lived!

They tend to get a bit woody in later years (assuming they survive) and never seem to flower as well after the first flush so for this reason I replace them every year.

I tend to only sow part of the packet each year  so indirectly I get the perennial affect from a packet but better flowers and plants each year by sowing just enough for my needs.

I realise the resulting % germination can drop as the seed gets older, so to cater for this. I sow roughly 20% of the packet in the first year 30% the next and 50% on year three.

This seems to work quite well for me i.e. I get a similar number of plants each year from one packet.