Summer, what little we had this year, already seems so long ago. The weather’s been horrible and the garden’s in that lull between the last of the autumn flowers and the first snowdrops. I’ve been looking back at my Flower Gardening Trials 2024 and deciding what’s worth growing again.
(I was sent seed to trial but am not paid for this post.)
I love calendula, or pot marigolds, and they self-seed all over the vegetable garden, the result of a packet of seeds many, many years ago. ‘Double Lemon’, sent to me by Chiltern Seeds, turned to be a winner.
It had beautiful pale yellow flowers – I have a dislike of harsh yellow flowers – and lovely double flowers.
The plants were a neat mound – I find some calendula get a bit tall and leggy – and were covered in flowers, which finally stopped only with the first hard frost last week.
Sunflowers are another favourite and, continuing the pale yellow theme, ‘Pro Cut White Lite’ (Chiltern Seeds) turned out to be more lemon-cream than pure white. It had a graceful beauty and the bees loved it too.
As a complete contrast, ‘Copper Queen’ (Unwins Seeds) had bright yellow flowers with a copper tinge to the innermost part of the petals. The flowers were huge and the plants tall.
Cosmos are a summer staple in my garden and I grew two new ones as part of the Flower Gardening Trials 2024. There was a slow start to the season, partly due to late sowing and partly because of the poor weather. Once they got started though, the plants did well and I had plenty to cut.
‘Double Dutch Rose’ (Chiltern Seeds) had really full flowers like a many layered skirt in a deep shade of pink.
I was sent ‘Pink Mosaic’ by both Thompson & Morgan and Suttons Seeds (the latter sent me a selection of seeds they had chosen). It’s definitely a great variety if you’re looking for something a bit different as the petals have a pink ‘marbling’ pattern that’s quite distinctive.
As part of Suttons’ choice I was sent Amberboa ‘Desert Star’, something that was completely unknown to me. It proved a real winner with delicate, pale lilac flowers that looked fabulous in a bud vase. It was easy to raise from direct sowing and flowered for many, many weeks.
Gilia (Chiltern Seeds) was another that was new to me and a great discovery. It had pincushion-like blue flowers on long stems that made it ideal for cutting. Again, it was grown from direct sowing.
I had been really looking forward to growing Zinnia ‘Envy’ (seed from Premier Seed Direct) and filling the garden with green flowers. The slugs and snails decided I didn’t need them. Three trays of seedlings were reduced to just a handful of plants.
It was a real shame as those that managed to escape the attentions of my slimy foes were beautiful – I grew some in an old wheelbarrow that’s been turned into a planted container. Definitely something I will be trying again next year.
Ipomea is another annual favourite. This year, rather than my usual single colour, I grew a mixed seed selection from Premier Seed Direct.
It produced a range of colours from pure white through to purple with pink, striped and pink-tinged along the way. Mixed seed packets are a great way of getting many different colours but you do need to sow most, if not all, of the packet to ensure you get the full range.
Seed-sowing always varies with the season and some years there are failures. Last year, Nasturtium ‘Ice Cream Sundae’ failed to germinate – I think it was a compost problem rather than the seed. Kings Seeds sent me some more for the Flower Gardening Trials 2024 and they came up with no problem.
I could see why they got the name – reminded me of raspberry ripple ice cream. A really pretty plant.
More delicately coloured was Nastutium ‘Tip Top Pink Blush’ (another of Suttons’ choices). This had creamy yellow petals with pink veining. I’ll definitely be trying this one again next year.
Viola cornuta ‘Endurio, Lavender Shades’ (Chiltern Seeds) is currently adding little pops of purple to the borders. Despite their dainty appearance, these are tough plants and I’m hoping they will continue to flower whatever the winter brings.
Finally, although this wasn’t part of the Flower Gardening Trials 2024, I wanted to tell you about Linaria maroccana ‘Licilia Red’, which I bought from Chiltern Seeds.
Commonly known as toadflax, this had long spires of tiny snapdragon-like flowers in a stunning combination of rich, velvety red and yellow. I loved it.
It will soon be time for me to start scouring the seed catalogues and deciding what to grow next year. There’s so much choice now. I just wish I had more time – and garden!
You can read about my 2024 Sweet Pea Garden Trials here and the tomato trials here.
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