Brighter days and lighter evenings are really cheering me up, as is the anticipation of borders packed with sunflowers and sweet peas this summer.
Brighter days and lighter evenings are really cheering me up, as is the anticipation of borders packed with sunflowers and sweet peas this summer.
Seeds from the free packet of sunflower 'Russian Giant' and sweet pea '20th Anniversary Mix' that came with the April issue of Gardeners' World magazine have now been sown, and seedlings have germinated. This is one gardening activity that never fails to give me a thrill.
There was a time when advice for sowing sweet peas did become quite demanding. It was claimed that the thick seed coats of sweet peas needed chipping with a knife or sanding down to allow water to enter the seed. Times have changed, and so has the advice. Just soaking sweet pea seeds in a glass of water overnight is all that's required, and seeds should soon germinate.
I do prefer sowing in small pots in my greenhouse, and then planting out seedlings, but if you really don't want the hassle just sow them directly into the soil in May at the base of a support. Once shoots have grown about 15cm tall, and carry several leaves, pinch out the tip. This encourage two or three side shoots to develop lower down the stems, and each of these can be trained up to carry flowers.
However, if it's really large stems of sweet peas for cut flowers that you're after, then leave the main shoot to grow and remove any side shoots. Let each plant concentrate on forming a single stem and the resulting flowers should be bigger. You'll get less of them, but these long-stemmed fragrant flowers will look perfect in a vase.
Some say sunflowers form better plants if sown outside where you want them to flower, as transplanting seedlings stunts their growth. I'm hedging my bets, and have sown some in pots to be planted out in early May to join seeds sown directly in the ground. It will be interesting to see which ones grow best.
I know Kate Bradbury, my fellow blogger, likes to think she's in with a chance to grow a taller sunflower than David Hurrion and me, but I'm feeling confident mine will top hers. That's not to say expect to beat the Guinness World Record of 8.03m (that's over 26ft in old money), but who knows?
With thousands of Gardeners' World magazine readers now sowing their free sunflower seeds too I think we'll all have some stiff competition...
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