Talkback: Seed catalogues

I agree that if a certain seed is reliable and a chosen favourite then continue to use it. As I live in the north pennines I always choose Mussellburgh leek seeds because the plants are hardy and are able to withstand our winter weather, on the other hand by all means try out new variaties. I am trying French dwarf bean Delinel as I saw it grown on Gardeners World and I liked the way the beans did not touch the ground as the plant is quite tall, also I am trying a white flowered runner bean as I am told that birds are not attracted to white flowers so the flower loss is less and the yield is higher.

I wonder if someone could give me some advice I admit to knowing very little about gardening and am planning on creating a rockery area at the top in the corner I have a mountain ash which I do not wish to remove in the same corner and in the winter tne garden gets very little sun could someone suggest the best plants and is the a good idea there is not another area it could go, I refer traditional plants.

I always grow Shirley Tomatoes and Gardeners Delight-you can always depend on them for taste and results. This year tried 2 new varieies-yellow pear shape, very disappointing, and Matina which I will definitely be growing again next year. Had a few failures like squash and beetroot so will give them a miss perhaps but thought I might try Swiss Chard for first time. Just can't resist those seed catalogues and am already plotting next year

how can you tell if old seed that ive keep from last year (well possably 2 or 3 years) is still ok to grow.i know what somebody will say "well sow them and find out" but i need to know befor i sow them. its to late after waiting for the the darlings to show there alive. can anyone help?

try early sunglow variety of sweet corn it give double ears and if plant it at 4 plant per foot you can reap a haul of 128 ear from 4ft x 4ft. As for building a squirrel,badger proof cage over your corn plants. see feb 1996 25 of the mag OG.

ADAM IS IT WRIGHT WHAT I HAVE JUST HERD THAT ALAN TITCHMARSH IS CUMING BACK TO GARDENERS WORLD THAT WOOD BE GRATE IF IT WAS HE SHULD OF NEVER LEFT BUT TOBY IS NOT BAD HE IS A GOOD GARDENER AND I WILL ALLWAYS WHACH HIM TO

Reply to Joseph: As far as I am aware the Gardeners' World team remains as Toby, Carol, Alys and Joe. Alan works on lots of different projects, and I hope we see his return to gardening in the near future. There are lots of exciting gardening plans being developed for both Gardeners' World and BBC2, and I'm told more news will follow from the channel very soon. Looks set to be a great gardening year ahead on BBC2!

Ah! Sweet corn! As they ripened the last time I grew them I picked and enjoyed the first. Next morning the whole bed was flat and all the cobs eaten! Was it the squirrels or badgers? My guess is the badgers - they certainly visit my vegetable plot and are so fond of carrots and parsnips I can't now grow them. Tomatoes? This year far and away the best in my greenhouse has been Golden Cherry but for the last two years Orange Banana has also been good. I don't know why but it isn't listed this year so I'm going to save my own seed. The disappointment was T&M's Cherrola. It produced a large crop but in the greenhouse every fruit cracked as it ripened. A plant outside did a little better, only about 60% of the fruit cracked but like all the other tomatoes outside it quicklt succombed to blight in this wet summer.