Talkback: Self-seeding plants - Talkback

Gardeners' World Web User

01/06/2009 at 18:44

I Never plant aquilegia just let them self sow and its so nice to guess what colours they will be

Gardeners' World Web User

01/06/2009 at 19:54

Snapdragons were always good in our old garden. And foxgloves.. they're the only ones I've noticed.

Gardeners' World Web User

01/06/2009 at 20:13

Wilting Rhododendrons I bought a couple of rhododendrons that had blossomed at the local garden centre and planted them in ericaceous compost a fortnight ago. The're in partial shade and for the first week I was watering them each morning. I noticed yesterday that the heads have wilted. Is there anthing I can do to rescue them this year? I've tried watering them at night and mircale grow.

Gardeners' World Web User

01/06/2009 at 20:47

Reply to CHOR7ON: It's hard to tell the problem without seeing the plants. Are you certain the flowering isn't simply over, and their flowers have now faded? Rhodo flowers don't last long, you know. You say their heads have wilted, so not sure if this is just their flowers or also shoot tips. Plants wilt for several reasons. Usually it's because they're short of water (drought), but overwatering can cause root death, leading to wilting. Root diseases can also cause wilting, blocking the vascular channels of the plant. If you feel you have done everything correctly, planted properly and kept the rhodod watered, then I would consider taking them back to the garden centre for a refund or replacement. Most good garden centres guarantee their plants, so you should have no problem with this.

Gardeners' World Web User

01/06/2009 at 21:15

It isn't only colour with aquilegia, it is also the flower shape. The length of the spurs varies considerably on self-seeders. I have a purple one with very short spurs that bears no resemblance to anything that has been in my garden. As an aside - does anyone else find short tongued bees like chewing into long spurred examples?

Gardeners' World Web User

02/06/2009 at 11:41

I let the poached egg plant seed itself in my garden as it keeps down the aphids on the roses and beans. My butterfly garden is awash with forget-me-nots every year and very beautiful. Leeks left to seed give lovely flower-heads and new leeks the following year. The yellow sysirinchium will happily self-sow and verbascums. Foxgloves and aquilegias are given free-reign and alsoa lovely dark purple scutellaria. my garden, because of this liberality on my part. is a haven for all kinds of beneficial insects.

Gardeners' World Web User

02/06/2009 at 17:03

must have a similar garden to happymarion...same self seeders! Also some self sown geraniums and astrantias can often be worth keeping...I wait till they flower and keep the good ones.

Gardeners' World Web User

02/06/2009 at 20:26

It is just the flowers. the stems and leaves look vibrant and have shot up since I bought the plants. I noticed other people's Rhododendrons looked similar whereas others still were in full bloom. Maybe I shouldn't have watered them in the mornings last week, the humidity may have burnt them last week or maybe it is just that they flower in spring. Thanks 4 our help

Gardeners' World Web User

03/06/2009 at 12:58

Not just self-seeders give dividends if left to thrive. Lots of bulbs will, especially snowdrops and Welsh daffodils, by clumping up. I forgot to include Welsh poppies and Californian poppies and wallflowers and Sweet William are great spreaders as well. It's such plants that make me a happy gardener.

Gardeners' World Web User

04/06/2009 at 08:58

Continuation - why does the telephone always ring when you are blogging? At the end of the summer my garden is cheered by lots of evening primroses-all self-sets from a freebie in my Gardeners' World mag. some years ago.

Gardeners' World Web User

04/06/2009 at 17:22

I'd never really thought about this until reading this blog so I just had a wander round the front garden to jog my memory. I hate formal gardens with box hedges and straight borders but thought I was well in control. Now I find I have, at some point in the summer, foxgloves, aquilegias, sedum, poached egg, poppy, cerinthe, evening primrose, nasturtiums and hellebores. Some of which I planted one of years ago, some have just appeared and been allowed to stay. There may be others but I lost count. It is wonderful if you want my type of garden.

Gardeners' World Web User

04/06/2009 at 18:12

my latest patch of Rocket have many small transparent patches which in some cases have become complete holes. There are no visible signs of insects on the leaves when looking through a lens of 15x magnification. What is this and are the leaves still OK to eat as a salad?

Gardeners' World Web User

04/06/2009 at 18:21

I also have aquilegias,foxgloves,honesty but the most prolific is the forget me not, although they look a mess when they finish flowering I have discovered that the Bull Finch loves the seeds and visits every day just to eat the seeds. What a fantastic bird. I have never seen one before I moved to Suffolk.

Gardeners' World Web User

04/06/2009 at 20:00

My very best self-seeders this year have been foxgloves. They seem to have arranged themselves more beautifully than ever, and in a wider range of shades. As for the telephone and blogging... a friend of ours used to say 'Every time I make a phone call, the bath starts running!'

Gardeners' World Web User

04/06/2009 at 21:18

I get self sown morning glories every year ever since I put in the original seeds and I can usually manage to lift some and put them in where I want them, and even to give to my friends.

Gardeners' World Web User

05/06/2009 at 08:59

I took my usual wander round the garden this morning and found a dozen or so sunflowers popping up that the birds missed out on....as a new garden I'm pretty chuffed hey

Gardeners' World Web User

05/06/2009 at 09:01

Reply to yertiz: this is flee beetle damage. It is common on brassicas seedlings and crops. Yes, you can eat the leaves. I'd prefer eating leaves with a few holes in them than spraying, as I try to grow fruit and veg organically if posible. I wonder how others control flee beetle?

Gardeners' World Web User

05/06/2009 at 14:56

You are sooo right! I had a patch of ground which had nothing in and after years of "trying" to grow hollyhocks, this year to my amazement I now how 6 fantastic yellow ones growing in the space designated for my dahlias! Trouble is now they are there I don't know how to keep them comming every year. Isn't gardening exciting - love it.

Gardeners' World Web User

05/06/2009 at 17:32

Benefits vary greatly in size, Jerusalem artichokes are hard to control if you dislike taking plants out once they have started to grow, holly seems to be spread greatly by birds, hellebores often are stronger than ones I deliberately plant, and salads benefit greatly from lamb's lettuce which seems impossible to control.

Gardeners' World Web User

06/06/2009 at 13:27

I found what could be a rosemary beetle the other day, but it looked all black with no stripes. Could it be something beneficial? (Hopeful!) I love self-seeding, particularly Welsh poppies, sweet williams and forgetmenots - had a white forgetmenot this year, first time ever.