greenjude

Geraniums

apeers, I think you may have overfed. Try removing as much compost as possible without damaging the roots, then potting them in JI1 + grit, or even JI seed compost + grit. You can feed more once they're larger. While you're there, check the roots are still good. If not, contact the seller - they may have been damaged before they got to you. Did they come in those horrible net pots, or those pots that looks rather like fleece? I find plants grow much better if I remove them, even if you lose some root with them.

Geraniums

If you do mean Pelargoniums, you can pinch out tips in the same way as fuchsias and other plants, which will make them bushier. The more branches they have, the more flowers. In fact, if they've got tall and leggy over winter, you can cut them back quite hard to get lots of new growth, which produces more flowers than old growth. You can also use the bits you cut off as cuttings. Let the cut gry for a day or so then pot into gritty compost, keep warm and slightly shaded, and don't cover with plastic bags because that will make them rot. Even more flowers!

On the other hand, if you mean hardy geraniums. they do all the work for you. Just sit back and admire them.

Heucheras

Plantagogo have great plants. Just ask them for advice on what variteies grow well in your conditions. They hold the National Collection (Plant Heritage) so they are the experts and very helpful

Plastic packages for posted plants

Yes, Busy-Lizzie, that's the stuff.

The only plastic I can recycle locally is drink bottles, so these have to go in the waste bin. They do use the waste for burning for heat, but it's still a waste of resources.

Plastic packages for posted plants

Hi all,

Has anyone found a use for those green plastic boxes that mail order plants come in? I've got lots of 'em that look useful so I can't bear to throw them away, but what can I do with them? Any recycling tips, please?

A boost to winter.....

Verdun, you're right, of course, it should be in the ground, but at the moment there's nowhere suitable and hellebores tend to sulk if they're disturbed. The head gardener at Hadlow advised me to keep it in a deep pot if it had to be potted, and it's looking quite happy, in spite of being flattened by the recent snow.

For anyone interested in Kent or nearby, there are some open days at Hadlow College, Broadview Gardens on Sat/Sun 16/17 Feb, 23/24 Feb and 2/3 March. The gardens are open (and free!) all the time but open days have guided tours too, for £3. Some of the hellebore beds are interplanted with snowdrops and look great.

A boost to winter.....

Thanks. It'll probably take 3 years before I see any flowers but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. I'll post a pic of Mum when the flowers have opened. She's a real cutie so I have hopes of the offspring.

A boost to winter.....

Hi Nutcutlet. Iris stylosa has been renamed I. unguicularis - harder to say and spell!

I was given a double white with maroon speckles hellebore from the breeding programme at Hadlow College, where they have a National Collection (Plant Heritage). It's in a deep pot on a shelf opposite my kitchen window and looks great, just thinking about coming into flower now. The first year it was near a H. hybridus variety but nothing happened. Last year there was no other hellebore anywhere near but one flower produced 8 seeds. As it should be sterile I was very excited. I sown them in modules and left them under the greenhouse staging. Now I'm even more excited because I have 6 seedlings just emerging. Fingers and other things crossed!

Talkback: Growing chillies from seed

Hi Sally. Your chillis will keep going fine. I've got 5 plants of a variety called 'Vampire' that I trialled for Which?Gardening last year. I cut them back to bring them indoors when it got cold and they've spent the winter on my kitchen floor. Not brilliant light but I've got lots of plants indoors and I'm short on space! All 5 are now sprouting healthily and I expect a good crop this year.

It's a very attractive variety with purple-tinged leaves, purple flowers, larger than usual, and the fruits start purple and turn red when ripe. (Can you tell I like purple?) Not one fruit ripened last year and they have no heat when unripe, but with the early start this year I expect the goods! I think they're about 14000 on the Scoville scale. If nothing else, they're very pretty plants. Specially if you like purple.

Wallflowers

Christopher2, it's a great forum, I agree. I don't come in very often but I'm always here for much longer than I planned. There are so many tips to pick up. What I love too is that people tell you their experiences, not what the books say should happen, so you can find out how a plant really behaved in a given site. You can't always trust plant labels, I've found. Several plants I bought this year turned out to be wrongly named, and some others I knew were wrong, eg, a penstemon labelled scabious.

Ladygardener2, I've found you can leave wallflowers in pots all winter and let them flower in pots. I've got I think 4 that have flowered 2 years running and still look as if they'll flower next year. If you want to plant them in spring, they should settle in without problems.

Plastic packages for posted plants

Begonia dryadis