Amateur Gardening

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IF flowers could make sounds (and maybe they do!?) then surely the clarion call for the arrival of summer would be sounded by a phalanx of petunias. These tumbling trumpet-flowered beauties are the mainstays of containers and baskets and our gardens

Amateur Gardening

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THE African roots of this week’s sun-loving annual daisy are there for all to see when you come to sow them. Although this Dimorphotheca – also known as Osteospermum – will grow happily in even thin soil, they do need a sunny spot to put on their bes

Amateur Gardening

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THIS week’s packet of seeds is a ‘keeper’ in every sense of the word. Morning glory ‘Grandpa Otts’ is one of the most stunning and striking of annual climbers, with lush, large, indigo-hued trumpets fanning out from their vivid ruby central stars. Ho

Amateur Gardening

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■ How do we know whether last year’s leftover seeds can still be sown and grown successfully? ■ Most vegetable seeds remain viable (able to germinate) for at least a year. Some, such as cucumber, are good for five-10 years and tomato seeds stay fresh

Amateur Gardening

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1 Sieve fresh seed compost into new or clean pots, trays or modules and dampen it with fresh tap water. Leave to drain. 2 Scatter the seeds thinly onto the compost and cover with a thin layer of more. I’m sowing one-two seeds per module cell. 3 Make

Kitchen Garden

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STEP 1 : Sow seed thinly on the surface of the compost in an 8cm (3in) pot. Cover with a thin scatter of more compost and water lightly. Put the pot in a polythene bag, out of bright sunlight, until the seeds germinate - this can take from 10 days to

Country Homes & Interiors

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I love this little flower more and more. With its unusual gold blooms, it’s so exotic and commanding. As it’s small, you should plant quite a few of them around the edge of a large pot with nothing too large to over shadow. Their flowers look exquisi

MOTHER EARTH NEWS

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When I start seeds, I use plastic plug flats, pots, and trays of cell packs, but I also like to use my homemade wooden flats, because they allow me to grow big, sturdy plants, and I can reuse them year after year. Wooden seed flats are a good way to

Amateur Gardening

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PETUNIAS never seem to go out of fashion and such is their popularity that new, gaudier incarnations of this trumpet-bloomed plant appear every year. However, there is also a lot to celebrate about traditional varieties and this week’s free seeds are

Kitchen Garden

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Kings Seeds has been a leading supplier of vegetable and flower seed, including its famous range of sweet pea seed, since 1888. Year after year Kings offers the finest quality seeds, tested for vigour, purity and germination. With packet prices start

Kitchen Garden

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The seeds of sunflowers are a nice size for children to handle and there are many varieties to choose from. The traditional tall sunflowers with single blooms that have dark centres and radiating yellow petals are the ones to go for. These are sold i

Pip Permaculture Magazine

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Seed tape is a great way to plant seeds directly in the garden and it helps look after them while they germinate. Flour Water Small bowl Scissors Toilet paper and empty roll (non-bleached, no-fragrance) Ruler or tape measure Pencil or pen Small paint

Amateur Gardening

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Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes 1 Turn out the drawers to unearth old packets of seeds, as next week I will suggest likely germination life. Tomato seeds, for example,

Amateur Gardening

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LAST year was a great one for cosmos. I sowed the variety ‘Candy Stripe’, which came free with AG, and they flowered right through the summer and well into the autumn, finally flattened by heavy rains and high winds. Cosmos is one of my favourite sum

Farms and Farm Machinery

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Drone seeders that can plant a hectare in under 20 minutes will be tested in cotton industry research that is exploring faster, more cost-effective ways of revegetating large areas with native species. Led by Dr Rhiannon Smith of the University of Ne

Independent on Saturday

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ENJOY the summer flowers of these: Agapanthus praecox, Gardenia thunbergia, Karomia speciosa, Crocosmia aurea, Plectranthus zuluensis, Gladiolus dalenii, Erythrina humeana, Scadoxus multiflorus subsp. Katharinae, Calodendrum capense, Orthosiphon labi

Farm Collector

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Some time back, my brother Ted was at an auction in Trent, South Dakota, a small town just east of us. After the sale, he came out, unloaded this little wood creation and said, “This is your combination Christmas and birthday present!” So, I did a li

Kitchen Garden

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Buying seeds can be expensive so why not save them? On the Garden Organic website, there is a comprehensive guide which has been produced by the Heritage Seed Library. The individual sections cover the importance of saving seed, basic botany, seed st

Psychologies

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SPRING PRESENTS US with a window of opportunity and can be one of the busiest times in the gardening year. The soil is getting warmer, we have almost passed the last frosts and the remnants of April showers are keeping things moist. Now is the time f

Amateur Gardening

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JUST because it’s winter doesn’t mean you have to stop producing your own fresh salads. The difficulty of growing in winter is not just the cold, but also the low light levels and short day length. Together, these make it hard for plants to grow much

Amateur Gardening

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FOR simple gardening with beautiful results, and a plant that gives you a lot of bang for your buck, look no further than this week’s free seeds. Nigella is a traditional cottage-garden regular – a hardy annual that is easy to grow, long in flowering

Men's Fitness UK

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£12 (pack of 12), weareboundless.co.uk They say: ‘When it comes to flavour we don’t hold back. Our gutsy bags of nuts and seeds pack a punch and cause a stir.’ We say: ‘Activated’ means the seeds have been allowed to germinate, releasing natural e

Kitchen Garden

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Just when we were thinking that everything on the plot was looking rosy, nature decided to bite back to show us who’s really in charge. We were returning from a trip to Wales and found ourselves driving down a swollen river where there used to be a d

Grow to Eat

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At the proverbial eleventh hour before level 5 lockdown began in the autumn of 2020, there were still long queues of people at stores all over South Africa. We were trying to buy those last-minute things we thought we would need during a time when lo

go: Platteland

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1 Choose dry pods (the seeds of these will rattle when you shake the pods), remove the seeds and soak them in cool water for 2 hours in order to rub off the tough pulp on the outside. Then leave the clean seeds on a tea towel or paper towel for a few

Amateur Gardening

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ANYTHING that resembles a daisy is fine by me, so I’m really looking forward to getting this week’s free seeds underway for next summer. Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’ is a half-hardy perennial and its large, bright-but-not-brassy petals will bring a blast of

Amateur Gardening

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IN the current situation many people will now want to grow their own food in addition to those who already are, and there may be difficulty getting enough seeds. So what can you do if you cannot get ‘proper’ seed? Disregarding slight risks of importi

The Gardener Magazine

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Ornamental veld grasses are a big part of modern prairie gardens, but sowing them is not something you would normally think of doing. Think again, because from high summer and going well into winter, plants will be bearing lusty seed plumes full of s

Kitchen Garden

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Callaloo is a sadly neglected crop for many gardeners, and there’s no real reason why as far as I can see. Maybe it’s because the main seed catalogue offerings (with some notable exceptions) tend to be disappointing, and growers give it a miss after

Home

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Anton Nel of Wellington writes I occasionally see homeowners in Home using tree stumps as décor in their homes. Tree stumps may contain fungi and be a magnet for wood borers. I take it that they must first be treated before you use them as décor? If