A few years ago I ordered some so-called ‘plug’ plants by mail order, Pansies I think they were. After a long wait they finally arrived, and what a disappointment they were. Small and weedy, not really big enough to be out on their own. Not many survived and those that did were wimps. I wrote a letter of complaint to the company but received no response, and I vowed I would never buy plants by mail order again.

Time heals all wounds and so today I’m going to order some small plants from the 2009 Suttons seed catalogue. I’ve read all the small print and guarantees and decided to risk it again. I’m going to continue with last years colour scheme of scarlet and dark blue. I already have the blue lobelia seeds left over from last year so I’m going to order 40 red geraniums (pelargonium) and 40 red (fiberous) begonias. Total price delivered £20.85. Sounds like a good deal.

begonia    lobelia    pelargonium     lobelia    

I also need to think about sowing some seeds and taking some cuttings, but one look out of the window today makes me think I could be a bit early, it’s cold and damp and not very inspiring. I did an experiment in October 2007 and sowed some perennial seeds in small pots. They did germinate but the effort of nursing them through the cold dark winter months probably wasn’t worth it. Final success rate was average to poor. The ones I sowed the following Spring did much better.

The gang of long-tailed tits called again today, they were earlier than usual at 1pm. I only counted 6 of them this time, one of them must be running late.