Winter Dreams

"A flower blossoms for its own joy"

- Oscar Wilde

Rudbeckia hirta 'Prairie Sun'

Here, in the depths of midwinter, one can be seriously short of sunshine and joy.  Traditionally it's time to reach for the travel brochures or, if you're like us, a gardening catalogue full of old favourites and new introductions. In my case, it doesn't even have to be illustrated - just a comprehensive guide with colourful descriptions will do fine!

Emerging in early July

At the same time, a review of our photo's from last summer serves as a reminder of why we chose certain plants to cultivate from seed.

This particular 'prairie flower', Rudbeckia hirta, was a pleasure to look at in all stages of development: upright and sturdy, it added structure to a vase and lasted for several weeks in the garden.

Apart from having bicoloured petals, its central cone also morphed from pale green to gold as its stamens gradually emerged and spread up from the base.

Maturing in mid-August

This third picture reveals the flowers in their maturity, looking a little more like the familiar 'Black-eyed Susan', but stronger and more defined in shape.

They were easy to grow from seed in early spring and provided us with a host of blooms just a few months later. 

I'm still finding out which perennials are better sown in autumn, and planted out to over-winter in the garden - like wallflowers - rather than being sown in spring for transplanting when the soil warms up.

A simple cold-frame with perspex roofing
provides enough protection in winter

It really depends on how well they can withstand cold, wet weather or attacks by slugs and snails when they are still quite small.

You might think, for instance, that Echinacea would be tough enough to survive winter in the border, yet they have an unnerving habit of disappearing underground and becoming lost.

Now I mark each little plant with a stick so I can keep an eye out for emerging leaves and don't dig up the crown by accident.

Dianthus barbatus 'Homeland'

The type of dianthus here - better known as a Sweet William - was grown from seed last spring and several were then transplanted in summer. 

One plant managed to flower well, whilst the others have yet to perform even though they seemed to establish at the same rate. It's not always certain that perennials will bloom in their first season but I think that just adds to the anticipation of a grand show the following year!

Campanula carpatica

Other seeds from last spring which have yet to produce flowers include Phlomis samia, Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red' and Dianthus superbus. But they've all clumped-up nicely so should really take off this year.

The little Campanula carpatica was easy to grow, like most of its harebell family, and produced a succession of blooms from early July - a bit later than I'd have expected but no less welcome.

Nicotiana alata 'Lime Green'

This Nicotiana alata was another easy one to sow in spring and its mysterious green flowers seemed to last well in the shady border behind our raspberry canes. Although I grew some in a seed tray, now I know it's not too thuggish I'll probably scatter seeds around in those dark, dry corners where its pale stars will glow with an eerie luminesence.

Orlaya grandiflora

Another plant which I cultivated in a seed tray to begin with was Orlaya (sounds such an Irish name!) seen on the right here underneath a medlar tree where the soil is fairly dry and stony.

But she's a hardy little thing and quite well behaved in the border so we've spread her seeds across a few other areas where she'll weave some lightness into the tapestry of early summer colour.

Amidst all the daisy-like flowers in our garden, it's good to have a few umbellifers such as you'd find in local meadows and vineyards.

Orlaya in all her glory

Agrostemma githago

The humble corncockle, Agrostemma githago, is another meadow annual which has made it into our gardens.

It doesn't self-seed as readily as other native plants so I try and keep a supply of this cultivated strain, 'Milas Purple Queen', as the vibrant colour stands out well and there's very little foliage to get in the way of other plants.

Seeds can be sown directly into the ground.

Scabious atropurpurea

I'm similarly fond of the dark scabious called 'Chat Noir' which doesn't come true from seed - meaning you have to order a fresh supply when the original plants flag after a couple of years.

Scabious grows well in our chalky soil and it's worth having the ones with almost black flowers to provide contrast. I'm tempted to order an even taller variety - at 4' - called 'Black Knight', which has very dark purple blooms and is said to be even more dramatic.

I don't think our garden will ever be without the occasional patch of blue Love-in-a-mist, which I quite enjoy for its feathery foliage. But I'm glad we broke out and planted some different varieties in recent years, particularly the striking Nigella hispanica, which comes in blue with purple stamens, or hispanica 'African Bride' in white and purple. 

Nigella hispanica
- surprisingly elegant architecture!

Although Nigella grows happily from seed spread on the ground in late summer or early spring, I use trays for these particular strains in order to keep them separate from the wild form. 

Learning to differentiate one type of seedling from another is quite an art, made all the more difficult by a vast array of weeds that come up in our soil, so I tend to wait until my cultivated seedlings have reached 'plug plant' size before putting them in the ground - properly labelled, of course :-)

All the above seeds were obtained from Chiltern Seeds who have amassed a wonderful range of flowers, herbs and veg from all over the world.  Their catalogues are both witty and informative - providing the main inspiration for writing this blog in fact!