2025 - Seeds and stuff I've bought or acquired

I got my seeds from SheGrowsVeg!

Beetroot Red Toad (rouge crapaudine) - two packets, one for me and one for my sister
Radish China Rose
Storage tomato Hanging Prince
Sweet pepper Lesya

I won't sow the sweet pepper this year, it's far too late, but the rest will be sown, a few seeds at least, and I will try to save seeds from all of them

With a view to protecting the chard and beetroot from leaf miner flies I wanted some lightweight insect mesh. I've already got some but it's a bit heavy. I knew the mesh wasn't cheap, it wasn't when I bought the existing stuff. I had a look on Temu. I was very pleased with the watering can I got through there. So I have ordered a 3x5m sheet of what I think will be lighter weight mesh than I've got. Looking in the garden centre something equivalent was priced at £25. Temu cost £6.04 and free shipping. It should arrive today or tomorrow.

Senshyu Yellow onion seeds, couldn't find my packet from last year which should still have had hundreds of seeds still. I'll sow them as soon as they arrive.
Also Omar's Lebanese. I had been going to save tomato seeds from that this year but I only labelled one plant and is didn't look quite right. It's still growing but a bush came up with about 7 vines growing so not one for saving seeds from.

Today I acquired a cutting from a hydrangea with white flowers tinted pink. Now potted up, hope it takes.
Seeds from helenium, Astrantia and candlearbra primula, now all sown.

Today I acquired a cutting from a hydrangea with white flowers tinted pink. Now potted up, hope it takes.
Seeds from helenium, Astrantia and candlearbra primula, now all sown.

Are your helenium and primula seeds from a packet or saved? If saved you could get some interesting mixes of colours.

Today I acquired a cutting from a hydrangea with white flowers tinted pink. Now potted up, hope it takes.
Seeds from helenium, Astrantia and candlearbra primula, now all sown.

Are your helenium and primula seeds from a packet or saved? If saved you could get some interesting mixes of colours.

Saved. Primulas were from a mix of colours and helenium looked very similar to waltraut but not sure as quite a few varieties look similar.

Today I acquired a cutting from a hydrangea with white flowers tinted pink. Now potted up, hope it takes.
Seeds from helenium, Astrantia and candlearbra primula, now all sown.

Are your helenium and primula seeds from a packet or saved? If saved you could get some interesting mixes of colours.

Saved. Primulas were from a mix of colours and helenium looked very similar to waltraut but not sure as quite a few varieties look similar.

Yes, a lot of heleniums are quite similar in colour, they mostly seem to differ in flower size, petal shape, droopiness, height etc. rather than colour. I have a variety called Kupferzwerg which starts off more red then fades to coppery orange. Would've had Rubinzwerg too, but the plant I got put out bright yellow flowers instead. I'd really like Sahin's Early Flowerer, since it's supposed to flower earlier and for longer than other varieties. 

Today I acquired a cutting from a hydrangea with white flowers tinted pink. Now potted up, hope it takes.
Seeds from helenium, Astrantia and candlearbra primula, now all sown.

Are your helenium and primula seeds from a packet or saved? If saved you could get some interesting mixes of colours.

Saved. Primulas were from a mix of colours and helenium looked very similar to waltraut but not sure as quite a few varieties look similar.

Yes, a lot of heleniums are quite similar in colour, they mostly seem to differ in flower size, petal shape, droopiness, height etc. rather than colour. I have a variety called Kupferzwerg which starts off more red then fades to coppery orange. Would've had Rubinzwerg too, but the plant I got put out bright yellow flowers instead. I'd really like Sahin's Early Flowerer, since it's supposed to flower earlier and for longer than other varieties. 

Helenium sounds like a good addition to my (proposed) perennial bed.

They're great. Bees absolutely love them, mostly honey bees I've noticed. The flowers last for ages and you gets lots of them. Slugs do like to attack the leaves in spring, but once the clump is established and strong enough it shrugs off any damage. Pretty easy to propagate from root cuttings or divisions, too.