For those of you who think that you have to wait until January 2007 to begin to peruse and select seeds from those luscious seed catalogues, you’re wrong.
Over the past couple of years, I have made it my practice in mid-fall to sit down with a cup of tea and the latest Thompson and Morgan seed catalogue and begin to leisurely peruse through it marking off the selections that interest me.
During the lull of the winter months, I love fiddling around with at least 8 or 9 different types of seeds to see how they germinate and grow during the winter months indoors. It may seem like extra work to continue to re-pot them and perhaps even bring some to bloom prior to the season, but especially if you’re a precise colorist, it’s worth it.
Here are some of my picks:
Foxglove Mountain Candy: “It is totally unique as it is the first upward facing foxglove from seed. This unusual characteristic enables you, and the bees, to peep inside the stunning rose pink blooms and view their delightful freckled throats, which appear all the way around the stems. These flower stems are so strong, sturdy and erect that in breeding trials Candy Mountain was given the nickname 'Viagra'! Ideal for planting in drifts, creating a colourful display towards the middle or back of your perennial or cottage garden borders.”
Sweet Pea ‘Fragrantissima’: “A full color spectrum formula blended to ensure an even balance of color. Specially selected for quality of blooms and intensity of fragrance. Attractive, large flowered and strong stemmed, making wonderful cut flowers for enjoying several months in the house and garden.”
Salvia lyrata ‘Purple Volcano’: “Stunning mounds of deep purple foliage from which erupt deep purple stems, bursting with delicate white flowers. Perfect for adding color contrast to borders and containers. Hardy in Zones 4-9.”
Anchusa leptophylla ‘Blue Shower’: “Attractive showers of power-blue flowers smother mounds of foliage all summer continuing into autumn, creating a long lasting border display from this outstanding perennial. Hardy in Zones 6-8.”
Centaurea moschata ‘Dairy Maid’: “Attractive, large yellow flowers. Recommended for its cutting and border qualities and delicious chocolate fragrance, that earned it the appropriate name of ‘Sweet Sultan’.
Sunflower ‘Earth Walker’: “A diverse mixture of attractive browns and terracottas, with an occasional deeper chocolate shade. Tall, multi-headed stems flower over a long period, so ideal used in borders or for cutting.”
**All descriptions of specimens have been taken directly from The Thompson and Morgan catalogue and on line site. For more information on these seeds, click on: http://www.thompsonandmorgan.com/
Articles By Fran Sorin
www.fransorin.com
