I like to reserve some seeds as a back-up, in case I make a mistake. If the supplier gives a generous enough amount. Ive never had good results with opium poppies. I scattered opium poppy seeds on prepared ground 2 different ocasions in the fall and surpringly maybe 2 plants at most would appear. They were never vigorous and then they flopped. Maybe they need other plants to keep them upright? Im seriously tempted to grow the Irish Poppy next year. Im growong Capnoides/Corydalis sempervirens. I love the fumitory subfamily. It never gets below freezing there in Northumberland right, so do you ever have to vernalize seeds in your refrigerator or freezer? I got some germination paper so I wont have to perform mico-surgical radical removement from paper towels anymore. A few types of seeds will actually germinate in the refrigerator. Maybe I should try doing the P. somniferum in the refrigerator. Is station sowing using the small cell trays? I decided to scrap the cells because they hinder root growth and Im also too lazy to repot them at the appropriate time. It results in permanent miniature plants. I have some snapdragons that return every year and thet are peach colored and sometimes purple. They are on the north side of the house in shade. They wouldnt do well with full sun in our hot summers. Im not sure if Antirrhinum seeds need a vernalization or not? Are the Italian snapdrogons alpine? You might have to put the seed tray in your refrigerator if it fits. Im trying Linaria purpurea again. I was instructed to lightly over the seeds. I just planted some cudweeds that have seeds the size of smoke particals. What's your approach with dust-like seeds. Do you do anything different for sedum seeds? I was going to plant the seeds in regular potting mix with vermiculite topping, with the tiny seeds placed on top of the vermiculite.

Um...lots to respond to here. First off, I am nowhere near Northumbria (TF) but much further down the east coast in East Anglia...not remotely maritime though (Cambridge). I would have loved to manage to save some seeds but, along with dodgy germination, this company is also exceptionally mean with seed allowances. If you have any idea what a pack of 50 (they said) tiny dust-like seeds look like, there is not much chance of actually splitting the bag.

Poppy somniferum is an actual weed for me. Not that I grow them (too huge, fleeting and am already overrun with volunteers from a neighbours plot many metres away so absolutely not allowing any on my patch. Same with corn poppies - p.rhoes. They are ever-present, returning every year despite vigilant weeding. They can live in the soil for what feels like centuries.

I do grow a lot a poppy-alikes though...(stylophorum, eomecon, eschscholtsia (sp?), stylomecon as well as various papaver species...and nearly all of them do best with direct sowing (despite being a bit hit and miss and at terrible risk from a weaponised hoe and bad eyesight).

In general, when sowing fine seed, I pat the mix into a nice flat surface, sprinkle the seeds and water in with the finest rose I have (then any other watering is done from the bottom. I also sometimes scatter a small amount of fine grit o the surface and let the seed trickle into the crevices. Works best with alpine seeds.

Anyway, its out of my hands now...left to survive, thrive or fail in the greenhouse while I await the germination of my callirhoes (bushii, digitata).

Suzy doesn't live in Northumberland but it most certainly does get below freezing there. As it does in Cambridge where she actually lives.

Both P somniferum and L purpurea are self sowing virtual weeds on my allotment too and I don't think they need any special treatment. Both are totally hardy and could be direct sowed. The poppy in particular doesn't much like transplanting and its nature is to look great for a few weeks then shrivel and die. I've never known it to need any support although they grow up to three feet high.

Yep, I have the linaria all about the place too. Pretty easy to pull out though...unlike the horrid clasping roots of geums, creeping buttercups, mallow and the zillion grasses which have no sense of decorum whatsoever. I will say though, on balance, I often really enjoy the mindless satisfaction of working through a few hundred seedlings of creeping Charlie, muttering 'murdered. murdered, murdered' every second or so as I do the smiting.

This is the third time Im trying to grow Linaria purpurea. I think I scattered the seeds on thr ground the previous 2 times. I wouldnt mind it being a weed, if Im successful this time? You don't actually grow Creeping Charlie as a groundcover do you? Its an all too common weed here. It's almost indestructable and it's blooming right now at -22C. The henbit is just as bad, and there's been a scurge of henbit the past few years. I have sowed Sphaeralcea parviflora the Globe Mallow and Geum allepicum, which has yellow flowers. The more plain white flowered Geum canadensis is very weedy and difficult to pull out. There's a white Geum over by you that's very similar to G. canadense, but I forget the name, but it starts with a U I think. I ordered seeds from Jellito for the 1st time. They were the only place that had Carex plantainea seeds. I think they give a generous amount of seeds. I grow several Carex species and I need to ID them all because they all look so similar. Some new legumes I'm growing are Lespedeza capitata, Dalea villosa, Acmispon americanum, Apios americana, Baptisia bracteata, Glycerhiza lepidota, Mimosa quadrivalvis, Phas heterophylla and Lupinus perrenis. Mimosa quadrivalvis/nuttallii is the Sensative Briar and its very similar to Mimosa pudica with the exact same habit, and it's cold hardy and it's leaves close when they are touched, but it's reflexes aren't as fast as M. pudica. Actually I am growing a poppy and it's one of my favorites Argemone albiflora. The desert poppy. I sowed 2 umbellifers, Perideridia americanum and the giant Heracleum maximum. Also Penstemon cobaea and as a bonus with those Penstemon richardsonii, which I'm not familiar with. I cant remember if you have tried any of the dry loving western Penstemon species Susie?

Good grief - creeping charlie as a ground cover! Mind, years ago, I actually dug a clump from a local cemetery because I thought it was such a modestly charming little plant...and along with geranium pyrenaicum, I actually planted them in the allotment! Obviously, I still have them...in bountiful amounts. Neither are as bad as geum urbanum!. I generally allow these weeds (including henbit) to remain over winter for the first early flowering (for bees) but have to be quick-smart at whipping them out before seeding.

I think you will enjoy Jellito seeds - they are my go-to seed source these days. Incidentally, I am growing argemone platycerus and glycerrhiza glabra (I really love chewing a piece of liquorice root). Oh...and my large umbellifer this year is hogs fennel - peucedanum verticillaire - which has recently germinated in the greenhouse. The peucedanums and angelicas are a bit tricky for me because they always need more moisture than what falls from the sky, but are such stately, handsome plants we must persevere.

Yes, my love affair with penstemon continues - watsonii, smallii, strictus, eatonii, pinifolius and most thrillingly, the fragrant palmeri are mostly ready for planting out this year. I already grow cobaeus, grandiflora, mexicali and a coupla others (names escape me).

My persistent fails are dalea, apios americana and romneya coulteri. Am very keen to grow lespedeza (I love the late summer garden almost best of all).

Romneya coulteri is notoriously difficult to start from seed. Unless pretreated, they need to be exposed to smoke and/or fire to effect successful germination.

I’ve grown four types of snapdragons in the last 6 months. All germinatedin about 5 or 6 days. I start them indoors.

Yes I was referring to Geum urbanum floral. I also grow Geum triflorum, Prairie Smoke. I think the Marsh Geum rivale is also native here. The other Rosaceae Im growing are Agrimonia striata, 3 Filipendula rubra, and Ive sowed seeds for Spirea latifolia alba and Drymocallis arguta. Ive seen variegated Glechoma hederacea for sale online, but it still looks like a weed to me. I'm spreading our native Prunella vulgaris subsp. lanceolata around, to hopefully keep the Creeping Charlie at bay, but Prunella can also be a pest and I don't allow it in most of my beds. I grow the native mint Meehania cordata which is beautiful, unfortuately it isn't a fast spreader. The only new mints that Ive sown are the locally native Scutellaia lateriflora, and Summer Savory, Saturjea . Ive been growing Scutellaria incana for a few years, and I added 3 Scutellaria parvula last year. I still have Scutellaria ovata on my wish list. Ive ordered Tagetes lucida seeds. I can't wait to use it in salads, and it makes a pleasing incense they say. I would also love to establish some French Tarragon. It's my favorite herb for salads. There are 2 different races of Apios americana here. The northern triploid race that is sterile, and a southern fertile race. Ive been growing the sterile race for a few years, but I just sowed seeds for the fertle race with the hope of being able to have perrenial edible beans and more pollinators. The flowers of my sterile plant aren't visited much by pollinators which is unusual for a legume. Perhaps the sterile flowers are also lacking rewarding nectar and pollen? Ive sowed seeds for a few species that have been on Name That Plant, which are Pluchea oderata, Triodanis perfoliata and the Carolina Woolywhite, Hymenoppapus scabiosaeus.

Variegated Glechoma is a standard container plant here. It looks good cascading from pots or boxes. I've never had it survive the winter so it isn't weedy. The plain green Glechoma is a native species which has its place in our ecology. I've never had it occur in my garden. What I do have rampaging around are Allium ursinum, Arum maculatum and Ficaria verna. All ephemerals which disappear by summer.

Yep, I have the little celandines (who doesn't?) but probably the worst annoyance of recent years has been a sneaky invasion of green alkanet (pentaglottis). Very visible and relatively easy to pull although it does tend to appear in the middle of more choice plantings.

I never clear any of the beds overwinter because the soil is already so depleted and thin, I am actually grateful for the extra cover. I have very few weeds on my home beds but a public allotment is a very different proposition with a never-ending battle against trillions of weeds, all the time. So, the most manic phase of the year is approaching of rushing to clear up before seeding starts in earnest. Most of my allotment neighbours like to have clean beds over winter (apart from the slackers. that is), and I often feel a bit shamed about the state of my winter grounds. I don't dig anywhere, poking about with my hori knife and tugging the weeds by hand without disturbing the soil too much, so it is a long, slow haul, still done at (my) top speed (so snailpace). How do you do your seasonal management, Floral?

I am growing a couple of scutellarias this year - hastifolia and incana.

So far no Green Alkanet but I had to warn DD about the 'pretty blue flowers' in her new garden. I find they leave nasty hairs in the skin if you try to pull them bare handed.

Glechoma hederacea is everywhere here. It doesnt choke or shade out my other plants, and I dont mind it growing in the lawn, but Im concerned that it prohibits desirable seeds from germinating, by shading the ground. Id rather have Rue Anemones, Dutchman's Breeches, Jacob's Ladder and nice Viola species covering the ground. Im building up my Pilea pumila and Circaea canadensis numbers to also combat the Creeping Charlie. I ordered 3 bareroot False Rue Anemone, Isopryum biternata, and I also sowed seeds for it. There's only 1 bed under a large oak where the Glechoma is a problem. I always try to pull off the faded flowers of Alliums so there wont be seedlings. They push their bulb deep in the soil, andb it takes time and extra effort to dig them up. The flowers are pretty though. I have some seeds in condemint cups strstifying in the refrigerator. I was shocked to see my Buffalo Clover seeds have already sprouted in my refrigetator in less than 2 weeks. I put them in pots and under my grow light.