Seed Sorting

Well, having just spent a little time pottering and tidying in the garden, I've decided to start having a sort through the seed box and actually get myself organized as far as seed sowing is concerned this year! I did sow a lot of seeds last year but I sowed them all in big 'batches' so there was a wave of seedlings, and then a wave of potting on etc. so this year I'm hoping to start a little earlier so as to spread the work out a little more evenly, and so that there are seedlings just emerging while others are being potted on etc. and they're not all in need of potting on at exactly the same time! Also, this year I'm going to sow less than I think I need, as I always sow way too many seeds of plants and then end up with a load of extra work which results in plants which are then not planted out/watered/fed so hoping to cut out that work too.

The following are just a small selection (EEK!!!) I'm hoping to definitely get sown over the next couple of weeks. They will all be brought into the house (with one exception) and either placed on a windowsill or on my heat mat set up, depending on the germination temperatures. The majority will then go into the greenhouse once pricked out and potted on, although there may be a couple of the more tender ones staying in the greenhouse for a couple more weeks:

• Nicotiana Sylvestris - I've tried these a couple of times in the past but I've never managed to get them past seedling stage, probably due to lack of motivation! There's an average of 2000 seeds in the packet and every other year for some mad reason I've sown the entire contents, so the fact that it looked like a mat of moss once germinated might have also put me off pricking them out! I'll be sowing an eighth of these at most, although the seeds are like dust so I'll get the magnifying glass out for those!!!
• Amaranthus 'Pony Tails' - I tried the tricoloured variety of Amaranthus last year but, like with the Nicotiana, with little success. Haven't tried this variety before, it's one of the more basic varieties but should look quite unusual and exotic if I can get them to grow into decent plants.
• Cosmos 'Sonata Mixed' and 'Seashells' - although they're not really tropical plants, you've got to love Cosmos for their abundance of flowers and ease of cultivation. Have grown 'Sensation Mixed' a couple of years in a row with huge success, although they did grow a bit TOO big for the border so am now trying the dwarf mix, 'Sonata Mixed' which we also tried last year and was just as floriferous but on smaller plants. I fancied trying the Seashells mix as the fluted petals look quite unusual, and should be something different to the normal Cosmos.
• Rhodochiton - haven't grown these before but they seem to be quite an unusual and exotic climber, and as I'm looking for a couple of different climbers to try against the house and up supports both in pots and in the ground, might as well add these to the mix.
• Something a little less unusual - Tomato 'Red Cherry' seeds will also be sown this week. We also grow a few tomato plants in the greenhouse, well worth it for the difference in flavour!
• Chilli 'Cayenne' - perhaps more exotic that the Tomato seeds, but I've not really tried chillis before with much effort, but am hoping to get some fruits off the resulting plants this year, which will be growing in pots in the greenhouse.
• Datura Inoxia - having heard varied reports on this plant being growing in the UK, I ordered some seeds from the US via E-bay last year but it was a bit late in the year to get anything decent out of them so I've saved them for this season. They'll be getting a lot of TLC as the flowers look similar to one of my favourite plants - Brugmansia - except they face upwards, and they're also slightly fragrant too, so might make a nice patio plant?
• Bambusa Arundinacae - more a novelty that a serious effort, but I bought these seeds last year so might as well have a go at germinating them. Apparently not at all hardy in the UK but if it ever gets so big that greenhouse over Wintering is not possible, then I'll be pretty proud!
• Sunflower 'Velvet Queen' - I'll be sowing these one seed to a cell and then keeping them in a coldframe outside. I'm always a bit too caring with Sunflowers and start them off in the house where they don't get a good start in life as they get leggy, so am hoping they'll be a little more toughened up if they're grown outside right from the beginning.
  

There are plenty more seeds still to be sorted so be prepared for many more of these posts, although hopefully the results this year will be worth the effort I'm going to put into growing them!