On 29/09/2012 15:00, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-09-29 14:53:43 +0100, stuart noble
said:

On 29/09/2012 14:12, Baz wrote:
stuart noble wrote in
:

I see Unwins are advising people to sow sweet peas now. I'm in favour
of early sowing, but surely not till the current plants have stopped
blooming. Are there any other flowers that can be germinated in Autumn
and will survive the winter in a cold frame? Nice to see something
growing when it's so dismal outside


IME Unwins T&M and Suttons are madly expensive for anything. And they
lie!

What I have bought this first year of something to look at in the garden
during winter.

http://tinyurl.com/d2qfb3v

Not sweet peas but nice to see something growing when it's so dismal
outside.

Baz



Last winter was bad for violas and pansies round here. Most died and
others looked very feeble until the spring. I think coming out of a
hothouse into an English winter was maybe too much of a shock

Do buy them from someone who grows them 'hard'. It pays dividends for
the gardener but those coming in off huge lorries and going out through
cash points may have been over-cosseted.

I grew some from B&Q and others from a pukka nursery and none of them
thrived. I suppose if people will only buy things in flower, this is
bound to happen