In the past, I have tried both summer and winter purslane, and
neither have germinated well or produced much of a crop.
However, winter purslane did turn into a casual, but was never
large or numerous enough to be worth bothering with. This year,
I am trying agretti, but with no great hope of success. From its
requirements, I decided that samphire wouldn't thrive, but I
might be wrong.

My soils is sandy, which is a good start, but can dry out badly
and get quite hot on sunny, still, summer days.

Has anyone succeeded with any of these, and are there any tips?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 02/03/2014 20:50, Nick Maclaren wrote:
I decided that samphire wouldn't thrive, but I
might be wrong.

Oh, I don't know. What with the very mild winter, your local council
should have vast quantities of salt lying around that it intended for
icy roads, and now doesn't know what to do with. Add that to the boggy
ground from the extraordinarily wet weather we are still having, and I
am sure that it will be a simple matter for you to create a saltmarsh.
Ideal for samphire!

--

Jeff

In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 02/03/2014 20:50, Nick Maclaren wrote:
I decided that samphire wouldn't thrive, but I
might be wrong.

Oh, I don't know. What with the very mild winter, your local council
should have vast quantities of salt lying around that it intended for
icy roads, and now doesn't know what to do with. Add that to the boggy
ground from the extraordinarily wet weather we are still having, and I
am sure that it will be a simple matter for you to create a saltmarsh.
Ideal for samphire!

Well, er, yes, though I was actually thinking about plain (rock)
samphire :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Can't remember which one it is, but the purslane with the tiny blue flowers enclosed in a "ruff" germinated very well for me and grew well in a pot, then escaped and produced 6-8in high plants in the garden which kept going for several years. Wet clay in a frost hollow.

I decided that they were too insipid to be worth bothering with.

On 03/03/2014 09:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 02/03/2014 20:50, Nick Maclaren wrote:
I decided that samphire wouldn't thrive, but I
might be wrong.

Oh, I don't know. What with the very mild winter, your local council
should have vast quantities of salt lying around that it intended for
icy roads, and now doesn't know what to do with. Add that to the boggy
ground from the extraordinarily wet weather we are still having, and I
am sure that it will be a simple matter for you to create a saltmarsh.
Ideal for samphire!

Well, er, yes, though I was actually thinking about plain (rock)
samphire :-)

Ah - I hadn't heard of that. I see from:
http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowe...%28Rock%29.htm
"Distinguishing Feature : Smells like shoe or furniture polish when
crushed, although some report a citrus type odour.".
And from: http://www.gallowaywildfoods.com/?page_id=1542:
"Rich in aromatic oils which some people say taste like kerosene"

Sounds like an acquired taste to me...

--

Jeff

In article ,
kay wrote:

'Nick Maclaren[_3_ Wrote:
;999331']In the past, I have tried both summer and winter purslane, and
neither have germinated well or produced much of a crop.
However, winter purslane did turn into a casual, but was never
large or numerous enough to be worth bothering with. This year,
I am trying agretti, but with no great hope of success. From its
requirements, I decided that samphire wouldn't thrive, but I
might be wrong.

Can't remember which one it is, but the purslane with the tiny blue
flowers enclosed in a "ruff" germinated very well for me and grew well
in a pot, then escaped and produced 6-8in high plants in the garden
which kept going for several years. Wet clay in a frost hollow.

I decided that they were too insipid to be worth bothering with.

BLUE flowers? I can't think of what that would be. Neither of
the purslanes would normally be described as insipid, in the way
that many salad vegetables are. I quite like lambs' lettuce,
which is pretty insipid, but it doesn't have blue flowers, either.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

yes, silly of me, I was thinking lambs lettuce. The flowers always look pale blue to me.

Rock samphire is a plant unrelated to sea samphire, and doesn't even look similar. I have collected and eaten it from sea cliffs and also bought it preserved in jars. But just once each time, I couldn't be bothered again. Apparently it will grow in your garden in a light soil, and was once cultivated in gardens for that purpose. Some people must like it.

I think sea samphire is wonderful though, a real treat.

In article ,
kay wrote:

BLUE flowers? I can't think of what that would be. Neither of
the purslanes would normally be described as insipid, in the way
that many salad vegetables are. I quite like lambs' lettuce,
which is pretty insipid, but it doesn't have blue flowers, either.

yes, silly of me, I was thinking lambs lettuce. The flowers always look
pale blue to me.

Ah. Upon reminding myself, I now know what you mean. Because of
its insipidity, I have always tried sowing it for a winter crop,
but have never really succeeded, so have given up. My last sowing
of rocket did well as a winter crop this year, though.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.