I have been growing plants since I was just 5 years old! My obsession started early. I have so many memories of gardening with my Nana and Granddad in their garden. I also sneaked lots of plants home, soon taking over my parents garden, and denying my father the ground to grow his regular beetroot crop! In this blog, I want to explore some of the plants I used to grow back then. In recent years, those plants may have become less popular, BUT quite a few of them are about to come back WITH A BANG!
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- Salpiglossis are like Petunias on stilts! My Nana and I used to grow them from seed, they were always the most spindly seedlings. Like me as a teenager I guess! This variety is ‘Kew Blue’, classic and gorgeous!
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- We used to grow Coleus as a houseplant and- shock horror- let it flower! It was the multi-coloured leaved one. This new one is called ‘Campfire’ and it’s for growing on the patio!
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- Marigolds were, and still are, a staple choice for bedding. However, ‘Strawberry Blonde’ mixes it up a bit, with fresh germplasm, and an ALMOST pink colour!
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- Ooh, the Cockscomb! When I was 7 years old, that wasn’t smut. I was so innocent. These Celosia cristata types are coming back, as cut flowers or border plants.
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- Another type of Celosia, this time plumosa. Me and Nana used to grow these from seed, and use them as short-lived houseplants. Nowadays they are seen as super trendy, and it’s almost like nobody’s ever seen them before!
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- Gloxy’s, also known as Gloxinia. We grew these from seed too, and sometimes from leaf cuttings. They are really a houseplant, but will grow outdoors in shade like Begonias!
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- Calceolaria is just fun with a capital F! The slipper flower is easy to grow, and- excitingly- there are new, OUTDOOR hardy ones you can grow too!
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- Godetia, some know it as Clarkia, is frothy and easy from seed. Me and Nana always grew this one, and I remember the look of the seedlings so vividly. A refined choice for a cottage garden border now!
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- Succulents! They are UBER trendy and flooding my Instagram feeds every day. Well, I feel like I was the first to discover them, at just 8 years old, growing varieties like ‘Jelly Beans’ and those Senecio that look like kinky beads!
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- Me and my Nana used to grow the tall, late flowering mixes like ‘Sensation’. We could have only dreamt of a variety so gorgeous as ‘Cupcakes’- this particular bloom looks a bit like a jellyfish too, don’t you think?!
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- Sweet-nectared blooms of a dangling Hoya! My Nana used to tell me the nectar was sweet like sugar, is that true or was she trying to poison me?!
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- Hold up! Nana would have not have believed this specimen! We loved growing Hyacinths in glass vases, and ‘Midnight Mystic’ is a huge WOW FACTOR, with black flowers!
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seamagu
Reblogged this on TunnelDad and commented:
Some really good specimens discussed by mrplantgeek….trendsetter extrodinaire
The Cynical Gardener
That Cocks Comb looks interesting, I wonder how it would perform as a potted plant in a floral display….. Hmmmm.
livingwithbelle
Oh wow, they are all stunning, haven’t heard of most of them either, thank you for sharing your flowers and memories.
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