Sweet peas

I sowed the seeds that had ripened on the plants this year when I pulled up the haulms, so that was the end of September. Put them in a row along the fence, close together as I was not expecting anything much. They're about 4" tall now. Just about all have germinated.

I was interested to hear Monty Don warn against using seeds harvested this year, to use the previous year's instead. I don't know why, fresh seeds have always germinated fine for me, whether I sow them or if they just fall to the ground off the dead plants.

I guess we shouldn't believe everything the experts tell us!

I believe that an "expert" is someone who's done it right once and tells the world about it with enough authority that the rest of the world (except me) believe him/her.

I was interested to hear Monty Don warn against using seeds harvested this year, to use the previous year's instead. I don't know why, fresh seeds have always germinated fine for me, whether I sow them or if they just fall to the ground off the dead plants.

I guess we shouldn't believe everything the experts tell us!

I've just listened to that clip again, Martin. Monty didn't warn against using this years seeds, he simply said he had some seeds he collected from last year that he wanted to sow (Black Knight), and said they had stored perfectly well.

I wonder what Monty would say about seeds from 2015? Asking for a friend.

Has anyone grown sweet peas in a hanging basket?
A thought came to me in the night - since mice eat my seeds in the GH, what if I sowed them in hanging baskets, hung from the roof of the GH...............then I thought, why not actually grow them in hanging baskets - they'd smell so much nicer than the usual busy lizzies and such like.
There's a bit on the net/youtube saying its been done but I wondered whether anyone here has tried it.

I've not tried it but there are some dwarf varieties which are supposed to be good for hanging baskets. Two of them were in my T&M box, Bijou and Sugar 'n' Spice.

I was interested to hear Monty Don warn against using seeds harvested this year, to use the previous year's instead. I don't know why, fresh seeds have always germinated fine for me, whether I sow them or if they just fall to the ground off the dead plants.

I guess we shouldn't believe everything the experts tell us!

I've just listened to that clip again, Martin. Monty didn't warn against using this years seeds, he simply said he had some seeds he collected from last year that he wanted to sow (Black Knight), and said they had stored perfectly well.

I had to go back and re-listen. Took me a while to find it! 15th October episode, 41 minutes in. But you're right. He said,

"I've got some peas here, that I collected the seed from, not this year but actually the year before that, and they stored perfectly well."

I guess I took his emphasis on "Not THIS year" as being an instruction rather than just an observation.

Sorry Monty!

I might have to get some fresh air later and sow a few sweet peas.

Sown some self saved , royal mix, sugar & spice (for baskets) and lathyrus chloranthus = 62 seeds

I’ll be back later with an update. Just realised I didn’t sow any of my ever lasting sweet peas.
( note to self reorganise flower seed categories)

Then that is all my sweet peas sown. I’ll have to save seeds next year.