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- I got a note two weeks ago about a reader’s "Snail Vine" Vigna
carracalla not setting seed. Good to hear. Mine don’t either and I was getting
concerned, but a look around the district and none of them do, so obviously there is an
insect vector in Venezuela at 1500 metres which we don’t have, that aids their
pollination. They set seed in New Zealand though! Named after the villainous third century
AD Roman Emperor who wore a similar hood to this flower. How’s that for obscure?
- If you have been a Yates Mail order subscriber, you are not any longer. Their management
quietly decided to close the service last winter without an announcement or compensation
it would seem. Pity, it was a good seed range of hard-to-find varieties.
- If you have finished planting your bulbs, you can direct seed Virginian Stocks over them
and they will grow to flower when your Daffodils, Freesias and Hyacinths have finished.
- Another annual that may well self-seed year after year in similar positions is the
old-fashioned "Toad Flax" or Linaria. Even on fairly alkaline clay it thrives.
- If you planted Broccoli or ‘Kalaan’ Chinese Broccoli recently, it will really
be moving now that we’ve had a few colder nights and some drizzle. Feed it once with
"Complete D" and fortnightly with any water-soluble fertilizer with nitrogen,
phosphate and potassium, since they are demanding, if you like your broccoli succulent and
often.
- Organic growers of winter Cauliflowers, Cabbages, Brussels Sprouts, Kohl
Rabi,
Broccoli and Sweet Peas, may need to lime their soil [pH 7.5 - 8.0]. Yes it’s true,
some plants actually like slightly alkaline soils, but only use garden lime.
Builders’ lime is deadly.
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