It’s been a very relaxing holiday, and although I’ve taken advantage of a couple of gloriously sunny days (amidst all the rain) to tackle some overdue gardening tasks (pruning a wayward climbing rose and taming a rampant clematis), my mind hasn’t really started to contemplate my seed order for the year ahead. However, a timely thud by the front door this morning has changed all that. This is the latest offering from Chiltern Seeds, and the front cover alone has me salivating! It’s a Scabiosa stellata ‘Sternkugel’, and such a gorgeous annual does indeed deserve to be grown from seed.
The Chiltern Seeds catalogue is always an entertaining read, packed full of fantastic cultivars to experiment with, but this year it seems to be peppered with even more tempting images than before. Deep purple lab lab beans vie for the most gorgeous near-black image with a Sweet William called ‘Sooty’ (sadly with no reference to Sweep and Soo though), and Lunaria rediviva looks like a glorious perennial honesty with wonderfully pointed seed pods. I haven’t started on the rest of the catalogue yet, let alone the accompanying veg book, but Chiltern’s will be making it difficult to hone my seed order this year.
So onwards for 2014. I can’t wait to start trying out new tomato varieties that I saw at Château de la Bourdaisière this summer (many of them available from Nicky’s Seeds) and there are so many ideas for annual flowers and decorative lettuces scattered around in my head that I’m already wondering how I’ll squeeze them all in. Ah, the joy of it all! I hope you have a great growing year ahead, experimenting with all the fruit, veg and flowers of your dreams. Time to get sowing again can’t come soon enough!
Out of my shed 
have grown Sooty before…VERY nice….
Good to know Sue-seed list enlongating already!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Victoria-hope you have a great year at the allotment.
Bonne et heureuse année à toute la famille !
Hi Fatima, Hope you have and your family have a lovely year ahead. Meet up in London this year perhaps?! Nx
I love The Chilterns Catalogue. It is always a problem narrowing down the list. I have grown Dianthus Sooty and it obligingly seeds around. The white corncockle, Agrostemma is divine. Are you going to tell us what you order?
Chloris
Hi Chloris, now you’ve gone and added a new temptation to this list! I love a corncockle, but I’ve never grown a white one…..just starting to get list written, but it’s never set in stone. Must go and see what I already have tucked away from last year before I go on a buying spree…but definitely lots of tomatoes, lettuces, that Honesty, Nicotiana mutabilis-lots of!, Dahlia tubers, Emily McKenzie Crocosmia corms….must go and get a piece of paper…..Hope you have an enjoyable time getting your list together too. V.best Naomi
Now where’s my catalogue disappeared too 🙂 I’m sorting out the seed boxes tomorrow and then the list making starts. May the new year treat you, your flowers and vegetables kindly Naomi.
Hi Anna, Blimey, it’s nasty out there today-perfect weather for seed box sorting! Hope you have a fun day and happy growing for 2014! Very best wishes Naomi
Happy New Year Naomi and look forward to more of your inspiring blogs in 2014. And hope you will visit my garden…! Naomi x
Hi Naomi, Happy New Year! and hope I get to come and see your garden too-will be in touch soon! N xx
Thank you for the catalog info – I just requested one. Happy New Year.
Happy New Year Judy!
Oooh I miss Chiltern seeds…the seed catalogs are arriving thick and fast , I’m itching to get started. Happy new year Naomi !
Happy New Year Linda-hope you have a great time with all your seed catalogues! and a fab growing year ahead. (Still miss Red!) N xx
Happy New Year Naomi, every good wish for a great gardening 2014, just off to order a Chiltern seeds catalogue!
Hi Julie, hope you enjoy the catalogue-has had me laughing out loud at times and I’m always wowed by their wide selection of cultivars. Wishing you a great growing year ahead too! V.best Naomi
Ours arrived yesterday 😉
Hi PL, Hope you and WW have a great growing year ahead-wherever you will be! V.best Naomi
Thanks. It’s looking likely that it might still be here for this year with the move the following year, but still very much up in the air. We should get a bit of clarity in the coming months. Happy New Year!
Gosh yes I can’t wait to get started but will enjoy reading the seed catalogues for a week or two and making a plan of the plot on paper.
Making a plan always a great idea, matching one’s notions with reality! Think I’ll need to be using all available spaces, flat kitchen roof, bay window roof etc. to squeeze all my ideas in this year. As ever, could do with another half acre or so!…..Happy New Year Sue!
Can’t resist planning planting straight after Christmas either. Happy New Year and happy planting/seed planning to you!
Happy New Year Andrea! Still joyously flicking through catalogues…….
I had resolved to stick to the seeds already in my seedbox this year but now I desperately want to see the Chiltern catalogue … I fear that’s one resolution out of the window already! So hard to resist the thought of gorgeous annuals and seed sowing today as it’s dry and sunny (apparently the next 7 days look a bit damp – again!) Happy new year, Naomi – wishing you all the best and maybe meet for a coffee at one of the RHS London shows? Caro x
Hi Caro, Happy New Year-sorry to add more temptation! Yes, would be lovely to meet up at one of the RHS London shows. Next one surprisingly soon-only 6 weeks away, towards the end of Feb!
Just looked on the Pictorial Meadows website-lots of exciting poppy mixtures to mark 100th year since the start of WW1. Definitely on this year’s list too now!- although the list is already far too wayward and out of control!! N x
Happy New Year to you!
I love the Chiltern catalogue, as they offer so much choice and variety and manage to keep prices down. I have been browsing mine too !
Hi Jane, It’s such a good read. Even though I can use my phone, I often take this slender volume with me to give more info on plants when visiting gardens. It’s such a comprehensive tome! Hope you have a great growing year ahead!