Flowers: Poppies, Sweetpeas & Sunflowers

I’ve never really bothered growing flowers much before but I think as I become less of a ‘traditional’ veg grower and learn more about the environment, permaculture and biodynmaics I am seeing growing food as a whole picture which includes the beauty and other benefits of plants that aren’t straight forward eatables. I still argue that vegetables can and do have their own special beauty but don’t feel so cheated by growing them amidst flowers and my view point that that’s not proper food growing has changed.

This year most of the flowers I have grown have been in the front garden from the packets of hoarded seeds I have scattered and I have been so pleased with the results;

Front garden blooms - 21st August 2011

The front patch of flowers has completely by accident mostly been red; red poppies, red sweetpeas and a mix of paler shades of pinks all set off by splashes of white and the striking yellow of the sunflowers.

Red field poppies - 20th August 2011Sweetpea wigwam - 20th August 2011Sunflowers and poppies - 20th August 2011

Sweetpea wigwam - 20th August 2011

 

First poppy of the year - 13th July 2011

Sweetpeas - 20th August 2011

There hasn’t really been any time for sitting and enjoying it this year but most of the flowers will have self seeded and I still have plenty of other packets of seeds tucked away awaiting daylight. I have plans on expanding on these as well with Calendula, Nasturtiums, many more Sunflowers, Lobelia, Poached Egg plant.

 

Inside I have already planted Crocuses, Dwarf Irises and Hyacinth bulbs so as the pots can be brought to my dad’s grave and inside when they are flowering.

Poppies cakes for a Poppy

Corn poppy getting ready to flower - 11th July 2011

It isn’t really surprising that given my name and the fact that most of my life is spent with my hands in some kind of dirt that many people give me packets of poppy seeds as gifts and I have quite a little collection. Mostly they just sit in my seed box as I don’t really have a use for them, with a few being sown here and there every so often.

Now I have a poppy plan though; after having a poppy seed and carrot muffin I want to grow and make my own. So out came the seed boxes and I have been through all of the poppy seeds I have, I mostly have lots of smaller headed poppies but there are a few ‘good ones*’ and I am not too late to sow some of them, including this one which actually talks about eating the seed heads in the description.  

Carrots don’t seem to be doing so well this year but there is still time for them too.

*If anyone has any large-headed poppies I can add to my collection they would be gratefully received

Seed Order

I’ve just placed an order for a load of seeds from ebay, all I was really after was some non-F1 sweetcorn seeds but I ended up buying a few more as well including bush runner beans, bush sweetpeas, stawberry seeds (never grown stawberries from seed) peppermint, borage (for bees, and I’m sure it can be used for something else as well but can’t remember right now) and Danish Flay Poppies which next to the sea poppies are my favourite.