Seeds to sow in April

Why not sow a few seeds? It’s worth the struggle through winter for the joy of sowing seeds, and watering plants in spring. Every morning I go into the greenhouse and spend much longer than I should in the delightful spring sunshine.

Pansy ‘Happy Memories’ from Suttons has already been sown, and I watch daily for signs of germination. The orange, brick red, cream and yellow flowers of this variety should liven up tubs and borders. Seed may be sown from February to April. Pansies are also sown in June and July for planting out in September and October.

Try also Viola ‘Little Rascals Mixed’ for lots of blooms all summer. Did you know that the little heartsease (Viola tricolor) has been used externally as a therapeutic herb for reducing inflammation and rashes?

Health foods

In these times of general concern about healthy foods, more people are growing salad and herb plants in small gardens – even in pots and tubs. Years ago I worked for Vitamins Ltd, where I learnt that a diet which contains plenty of vegetables is likely to keep you healthy.

I sow herbs every spring. ‘Green Velvet’ parsley is a great standby – packed full of vitamins. We are currently digging up our year old plants, which have served us well through winter. For a change, herb ‘Wild Rocket’ may be sown from spring until autumn. Leaves can be cut and eaten in sandwiches from about 40 days after sowing. And basil is the herb to grow for pasta sauces.

If you live in a flat, you may find there is space for a trough of lettuce on a balcony. The trick is not to sow your whole packet at once. Sow Lettuce ‘Rusty’, a small cos with a crunchy taste, from April to October. In a larger garden, try ‘Triumph’ - an iceberg type of lettuce that is resistant to lettuce root aphid.

Home-grown tomatoes are a wonderful source of vitamins. Plants sown in March or April will catch up with earlier indoor sown plants, in some years. ‘Moneymaker’ is an old reliable variety, or for a cherry type of tomato, go for ‘Sweet Million’ which performs well outdoors.

Long life

This year I am growing a long-life greenhouse variety called ‘Marian’. Unwins promise that end of season tomatoes, harvested when still green, will store and ripen until Christmas. The variety has been bred using conventional crossbreeding methods – rather than by means of genetical engineering.

Dobies are offering cucumber ‘Natsuhikari’, a new variety that can be cropped indoors and out. They advise April sowing for the greenhouse, or May for outdoors. Cucumbers have already germinated here, but we provide extra cover when frost is expected. Most years, we harvest more cucumbers that we can eat ourselves and give them to neighbours.

Young Vegetable Plants

Cabbages, carrots, parsnips and turnips can be sown directly into the garden this month. But seed firms also deliver young vegetable plants, just at the right size for transplanting. Brussels sprouts ‘Topline’, cabbage ‘Hispi’, and (new for 2002) leek ‘Autumn Poristo’ are just a few of the varieties being sent out as young plants.

Thompson & Morgan (Young Plants) have an array of flowers in their spring 2002 catalogue, including their prize-winning ‘Cherokee Sunset’ a rudbeckia that grew well here last year (despite receiving little pampering!) and the ever popular chocolate-scented, Cosmos atrosanguineus. Delivery of the latter continues until May.

Unwins Flowering Young Plants

Unwins Sweet Devon Violets and scented Devon pinks are easy to raise from plugs, if you lack the time to sow seed. They make excellent cut flowers. Delivery is mid-April to mid May.

Antirrhinums, geraniums, fuchsias, petunias, verbenas and other summer bedding plants can all be purchased as plug plants, ready to be popped into baskets and large containers.

More flowers from seed

The annual nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) may be sown outdoors in April. Virginia stock can also be sown where they are to flower.

Jiffy garden magic

Coir-7 Jiffy pellets make sowing seeds easier. Simply soak a pellet and when it has swollen to pot size, pop a seed into the dip in the centre of the pot-like shape. Roots grow through the net covering and seedlings can be potted on into hanging baskets, tubs or open ground - pot and all. There is no root disturbance. Magic Potting Discs are peat free discs that swell up, when watered, to fill six-inch containers – very useful for potting on young plants.