Views on this years Chelsea

I love it when villages open their gardens so you can visit several in one day.

I watched the first day at Chelsea this evening and Angelica Bell was talking to celebrities. I hadn't a clue who they all were.

 

@Busy-Lizzie I gave up watching the afternnoon show with Nikki Campbell some years ago tho i did give it another try when angelica bell joined her. Just the once tho. Still just so much fluff.

 

I found the afternoon shows rather irritating but the ones with Monty and Joe were a lot better and I definitely want some of those gorgeous purple poppies next year though I don’t do well with annual poppies so any tips anyone?

 

Those lovely purple poppies were "Lauren's Grape" @Debs64 .
I grew them a couple of years ago and they are really stunning colour. Easy to save the seeds if you keep a couple of the pepperpot seed heads and let them dry on the plant if possible.
I would sow direct where you want them to flower, but according to the Great Dixter website, you can sow in containers which might be easier to keep an eye on.

Great Dixter Seed- Papaver somniferum Lauren's Grape

Also some tips here on how to save poppy seeds.

 

I haven't watched very much at all, and probably won't get around to it, but if you mean annual purple poppies @Debs64 , I've grown Lauren's Grape which is very easy. They just need the same conditions as many poppies do - sunny site with free draining soil. I had them in my raised beds in the most southerly facing sites. They self seeded too, so I had quite a few clumps last year too, although I can't see anything this year.
The bees love them too

 

We posted at the same time @AnniD

 

Great minds @fairygirl .

 

Thank you both, I will buy 2 packets and try both methods. I adore poppies but only seem to do well with the perennials which have less of a colour range some of the annuals are exquisite.

 

Or fools seldom differ @AnniD
I think I sowed in pots and planted out @Debs64 . Direct sowing really doesn't work well here, although I may have sprinkled some right in against the wall where it's slightly drier. I can't remember - no surprise there!
The ones in those pix [taken last year, late June] were the self seeders though.

 

What do you think of the Cherry Chocolate Cosmos I think it’s not hardy but a perennial.looks short too.

 

I grow a "black" poppy similar to Laurens Grape, and I grow using the Dixter method, starting them in modular trays, thinning out to one plant per cell, then planting out when they fill a cell.

 

Well I just bought a pack of 500 seeds so hopefully some of those will germinate.
Does that work with poppies @Punkdoc i thought they hated root disturbance? Maybe another method for me to try.

 

I also have deep plum single annual poppies. When they set seed I scatter them around the areas where I want more. I also save seed in case one year none come up, but I sow direct. I've never had any luck with them in modules. Maybe I need deeper ones like the sweet pea modules.

I'm another who prefers the evening Chelsea TV coverage but I record or watch on catchup so I can fast-forward through most of the "celebrity" fluff in the afternoon shows (and some in the evenings). I'm up to Tuesday now, only a week behind! So far my favourite gardens are mostly ones that the judges didn't score highly. I particularly liked the planting in "The Bridgerton Garden"

 

Works for me, @Debs64, and as I mentioned is the chosen method at Dixter. I have lots of Pigeons round here, so if I sprinkle the seed, seedlings just get devoured. Using modular trays root disturbance is minimal.