Gardening 2026

Not absolutely sure it needs a new thread every year but it's sort of traditional.

Just back from a week away and kind of convinced myself that various things on windowsills would have germinated and/or look happy but of course they haven't. In fact, the sweet peas on the garage windowsill have been decimated, presumably by rodents.

Have a plant list - Santolina Etrusca, Phlomis - Edward Bowles, Patrinia Scabiosifolia, Asphodeline Lutea - that I'd kind of wanted to pick up on holiday [UK] but didn't.

I have just got an allotment and put my back out buying a shed for it, so bookmarked

Very bummed to not be gardening this year. Every year it feels like it hits harder that I'm wasting time NOT growing things. I'm gonna throw some grow bags on my fire escape this year but not til it's reliably warmer.

I did rescue 4 free hellebores that I'm sheltering in our foyer until the ground thaws. Might be able to plant those tomorrow and have flowers soon!

tidied the balcony last week, was warm enough to stand out on it for an hour or two. it's tiny but has wooden decking from the previous owner which i need to sand and varnish when the weather improves.

have a decent plan for veg/herbs now but considering what i'll do with the main concrete planter (it's a nice feature of the balconies that they all have a large one of these built into the concrete). another thing i find tricky when it comes to flowers is how to fill a given space, like some stuff grows taller or is a single stem, other things are more like bunches. lol i know how basic my attempt to explain this sounds.

i guess buying plants in person it's easy to see the spread/size of something but buying seeds it feels harder. i sort of want the concrete planter to be full of nice colourful flowers that spread evenly. a mix of them would be brilliant but i would also be cool with one nicely flowering plant. last year i just kind of bought loads of nursery plants and put them in there, and it was a bit of a mish mash but p nice in the end. this year i will try to make it a bit neater, but a certain amount of trial and error is perhaps inevitable.

Thank you for this thread djh!

Nasturtiums can be good for filling up a planter plus you can eat them. Begonias work too.

I just ordered a bunch of seeds - typical mix of tomatoes, courgette, lettuce etc. I now have a greenhouse so can start them in there. Maybe keep em in there too, who knows?

I have two dwarf peach trees that are already flowering in the greenhouse. Crazy stuff. I didn't get many fruits out of them last year but that's mainly (I think) because I didn't realise I should hand-pollinate to help them along, particularly as they're in the greenhouse and won't get as many, if any, wandering bees etc.

For the first time I'm going to try to grow a purely decorative bush, in a shady corner where nothing has ever really grown, certainly not vegetables. It gets a little waterlogged, is north facing, not great. I'm going to try two different "Euonymus fortunei" bushes. I'm hoping they essentially anchor that dark corner and don't spread too much. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/96928/euonymus-fortunei-emerald-n-gold-(v)/details

They need to be "well drained" so I'm (sigh) going to dig that corner up and add some sand to the mix before planting them in

Is there a way of figuring out what a tree is without its leaves? An app maybe? I have three trees on my space and I’m none the wiser what they are.

Nasturtiums can be good for filling up a planter plus you can eat them. Begonias work too.

i actually found some seeds sold as 'mixed balcony flowers' on chiltern seeds website. the user reviews were p good and they sound quite nice and varied all going well. will fill a box or two with those and see what happens.

What plants do you like, LocalGarda? And what part of the process do you like? I think, for a balcony and/or with limited space, there might be an argument for buying grown plants rather than having windowsills full of seedlings (unless you enjoy that bit - which I do).

I'm with Tracer Hand in that I'd almost always have some nasturtiums. Might be worth ordering the Chilterns Seeds catalogue which is kind of plant porn?

(Written before reading your last post but posting anyway).

I have quite enjoyed watching seeds grow when I've done it, like with chard last year, so I'll prob do a little more of that this time around.

As regards what plants I like I can see loads I think are nice or look nice, but last year with the concrete planter they didn't all necessarily look good in the one box, it was a bit messy. Still nice though. I like colourful plants I guess for summer. I see a lot of window boxes when out and about that look like a nice mix of some colourful plants and greener things. The selection online is kind of intimidating in a way, like it's hard to plot out a combo of stuff in a planter based on photos of each flower? My experience is if I looked at A-Z of all the seeds available I'd have seen about ten that seem nice before I get past A. And not because I don't really care just like, I'm not too discriminating about colourful flowers.

A catalogue on paper might make it easier, the websites are a bit much.

They need to be "well drained" so I'm (sigh) going to dig that corner up and add some sand to the mix before planting them in

Euonymus fortunei is very invasive in the eastern usa, definitely grows in high-clay soils, weird to think that it could be picky like that!

haha i put some ivy in to cover an old brick wall and my mom couldn’t believe it she’s like “you’re PLANTING ivy??”

maybe it’ll be fine in that soil with my doing anything to it idk all i know is that it basically never dries out

Is there a way of figuring out what a tree is without its leaves? An app maybe? I have three trees on my space and I’m none the wiser what they are.

― a hoy hoy, Sunday, March 8, 2026 9:03 AM (three hours ago)

people can do a lot of identification from buds, leaf scars, bark, etc., but it's definitely harder. the inaturalist seek app might be helpful. i think it doesn't require an account--you can just point it at a thing and it will do its best to identify it. also this exists: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/tree-id-app/

Today sowed tomato and pepper seeds (indoors), chard and beetroot (outdoors). This time of year I always get a rush of optimism, every seed will grow, it's all going to look the way I imagine! Reality is for later.

Thanks circlez

There’s a new gardening programme coming to Netflix. I’m not entirely sure I’ll like it but there’s only an hour a week of Gardener’s World so I’m sure I’ll find space.Beechgrove also back on 2 April.

A couple of my clients have been very generous with self-seeded offspring, so I’ve gained a Nandina domestica, a chunk of Cyclamen hederifolium and three Hellebore argutifolia for the raised beds surrounding the square of plastic grass behind my rented house. I also finally planted my muscari, daffodils, Iris reticulata and tulips! God knows when they’ll flower, but at least they are in the ground. I stuck them in the fridge for a few days first to give them a fake winter.

Forgot the link to the trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32kQ9Niy7EA

_Is there a way of figuring out what a tree is without its leaves? An app maybe? I have three trees on my space and I’m none the wiser what they are.

― a hoy hoy, Sunday, March 8, 2026 9:03 AM (three hours ago)_

For plant identification in general, I have the paid version of Picture This and it gets it right 99.999% of the time these days. But I haven’t tested it on leafless trees. At college the worst ident test we had was ‘stick week’, a dozen twigs you had to be able to name in Latin. Shudders.

Here, have Asphodeline Lutea and Patrinia Scabiosifolia to get outside. Tulips are tantalisingly close to flowering. Have been growing things - cardoons, squash, some flowers - on the great, sunny work windowsill, which makes the office seem nicer.

i had my two biggest trees taken down so my garden would get better light. now i just have to make sure my fencing is 8 feet or higher to keep the deer out.

also, if anyone is growing mara des bois strawberries and have some small suckers to mail, let me know!

Initially, djh, I read your post and thought you must have an absolutely massive windowsill if you can grow cardoons and squash on it!

Tomorrow I put a shed together. Wish me luck.

I’ve put a few up for people and it always takes way longer than you think it will so my advice would be to start as early as you can, just so you don’t end up trying to finish it in the dark. And if you haven’t got a cordless screwdriver, go and buy yourself one today :)

The Plantnet app will do tree identification from a picture of the bark

The big garden project I'm planning this year is digging a wildlife pond

Have messed about with container ponds before with mixed results so excited to try something on a slightly larger scale

Ooh nice, how big are you going for?

this is the question...

I don't have a massive garden so trying to figure out how big/small I can get away with

Realistically, it's probably going to be around 4m²

The bigger the better I reckon! I was in a garden this week, typical longish London garden, and about the bottom third was entirely water, with a decking walkway and seating area. I’d never have thought of going so big, but it was a gorgeous little haven and hopping with wildlife.

do leave space for walking round the edge though and also space for planting round the sides, cos the dangly foliage will help hide the top of the liner as the water level drops and it'll also provide cover for amphibians etc. i built one for a client last year and it was one of the most rewarding things i've done, love going back and seeing it develop. other features i included were a little gravel beach so that hedgehogs etc could access the water safely; an adjacent bog garden which acts as a soakaway for excess water but also great habitat and you can grow a lot of plants there that you simply can't grow anywhere else (it's also in a shadier spot which isn't so great for ponds anyway and that also stops it drtying out too much in the summer); and, most importantly, a nice bench - there's nothing better than just sitting there looking at all the activity going on, especially if you need a calm space to retreat to. lots of pond skaters, water boatmen, dragonflies, frogs and newts there. due to go back there this week, i'll try and take some photos.

sounds lovely Nick

yeah, I have a spot reserved for a bench and planning to incorporate a gravel beach too

I'm in a mid-terrace house with walls all around so I'd be shocked if any frogs or newts find their way to it but nature always surprises

still mulling over the precise planting scheme around it but I do want to get some purple loosestrife and meadowsweet in there. Maybe things like cuckoo flower and ragged robin closer to the pond

all great choices, purple loosestrife especially is a magnet for bees and butterflies

other plants we included were meadowsweet, tiarella, astilbe, candelabra primroses, alchemilla, and also some grasses and sedges. the customer also wanted marsh marigold which can take over a bit but does look lovely. the only failure were the hostas that they also insisted on but they got murked by the slugs within a couple of weeks

Yeah the only place for hostas is on an island in the middle of the pond.

NN, do you know anyone else with a pond who might donate a jam jar full of tadpoles?

I don't, as it happens

but I'm happy enough to see what turns up without my direct intervention

previously I've had huge success breeding mosquito larvae (as well as pond snails and slaters)

welcome to malaria mansions! a healthy ecosystem should reduce that issue in the long term i think

at the risk of overstretching myself, i went and looked at another allotment today. have already got one plot, but that's a little too far away for my liking, so i don't get there as often as i should and consequently it just has boring low maintenance stuff on it like potatoes, onions, brassicas, fruit trees, raspberries etc. the new one is only a ten minute walk away from home, it's one that some friends are having to give up for personal reasons and they want someone they trust to carry on from them. got a great view, a nice seated area round a firepit and also a pretty good sized polytunnel. sorely tempted!

one bad creepy thing though - it's the same site as where they found the baby in the constance marten case :/

I day dream about going here: https://www.gardensillustrated.com/gardens/country/swimming-pond-stay-tomson (It's easy to find on AirBnB).

That said, I bought some pond plants from the local garden centre and grew them in the plastic container that I took them home in and a toad moved in fair quickly (and the cat seems to like drinking the water more than any other).

It might not be true but I get the impression that the owner is quite into the learning from it and might share successes.

x-post - hadn't read all the preceding messages. That's grim, NickB, but, also, it sounds like a positive thing to take up.

that does indeed look like a lovely garden

Spent the weekend mostly not gardening but sitting in the garden and enjoying it. Lots happening all of a sudden.

^ What gardens are for, really.

Can't remember on which threads we've had discussions about this before but is a guided tour of Knepp's walled garden for £45 money well spent?

Who’s doing the tour?

If you get the May Gardener’s World (available now in all good newsagents) the Knepp walled garden is on the list for the 2-for-1 card that comes with it.

I think - and it's possible that I'm being an idiot - on the day I'm nearby, the only option is a guided tour.

well, after a few false starts - one of which entailed me filling in the entire excavation and starting again - the pond is complete. Pretty happy with it, although it obviously needs a lot more planting both in and around the pond

https://i.ibb.co/8gKRM3h8/20260426-114851.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/qYM8qC7B/20260503-142216.jpg

The birds have already flocked to it, and I spotted our local fox drinking from it the other night too

oh shit! that is gonna be so nice once it grows in

That looks awesome!

Those bulbs I planted back in mid-March are all up, though only the tulips (‘Lady Jane’) are flowering. But at least the others will photosynthesise and put on a good show next spring. We have a lot of sun and I cook with a lot of Mediterranean herbs so I went out and spent £12 on some thyme, bay, sage and prostratus rosemary for a pot by the front door. The nursery was hopping with bank holiday shoppers, and they got a fresh delivery yesterday so they’ll make a fortune this weekend.

On the off chance anyone is going to Chelsea on the Wednesday this year, I’m working for a nursery showing off their prize delphiniums in the marquee that day.

That sounds awesome, DJH.

I continue to inherit plants from lovely clients - three Ipomoeias (colour unspecified) this week. They’ll help cover the landlord’s horrible dark grey fence. Hoping they match the colour scheme - it’s such a small garden (5x5m) so I’m trying my hardest to keep to white, lime green and purply blue. That pretty much means the usual suspects like hardy geraniums, perovskia, lavender and cosmos. Stuff I won’t worry about leaving behind as and when we move again. I got some free Coleus argentatus cuttings too, the only Coleus I like (actually I love it).

The weather is being a right pita though - I was meant to clip a load of box tomorrow but the edges will crisp up in the heat so I need to delay that job for the second time already this year. And I’m not working past 11am in case I pass out, which means less ££ boo. But honestly, this heat can do one.

I'm still working in the heat, but moving very slowly, just like a slug. A very crispy shrivelled up slug. My polytunnel is starting to bulge at the seams with plants I've propagated to plant out in clients gardens, don't really want to risk that in this weather though. Lots of cosmos and colour for the second half of the summer. Got a huge amount of Echium pininana too, like 60 decent sized plants, be a nice surprise for people when they eventually flower

I planted out three plants the other evening and pretty much needed a lie down afterwards ...

I was pulling up some mare's tail that has completely taken over one of our beds, but then I saw a frog hiding in it, and it was indeed nice and cool and damp at the bottom of the stems of mare's tail, so now I've decided to just embrace it for the sake of my precious garden frogs. The fact that this is one less job for me to do in the garden in the summer does not enter into my thinking at all, no ma'am.

The right way to garden, trishyb.

I'm intrigued: does any one try/manage not to water (outside of the obvious things like seedlings, things newly in the ground and things in pots)?

In one of the gardens I look after, I only water newly planted stuff and the raised beds, which are next to a fence so don’t catch the rain. I chose the plants though, so only went with stuff I knew could survive. The other gardens I do were designed/established decades ago and the plant choices are from a time of drizzly summers so they do need water (or ripping out and starting again, which won’t happen).

My garden is mostly chosen for things that ought to survive (veg and stuff that is newly in the ground, aside) but it definitely all looks like it could do with a rain.

Yeah, things usually start to look a bit crispy in August but this year that horrible ‘dead garden’ look is about six weeks early. So many wilting hydrangeas in south London.

Completely unrelated but… I really struggle to communicate to clients “your shrub hasn’t been properly pruned for years (by you or your previous gardener, please don’t be offended) and is full of dead, diseased and damaged stuff. When I remove all that, it’s likely the plant will look pretty bad but honestly, it’s for the best as the extra light will mean it bushes right out and gives you a ton more flowers than you’re used to in future. And in years to come, it will look much nicer after I’ve pruned it. Please trust me.”

I can understand some trepidation about pruning - less so when things are obviously diseased or dead - but it seems odd not to accept the advice of someone you are paying to garden and/or who is "expert".

I think it’s about the attachment people feel for their gardens. At one place there a a decorator painting the whole exterior of the house while I’m also there - they just let him get in with it, and they never ask if he’d like to use their tools either (er no thanks, mine are sharp and clean, are yours?)

That makes sense (and I can imagine that's fucking frustrating).

I’m not in such bad humour today because today’s clients, who I’ve been with for over a year now, are lovely. This summer they have grapes, plums, a wisteria that is putting on growth at last and an acer which is no longer a stick in a tiny pot, but a happy, branching tree. And I have a day off tomorrow, hurrah.

A photo of Verbascum Olympicum (I think) on Great Dixter's Instagram was making me chuckle - Dixters look glorious; mine have taken a hammering and there's barely a flower left.

A practical question: curry plant, cola plant (artemesia) and santolina all looking raggedy.

I'd regret cutting them back hard, wouldn't I?

Mind you I don't have experience with curry or santolina directly, but from dealing with other woody shrubs and bushing type herbs like lavender, catmint/nepata (all mints, actually), oregano, marjoram, sage, etc, I would guess that cutting them back is actually the right thing to do? Gives them a chance to regrow healthier stems, just look for places on the old woody stems that buds could come from and cut above those.

I’ve seen an awful lot of scrubby looking curry plants this year. A bit surprising, as I always thought they did well in hot, dry weather. I wouldn’t cut anything back hard right now but later, yes, once it is cooler and after they’re done flowering. Agree that it’s fine if you cut above the lowest leaves on the stem. Lavender can sometimes resprout from a stump if you’re feeling daring.

Pondering my gardening "fails" this year and some of the unplanned gaps in the garden. Definitely didn't manage to grow as much as I meant/hoped to - lots of seeds not really germinating and/or doing much (possibly peat-free compost, maybe the weather?) A couple of giant fennels failed to do much, too. Biggest mistake has probably been buying things on a whim (and generally buying one only), without properly thinking about where they'll go or their impact... and them ending up a bit pointless. Have occasionally had to remind myself "It's a process!"

a lot of my stuff has struggled in weather over 30C. the chard came back but not the coriander.

It’s a really, really hard year. But good for figuring out what definitely not to plant next year. I’m going back to my old trick of putting a bucket under the shower while it heats up, and using what I collect on the garden.

DJH I find peat free compost way too chunky for germinating seeds. Too many air gaps and then the chunks can also get in the way of the growing seedling and make it crooked. If I could get hold of leaf mould I’d use that, but most of the time I fork out for proper seed compost because it’s much finer and low in nutrients. I do think a lot of special types of compost are bullshit but seed compost and John Innes 3 (for plants staying in the same pot long term) are the two I think are worth it.

I’m in south west France at the moment, about three hours’ drive from the wildfires, and everything is completely frazzled. It’s really scary, you can see how easy it would be for a fire to catch round here too. There was a dead mole in the garden :(

We finally had a day of rain this week but with it came a load of particulates from the wildfires and a warning to keep all the windows closed, and go out as little as possible. And today it’s going to be 37C again. Even stuff like the rosemary and lavender are suffering, though the roses seem fine.

Yeah, have been collecting shower water and strangely enjoying the luxury of some full watering cans that I might otherwise not have.

Thanks for the compost advice - had kept meaning to try the Rocket Gro Seed Compost - not sure why I didn't get around to it.

A day off work and looking at the garden - echinops look "happiest" of the never watered plants, tall rudbeckias also magnificent (some of the smaller ones wither without a water). Helianthus Lemon Queen also looking great.

The fires are scary.

Echinops are among my top faves so it’s great they are doing well this year. Definitely on the When I Get My Own Garden list.

The lower rungs of my Ipomoeas were eaten by caterpillars, the mid rungs were torn to shreds by sparrows trying to get at the caterpillars. The top rungs are doing fine, big juicy leaves and all that.

My new favorite climber is Jiaogulan. It grows shoots at a right angle, and roots immediately wherever it touches earth. Supposedly it's also healthy to eat, idk.

Ugh my cosmos are dying. They’re in raised beds which I don’t want to water more than once a week, and they can’t cope with the heat. At least it’s an excuse to go shopping for something to replace them.

My Ipomoeas are mercifully pest free and came into flower this week! I don’t know the variety but they are really dark purply blacky blue. Stunners.

I was away for two or three weeks during the heatwave and despite a friend coming in to water, there was no way he could ever reasonably have come in the amount of times needed. Got back to a lot of dead plants. My holidays are not planned too far in advance as a contractor so this is a challenge. Tho a few things have come back to life with daily watering.

Sorry to hear about the destruction, LocalGarda.

I must admit that I identify with this: "At least it’s an excuse to go shopping for something to replace them." I confess to really wanting to "fill gaps" in the garden, which'd kind of be silly given the heat. The things that have excelled this year are both drought tolerant but also established last year not this one.

I wish I had a yard, I would try something like this. There's a vacant lot next door (I have the gate chained off from the public) but it's full of invasive black acacia trees

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/20/biodiversity-gardens-wildlife-lawns-grass-ecosystems-native-plants-america-aoe

Had a read through this thread (as a self-check: "Am I repeating myself all the time?") and thought "I've really enjoyed posting but, more, hearing from others, this year." And I want an update on the pond!

Lots of the garden looks a bit pallid/jaded. I've thought about hacking back some of the echinops (which have been magnificent at points) to create some space and different views (I'd usually leave to self seed and for winter interest). I usually love eryngiums but they've looked tragic this year.

Have got some salad seeds in - winter leaves and rocket. Itching to buy/acquire more things but perhaps I shouldnt'

My tomatoes are stupendous. The heat has made this probably my best year ever. I have a 'black moon' plant which makes large cherry tomatoes which are green when immature, turn black - and then turn red! You can eat them when black for a tart taste, which is very nice, or wait until they're deep red for a sweeter taste

Honeysuckle growin up over the garden arch. IT'S HAPPENING

It's the first year where I've not thought "Well, this has probably cost me £3 per tomato."

I would also like a pond update!

Today I noticed some Japanese anemones with teeny cute flowers. They’re not meant to be like that - I planted them - so I’m guessing that’s another drought thing.

Thank you for your continued interest in the pond :)

https://i.postimg.cc/Y0Z350y9/20260907-132959.jpg

It's nicely established now and there's the beginnings of an ecosystem. There have been periods of cloudy water but once the oxygenating plants settled in it's cleared up nicely. First couple of months was just wave after wave of mosquito larvae (always the first to turn up in my experience) but they've settled down now and I've spotted plenty of diving beetles and some mayfly larvae (who are presumably snacking on the mosquitoes). There's also a shitload of pond snails, including one leviathan who occasionally rises from the depths in stately fashion.

It's also been a big hit with the garden birds - blue tits, robins, goldfinches and blackbirds bathing and drinking from it, magpies washing their food (which is fun to see), and fat woodpigeons just sitting in it and chilling. Even saw a goldcrest one day and they're normally pretty shy and retiring

But the highlight has been the couple of occasions when a dragonfly has turned up to use the perch i've provided

https://i.postimg.cc/rmhg9Q1d/20260706-134823.jpg

That update is everything I’d hoped for and more!

Couple of those dragonflies will solve the mosquito problem, I reckon. Although waiting for the pond life cycle to mature through waves of mosquitoes would break me.

Great stuff, Number None.

My tomatoes and peppers (all container-grown) have been middling this year, but holy shit has my (ground-planted and mostly ignored) passionfruit cranked them out. I keep handing bags of them to people while scratching my head over how expensive they are at the farmers market!

Anyone been to the Sheffield-based event Talking Plants? Hosted by Will Tomlin, Katy Merrington and Amy Langron. Seems to involve beers and talking about plants.

No but I really like what Katy Merrington does.

I stayed at Will's AirBnB (with lovely swimming pond) last week and he mentioned the night they curate together (and I also visited the Hepworth garden, though failed to say "Hello" to Katy).

I have to confess I thought "I wish there was a plants and wine evening near me".

(I don't really know what Katy Merrington *does* - I know she gardens but I get the impression that alongside that, there's a real public spiritedness that seems almost as essential.)

Here, giddy to find that a Giant Fennel has "come back" ... I know they're summer dormant but had assumed the plant had cooked to death, too.

Verbascum Olympicum still bringing me joy - flowers keep coming and they're very "insecty" plants - loved by a wren that spends a good while on them. All this accentuated by an exceptionally polite young bloke knocking on the door and asking if he could take some leaves (I think as a treatment for coughs).

common mullein is also called "cowboy toilet paper" although looking at the leaves I've always thought it a fairly hair-raising prospect

Yowch, I hadn’t heard that one before.

I’m on a train heading for a plant fair at Arnold Circus (https://www.arnoldcircus.co.uk/bio). It opened a couple of hours ago but I’m hoping they have some nice stuff left - my window boxes need refreshing, and my beds are looking a bit gappy from everything that died in the heat.

I'm intrigued: what are you tempted to add to the gaps?

Have got loads of seedlings in the garden but not sure what at this point - presumably lots of Verbascum and Euphorbias, I think some Nigella (despite having tried to limit their spread) and probably some random things I've thrown in when bored.

Just got 200 or so bulbs in the post, so looking forward to getting those planted

One of the more finicky garden tasks for me, but the results are always magic

I'm intrigued: what are you tempted to add to the gaps?

I’m starting to think about herbaceous perennials I can put in now and look forward to, I guess from late spring onwards. More Perovskia because that’s done really well everywhere. Not sure what else yet. I’ll try French lavender next year because my English Hidcote struggled in its full-south border, but I won’t plant those now because it might be a soggy winter.

In the end I bought perennial kale and Turkish rocket, both of which should do OK in my full-north bed, and they look tasty. Just need to keep the molluscs at bay.

Those perennial veg sound interesting. Have got one of these - https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/181608/chenopodium-giganteum-magentaspreen/details - but for some unfathomable reason never got around to eating. I say "have one" - there was an original plant, now gone - but now lots of seedlings in the garden (and the neighbour's garden).

Oh wow, bright magenta glittery leaves!

Happy to chuck some seedlings in the post. They'd survive 24 hours wouldn't they?

Was watching some of the old Nowness Great Gardens series earlier - I can watch the Prospect Cottage and Great Dixter ones on repeat - and played this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqFagTMLPv8.

Made me slightly hope that Dan Pearson might do a few years of presenting Gardeners World.