Deep orange squashes? Red sunflowers? It's time to cosy up and map out your ideal garden
One of my cosiest and happiest times of the year is when I am sitting comfortably with a heap of seed catalogues, gardening inside my mind. This year my mental garden is (as usual) a picture-perfect place, where plants have reached an exact and satisfactory stage of maturity, without interference from pest, disease or uncooperative weather.
In one corner is an enchanting late-summer picture of several deep-orange squashes, Uchiki Kuri (from Brown Envelope Seeds in Cork), nestling between steely clumps of the American blue stem grass, Andropogon scoparius 'Prairie Blues' (from Jelitto Perennial Seeds). In the background a lanky gathering of sunflowers smiles down; perhaps they are the dark-red 'Chianti' (Mr Fothergill's) or maybe just the classic yellow kind (widely available).
Gardeners have been making such pictures in their heads since man first carefully inserted a seed into the ground, several millennia ago. After the first few seasons of such dreaming, we cop on to ourselves and realise that many of our fantasies will never come true. Nature usually has other plans. But even if only 10 per cent of our horticultural dreamscapes come alive, they are worth it (and they keep us scanning the seed catalogues year after year). There is such a thrill when those tiny seeds progress to seedlings and plantlets, and finally take their place as part of a tapestry that you designed months - or years - earlier in your mind's eye.
The longer we garden, the better we get at fine-tuning our visions, so that they have a greater chance of working out. But you have to stick at it. Many potential gardeners just give up, because their first illusions turn to dust (or get eaten by slugs or attacked by wilt, or just mysteriously "up and die"). Which brings me to the gardeners of the next generation: children. If you want to raise young plantspeople, then it's important to ensure that their early forays into horticulture are resoundingly successful. Foolproof plants are essential.
Nasturtiums are probably the easiest of all flowering plants to grow from seed. Their seeds are large and easily planted, most pests steer clear of them and their flowers are big, bright and beloved of bees. Trailing varieties are the most dramatic, as they cover ground quickly, but the compact kinds are more suitable for containers or for smaller spaces. Seeds of both types are available in garden centres and hardware shops. Nasturtium petals are edible, and are invaluable for adding a flash of colour and fun to salads.
When you grow what you eat you can expand your range of food by planting things that are difficult to find fresh in the shops, such as purple sprouting broccoli, green beans and unusual salad leaves. And you can try curious and pretty varieties of otherwise everyday produce. Red-stemmed Swiss chard, for instance, is decorative both in the garden and on the plate. Chard is also found in multicoloured mixtures, where the ribs and veins range from white and pale yellow through gold and orange to ruby and shocking pink. These mixes are variously called Bright Lights (Mr Fothergill's, Suttons, Thompson & Morgan), Jacob's Coat (Simpson's Seeds) and Rainbow (the Organic Centre, Chiltern Seeds).
Some polychromatic carrots (white, yellow, orange and violet) could make interesting accompaniments: this year Mr Fothergill's offers a mixture called Harlequin, while Simpson's has, simply, Mixed Colours. Simpson's, if I may remind you again this year, is the best source for hot peppers: chilli heads will be spoilt for choice among the 72 varieties. Tomato lovers are well served too, with 85 seed selections. Certified organic growers (who are obliged to use organic seeds), meanwhile, need look no further than west Co Cork, and Madeline McKeever's Brown Envelope Seeds, which carries 32 cultivars.
As gardens get smaller, and as some homes have just a balcony or small patio, breeders are coming up with dwarf varieties of some vegetables. New from Mr Fothergill's is the fast-maturing pepper Sweet Red Baby, while
Thompson & Morgan proffers a climbing courgette, Black Forest. The dwarf runner bean, Hestia, with red-and-white flowers, is available from all the big companies, while Suttons also carries a white kind, Snow White. All of these could be grown on a sheltered sunny patio or, even, a balcony.
If you have only a container or two in which to grow food crops, then consider baby salad leaves. All the vegetable seed catalogues list mixtures that are suitable for "cut-and-come-again" crops (Thompson & Morgan, for instance, has 11 selections). And don't forget, if you have old seed packets of leafy crops (including lettuce, rocket, brassicas, spinach and chard), you can mix them together and sow. Even if only some germinate, you'll still have nutritious green stuff for your salad bowl - and you'll have used up those ends of packets.
A gardener needs more than physical sustenance, of course, and every year seed companies trip over themselves to recommend "new" ornamental plants. Mainstream catalogues usually get the introductions a year or two after the specialists - a situation that suits most gardeners just fine. However, serious plantspeople steal a march by ordering from Jelitto, the German perennial seed company, which is celebrating half a century in business. This year's new plants include a gorgeous sea lavender, Goniolimon collinum 'Sea Spray', from the Balkans, with glaucous leaves and sprays of white flowers; a dwarf columbine, "Aquilegia canadensis" 'Pink Lanterns'; and the tall (120cm) purply-red-flowered Agastache mexicana 'Sangria'.
Agastaches are fashionable perennials at the moment, and rightly so. Their spires of candy-coloured flowers attract many insects, and their upright stance looks just right in today's chic meadowy planting style. If sown early enough (February or March) they will flower in their first season. They are not long-lived, but you'll get two or three years out of them. Some gardeners hate when plants die off, leaving gaps in the border, but the rest of us just reach for the seed catalogues.
WHERE TO GET YOUR SEEDS
Brown Envelope SeedsArdagh, Church Cross, Skibbereen, Co Cork, 028-38184, www.brownenvelopeseeds.com
Chiltern SeedsBortree Stile, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 7PB, England, 00-44-1229-581137, www.chilternseeds.co.uk
Mr Fothergill'sSeeds are widely available. Distributed by Groundforce, Magna Drive, Magna Business Park, Citywest Road, Dublin 24, 01-4039960, www.fothergills.co.uk
Jelitto(minimum order €25) c/o Meadows (Fenton) Ltd, PO Box 78, St Ives, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE27 6ZA, England, 00-44-1480-463570, www.jelitto.com
The Organic CentreRossinver, Co Leitrim, 071-9854338, www.theorganiccentre.ie
Simpson's SeedsThe Walled Garden Nursery, Horningsham, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 7NQ, England, 00-44-1985-845004, www.simpsonsseeds.co.uk
Suttons SeedsWidely available. Distributed by Groundforce, Magna Drive, Magna Business Park, Citywest Road, Dublin 24, 01-4039960, www.suttons-seeds.co.uk
Thompson & MorganCatalogue available from Mr Middleton, 58 Mary Street, Dublin 1, 01-8731118, www.mrmiddleton.com