experiments with seeds

Better results with seeds is and always has been a major goal for me with gardening. Some have worked brilliantly and I have the resulting plants blooming in my garden, others have sunk into oblivion. I planted some sprouting broccoli seeds yesterday in different media to evaluate which is the best.

seeds sown in: on the left vermiculite, middle all-purpose compost, right perlite, all 3 say on the packages that they can be used on their own for sowing seeds

all 3 mixed together which I guess is the usual way to use them

the grown-from-seed lupins have been hit and miss, lupins are relatively easy to grow from seed but keeping them away from the slugs and snails is difficult, I put this one on this plant stand off the ground but the snails have still gotten to it, I removed 2 from the pot yesterday and the damage is visible

another lupin from one side, there are 3 flower spikes but the 2 on the right one is in front of another and make it look like only 2, the slugs and snails do not seem to have gotten to this one, which like the one above, is in a pot

those lupins from the other side

6 zantedeschia flowers and buds, it loves this hot weather

not a bad buy from B+Q (small plant for £2.50), Johnson's Blue hardy geranium, first 2 flowers and I see buds!

iris

anemone/ranunculus

I think this soft rush is fully in bloom now. This self-seeded in a (dry) pot last year. When I found out it was a water plant I put it in the water in this container (tin bath which I've used as a water feature).