It was cloudy this morning, so I decided to plant out the larger seedlings – broccoli x 7 (at the west end of bed 3), flanders poppies (under the sunroom) and lupins (beside the garden shed).

For years I have wanted to have Himalayan poppies (Meconopsis sheldonii) in my garden. You can see why from the photo below – this is not my photo. I found it on the internet…

Today I sowed some seeds in pots (2-3 seeds per pot) made from recycled paper. When the seeds germinate and are ready for planting out, I can simply dig a hole and plant the pot as these poppies do not like having their roots disturbed. Apparently, they are slow to germinate and slow to grow – it may take a couple of years before they are ready to plant out. They like a lot of leaf mould and compost mixed into the soil when planted and pine bark mulch. They also like aerial watering every week over summer!

I also sowed the seeds taken from a VERY large pine cone. Husband wants to have these growing somewhere. These were planted in recycled paper pots also.