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Weekend work: Time to sow seeds of perennial plants, including aquilegias

 

Anna Pavord
Thursday 24 July 2014 15:53 BST
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Aquilegias germinate best if sown now in pots or boxes of damp compost standing in the shade
Aquilegias germinate best if sown now in pots or boxes of damp compost standing in the shade

WHAT TO DO

* Seeds of perennial plants will now be ripening fast. Some is best sown as soon as it is gathered. Aquilegias, for example, germinate best if sown now in pots or boxes of damp compost standing in the shade.

* Garlic can be lifted as soon as the tops begin to wither and onions turned down to help the bulbs ripen. Radish and lettuce will not germinate successfully if it is too hot and dry, but earlier sowings of the crunchy cos lettuce 'Romaine Ballon' (Mr Fothergills, £1.85) and the mildew-resistant butterhead 'Clarion' (Mr Fothergills, £1.69p) may still be providing salads.

WHAT TO SEE

* Garden designers Julian and Isabel Bannerman have left behind the superb garden they made at Hanham Court near Bristol to start on a new project at Trematon Castle, set on the estuary of the Lynher river in Cornwall. Expect a Pre-Raphaelite paradise with wild flowers, orchards and borders swoony with scent. Open Thursdays and Fridays (11am-4.30pm) until the end of July. Admission £5.

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