Chairman’s Chit Chat December 2025
Seeds of my favourite spring/summer flower, sweet peas, were sown in late autumn.
I suppose they are my favourite flower because they invoke happy childhood memories.
My paternal Grandad always grew a row of sweet peas by the backdoor of their property, so that my Grandma could enjoy the heady scent of them each time she left or entered the house. A lovely thought.
Ever since I have had an allotment, I have grown sweet peas.
Two different varieties of Spencer types are grown each year to ring the changes with the colour choice but one thing remains constant – they MUST be highly scented.
They are grown on the single cordon system.
Removing the side shoots and tying in the single stem to the cane every three or four days is a bit of a faff but it is well worth the effort to get those exhibition quality blooms. The top growers and show men will grow 100 plants to stage a vase of seven blooms at the annual National Sweet Pea Society Show. I am not in that league – a mere 40 plants, 20 of each variety, is enough for a continuous supply of cut flowers for many weeks.
Happy days.
Oh, by the way, chryanths are my favourite autumn flower.
You win a few, you lose a few – that is the nature of gardening.
My number one loser this year is sprouts. This is a real shame because all members of the Whiteman clan go crazy for this winter vegetable. From 20 plants this year, the harvest has been nil – yes, nil.
I have been unable to harvest a single meal.
The poor wizened specimens have been chopped up and added to the compost bin.
This is entirely the result of the long hot summer and the consequent explosion of the whitefly population.
My theory is that covering the plants with Enviromesh to protect them from marauding pigeons exacerbated the issues, depriving the plants of the little rainfall we had and providing the ideal conditions for the whitefly to thrive and multiply. Next year I am going to try something different. I am not going to smother the plants with Enviromesh but use a product I heard about called “Grazers.” A quick search on the internet found the following:
“Grazers is a line of liquid plant protector products which use calcium and plant extracts to make plants unappealing to grazing pests like rabbits, deer, pigeons and slugs. They are applied as a spray and work by strengthening the plant, encouraging pests to seek food elsewhere, rather than killing them. The products are safe for humans, pets and wildlife.”
Anything is worth a try to get the family’s fix of sprouts.
Watch this space, but until then I wish you and yours a sproutful Christmas.
