DD - Flower seeds present

[vinoandbrie]

Hi there,

My DD(9) has asked for flower seeds for Christmas.

My issue is, I know nothing about flowers, or seeds, or getting them from seed state to flower state. Instinct tells me it’s the wrong time of year to be planting seeds however...

Is there anything I can do to get round this, can I buy seeds for her stocking and we plant them in spring, do they keep that long? Are there seeds I could buy that we could grow indoors?

I know this is very basic stuff, but I am ignorant when it comes to anything gardening related, but would like to encourage DD with her green fingered aspirations!

You could give her an amaryllis bulb or some hyacinth or narcissi bulbs as they will grow quite quickly and flower in spring. Lovely idea!

My DD was 9 last Christmas and had a very similar wish. I got her a great gardening planner which she used to plot her planting for the year. And I got her a watering can, gardening gloves, towel etc.
We've gone out every month to buy seeds/plants and she's gradually getting a fabulous little garden of her own.
She loved growing tomatoes, strawberries, herbs etc that she then cooks with.
I'll try to find the book and post a pic.

I would go for grape hyacinth bulbs and Forget-me-not and marigold seeds and perhaps nasturtium seeds. All pretty bomb proof but will give flowers, in succession until Autumn.

Yes, seeds will keep until spring. Make sure they stay dry until they are going to be planted.

seeded paper is pretty, you plant the whole thing.

This thread has brought a memory flooding back to me of getting forget-me-not seeds at a similar ager and loving watching them grow!!

Used to rush home from school to water them, take the pot outside for a few hours when it was sunny, then being amazed when actual flowers appeared!!

Based on pure nostalgia, get her forget-me-nots!

Just wanted to say what a lovely request! I know she wants flowers so you'd have to wait til spring but you could possibly try herbs from seed indoors on a window ledge.

www.seedball.co.uk/ These are fab and would make a good stocking filler

Amaryllis bulb would be good,they usually come with a pot and Potting compost and can be potted straight away. With care they go from year to year For a bit later in the year nasturtium, petunias, marigolds and sunflowers are usually fairly simple to grow. Àlso French beans or runner beans are usually Ok, if she likes to eat them.
French beans often don't need to grow up canes. My boys liked to grow carrots. With our rubbish ground it had to be the stumpy ones.
Many seeds go on for ages. I threw some old tomato seeds into a seed tray in the spring. Quite a lot as they were 4 or 5 years old. Got 19 plants..... tomato soup , sauce and chutney by the ton.

Sweet peas are quite good to get going on a window ledge before planting out - nice size of seed.

What a lovely idea for a gift!

To answer your question, seeds come with a best before date on the packet - usually at least a year. I would go to a garden centre and have a browse. You need something simple that you can sow directly into the garden if you don't have a greenhouse or propagator. The instructions will be on the packet. Most of the seed companies have easy/quick to grow kids' ranges that are fun, like strange shaped or unusually coloured vegetables, giant sunflowers, decorative gourds, pumpkins for Halloween, pretty, scented sweet peas, mimosa that is sensitive to touch, snapdragons... You can also get seed bombs (you throw them so they (gently) explode and spread the seeds). I think the company is called Kabloom. A hyacinth bulb and hyacinth glass might be interesting (you grow the bulb above water in the glass so you can see the roots). A Rose of Jericho resurrection plant could be fun too. They dehydrate, look dead, but come back to life in water. You can revive them again and again. Growing cress on blotting paper is another quick, fun project. If you start on Christmas day, you could be eating it in sandwiches on New Year's Eve.

You can get grow your own gardens for children my son had a dragon kingdom one. They decorate the container and signs and plant the seeds. Similar to these...

www.thetoyshop.com/outdoor-toys/garden-toys/Grow-and-Paint-Your-Own-Farmers-Garden/p/528387?gclid=Cj0KCQiA597fBRCzARIsAHWby0EiDnhIAT5rBeNANpt9OjbxZyC38B3HOnsemnPs-dg6tmFSrTXVR2UaAgXjEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

www.thetoyshop.com/outdoor-toys/garden-toys/Grow-and-Paint-Your-Own-Flower-Garden/p/528388?gclid=Cj0KCQiA597fBRCzARIsAHWby0GVX3mr7p7NbsgDzguVpy6NGB8bBAe6XLvEwl10yUDEkH9rlJzjjAgaAhTBEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

As an aside, my DM gave DS a Rose of Jericho when he was in reception. It still gets loaned to his old primary school every year (DM works there) and he is at uni!

Go onto a Gardening Website or Sutton seeds and you can catagorise the seeds into those that can be sown in January.

The smaller flowers are ideal for a windowsill propogator. You can buy whole kits. If you clink into the Info on the websites they will tell you how to grow the seeds.

You can get little propagator sets for growing all kids of plants indoors, dd has a fairy garden flower growing kit from Amazon and a few others. Seeds will last a while. What about a flower press? Then she can keep a scrap book of the different sorts she has grown?

Thank you very much indeed, great ideas and inspiration, I am looking into all these suggestions, and am now getting enthusiastic myself! Will certainly be getting her several bits and bobs for Christmas 😊