Richard Jackson's Garden TSV Wednesday 04 March

[shushkin!]

My overwinterering sweet peas are looking ok in my cold greenhouse and I have
just sown some more and they are on a cool window cill. Surprisingly sweetpeas dont like too much heat at all. Too warm conditions will stop them germinating.
I have sown some hanging basket sweetpeas called sugar and spice and hope
they will be fab.
I am in the south of the country and will probably plant mine out at the end of March if the weather is not diabolical as it has been.

My favourite flowers are roses and sweetpeas and sadly they are not at all British
and actually originate in the Middle East!!

 

[Choppysocks]

I've just looked on the Hayloft website, thier sweetpeas are going for £12.95 for 5 plugs. They are a different variety though. Is this a good deal then (the TSV) bearing in mind the cost of baskets and sweetpeas?

 

[boffy]

good sweet peas from a good supplier will cost no more than say £3.
anyone can tell you how easy to germinate these seeds are.
cupid are t&m dwarf sweet peas and you can buy some lovely hanging baskets in the 99p shop.
mind you if your money is burning a hole in your pocket......

 

[Choppysocks]

good sweet peas from a good supplier will cost no more than say £3.
anyone can tell you how easy to germinate these seeds are.
cupid are t&m dwarf sweet peas and you can buy some lovely hanging baskets in the 99p shop.
mind you if your money is burning a hole in your pocket......

No I dont have money burning in my pocket which is why I asked if these were good value, I'm no gardener.

 

[boffy]

sweet peas are normally quite cheap to buy but the way qvc are flogging them its like they are selling a mature ,exotic shrub that will live for years.
sweet peas sold like this i dont feel are good value but your garden centre selling a good quality hanging basket with mixed vareity of plants that with care will last several months does.sweet peas are annuals they flower then die. sometimes they dont even flower if you dont get the sun.
qvc like to overhype a lot of stuff this being a case in question.

 

[Miriam]

I've ordered this. I think the baskets look really nice and I love sweetpeas! Love the scent. Just hope I manage not to kill them!

 

[rosey]

I ordered the sweet peas with the wig wam basket thingys last year and they were carp!!! The baskets were cheap and nasty and were rotting before the end of the season and the sweet peas never came that good. The thing with sweet peas is that you have to pick the flowers to make them grow more. If they are in baskets you need to leave flowers on to look good?

 

[BusyLizzie]

I love sweet peas and I love these baskets because of the butterflies. My late Mum adored butterflies and they would remind me so much of all our wonderful times together. However, I won't be buying because I think they are over-priced and the plants I've had from QVC in the past have not been very successful so I feel I would be wasting my money.

 

[Daisy L]

I agree, seems quite overpriced. I've never had any luck growing sweet peas, but I love them. I like fragrant flowers, my favourites are roses, lilly of the valley, lilac and violets. Last year I bought several sweet pea plants for about £3 from my local garden centre - and this garden centre is not cheap. They were supposed to cascade (dwarf variety), but instead they all got tangled up, didn't flower much, got yellowy.

I think I have more luck growing tomatoes and cucumbers.

 

[Toadette]

I went for these, we dont have any hanging baskets and i thought these looked very pretty.

This is the first year we have ever bought any plants from QVC, I bought the 3 tree peonies which arrived at the weekend, the TSV before that arrived today, so hopefully i wont be disappointed with any of these.

My in laws used to have the flower towers and they always looked amazing.

 

[perdita]

I love sweet peas and I love these baskets because of the butterflies. My late Mum adored butterflies and they would remind me so much of all our wonderful times together. However, I won't be buying because I think they are over-priced and the plants I've had from QVC in the past have not been very successful so I feel I would be wasting my money.

I must admit, I thought of you when I saw the TSV, BL.

 

[BusyLizzie]

My in laws used to have the flower towers and they always looked amazing.

We have a long stretch of fencing in the back garden and I do six flower towers every year - they make such a difference with an abundance of colour.

 

[BusyLizzie]

I must admit, I thought of you when I saw the TSV, BL.

Bless you for that. I was half-tempted to go for them but then my sensible head kicked in and told me they were rather over-priced really. What's the betting the baskets will turn up elsewhere eventually anyway!

 

[boffy]

bought the tree peonys last year 3 in all and t&m gave me one as a gift.
been gardening for around 15 years now and reasonably experiened. gave my mum 2 kept 2
dont ask me where these tree peonies are havent a clue in peony heaven all four of them including my mums. she has been gardening for 60 years all in loves her gardening.
when qvc do the plant presentations they use mock ups a lot of the time. fake/silk plants to show us what they will look like when they flower.
the informative question is when they flower. if they even survive.

 

[Toadette]

We have a long stretch of fencing in the back garden and I do six flower towers every year - they make such a difference with an abundance of colour.

I didnt realise they were still around, ive not seen any for ages x

 

[marleybear]

I wish QVC would do smaller packs of bedding plants. i was interested in the 150 big flowered begonias that were on in the 5pm hour ( didn't watch cos Daniel was presenting :56 but I dont need 150.I'm sure they think we all live in stately homes!!

 

[Tricia ^^]

gawd elp me... I bought 2 one for me and one for my mum.... well at least her mothers day bouquet should last at least 3 months!!!

Why do I always get sucked in!!!

 

[calico]

I went for these, we dont have any hanging baskets and i thought these looked very pretty.

This is the first year we have ever bought any plants from QVC, I bought the 3 tree peonies which arrived at the weekend, the TSV before that arrived today, so hopefully i wont be disappointed with any of these.

My in laws used to have the flower towers and they always looked amazing.

Hi toadette, I've got the tree peonies too. We planted them up then heard we're due snow, so I hope they survive. I want an apple tree for some reason or maybe that mini-orchard they're selling over on IW. Ours is a pretty windswept garden and as I only moved here last May, I've no idea how things grow. It's fairly windy though, so I won't be buying anything delicate. Having said that, I've got QVC's jasmine plants coming soon, but they're pretty tough really. Fingers crossed!:1:

 

[Anne]

If any of you are near a Home Bargains they've got some lovely Alan Titchmarsh hanging baskets in for £1.99

 

[Julie]

Hi toadette, I've got the tree peonies too. We planted them up then heard we're due snow, so I hope they survive. I want an apple tree for some reason or maybe that mini-orchard they're selling over on IW. Ours is a pretty windswept garden and as I only moved here last May, I've no idea how things grow. It's fairly windy though, so I won't be buying anything delicate. Having said that, I've got QVC's jasmine plants coming soon, but they're pretty tough really. Fingers crossed!:1:

Tree Peonies are much more delicate for the first couple of years than herbaceous Peonies, they are particularly prone to wind burn, you might need to give them a helping hand for the first year or two.