Seeds from the Garden

Hand-harvested. Grown with care.

Hand-harvested in Wells, Somerset. Grown without chemicals. Each seed comes with everything I know about it.

Rudbeckia / Thunbergia

Black-Eyed Susan

Cheerful and sun-loving. From my front garden, June 2022 — getting on a little, so I recommend a germination test before committing a whole tray. Worth the gamble.

Harvested June 2022Test First

🌼

Cosmos bipinnatus

Cosmos Purity

Pure white, endlessly generous — flowers from midsummer until the first hard frost. From my own plants, September 2023, stored carefully ever since.

Harvested Sept 2023Cut Flower

🌺

Papaver — garden variety

Garden Poppy

Fresh from July 2025. I confess I cannot be certain whether they are red or blue — consider them a small seasonal surprise from my back garden.

Harvested July 2025Direct Sow

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Anethum graveolens

Giant Dill

From my front garden, harvested October 2022 at precisely 09:17 on a Tuesday. Tall, architectural, beloved by hoverflies. A germination test is advisable first.

Harvested Oct 2022Test First

🌱

Gladiolus — garden variety

Gladiolus

Most people grow gladioli from corms. Growing from seed is slower and all the more satisfying for it. Collected August 2025 — an experiment worth making.

Harvested Aug 2025Patient Grower

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Nigella damascena

Love-in-a-Mist

Blue-veiled and quietly extraordinary. Scatter them and let them find their way — they seed themselves with great generosity and ask very little in return.

Harvested Sept 2024Hardy Annual

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Lathyrus odoratus

Sweet Pea — Garden Mix

Sweet peas are grown almost entirely for fragrance and beauty — and both are reason enough. Save your own seed and they will slowly adapt to your soil and climate.

Harvested July 2025Direct Sow

💜

Verbena bonariensis

Verbena

Possibly the finest butterfly plant in the Somerset garden — from late spring until first frost. Tall, airy purple flowers that butterflies cannot resist.

Harvested Oct 2021Hardy Perennial

All seeds are grown without pesticides or artificial feeds in my Wells garden. Packets are small and honest — enough to get you started, not more than you need. Each one comes with a note about how the plant has behaved for me and what I've learned from it. The ones marked Test first are older seeds that I recommend germination-testing before sowing — place a few on damp kitchen paper in a warm spot and check after a week.

Hand-harvested. Grown with care.

Letters from the garden.