Garden And Gardener

Everything for the Gardener and their Garden

New products at Blooming Direct

by John - April 1st, 2015.
Filed under: Blooming Direct, New Products.

Blooming Direct just added these new items

Trailing Petunia 'Double Cascade' mix 24 plug

Trailing Petunia ‘Double Cascade’ mix 24 plug £16.99
The gorgeous double ruffle flowered Petunia Cascade mix has beautiful, almost carnation-like flowers, in a soft pastel mix of blues, pinks, whites and shades in between. Raised from seed, these offer a better value solution than their cutting raised Tumbelina equivalents at almost half the cost, yet they perform very nearly as well too. Great massed together in large pots, or planters, or even on top of hanging baskets, they will gently trail over the edge, bearing their flowers from June until the first frosts of Autumn. Grow in full sun, feed and water well in July & August, they need some dead-heading to prolong displays. Petunia Cascade mix really is a great value Summer good-doer, and one for the short list for easy gardening.

Patio Tomato Plant collection x 6 plugs

Patio Tomato Plant collection x 6 plugs £9.99
These three tomatoes are all naturally bushy in habit and are much more manageable and easy to grow in pots and patio containers. All you need to do is plant, feed and wait for them to produce masses of tasty fruits. You can even grow tomatoes if you don’t have a garden! You’ll get two each of the following: Sweet and Neat Lemon Sherbet – small in size but big on taste this great tomato only grows to just over a for yet is smothered in bright yellow cherry sized fruits. Perfect on the kitchen windowsill. Topsy Tom – an exceptional tomato that will perform in the garden whatever the weather throws at it! In trials outdoors in recent years it threw trusses of the sweetest red cherry fruits over the whole summer. Tumbling Tigress – has a neat yet trailing habit so is a perfect plant for a hanging basket, tumbling over the sides yet not becoming too straggly. This is a mini plum type and has lovely red fruits that are striped green and dark red inside. Sharp and sweet to taste

Complete Chilli Pepper Plant collection x 6 plugs

Complete Chilli Pepper Plant collection x 6 plugs £9.99
Chillis come in many shapes, sizes and colours – they’re great fun to grow as well as being a key ingredient in the spicy foods enjoyed by many these days. Best grown in pots they need some warmth to do really well and a conservatory, greenhouse or sunny windowsill is an ideal place. In the warmth of summer they can also be grown on a sunny patio where the differing fruit provide a great garden feature. We’ve chosen six different types for you – they’ll give different levels of heat and taste different too. There’s something for all tastes in our collection. You’ll receive one each of the following: Apache – perfect for a windowsill as it grows into a bushy plant of about 18in. Ripens red with slender blunt fruit. Hot – great in spicy stir fries. Hot Banana – gives 12cm yellow fruits when ripe on 35cm plants. Just medium in heat and a perfect pepper to stuff. Chenzo – a real humdinger to grow giving masses of almost black chillies which crowd under branches to spectacular effect. Medium hot. Grows to 60cm. Good In a mixed planter. La Bomba – a jalapeno type that can be eaten when green or when ripe and red. Medium hot. Great on pizzas. Height 70cm. Loco – compact 60cm plants with a heavy crop of dark purple oval fruit Medium hot. Has a spreading habit and makes a highly unusual basket plant. Scotch Bonnet – watch out for this one – it’s very hot with a fruity taste so just a little will really pep up Mexican and Indian dishes. Best grown indoors as it enjoys extra warmth. Deep red when ripe. Grows to 65cm.

Complete Tomato Plant collection x 6 plugs

Complete Tomato Plant collection x 6 plugs £9.99
Pick a plentiful supply of the sweetest tomatoes from your garden this summer with these tasty tomato plants. Chosen for flavour, your collection contains three classic vine or indeterminate tomatoes that are perfect for growing in your greenhouse or a warm sheltered spot outside. Growing vigorously upwards these varieties s will soon need some support from strings or canes and most of the side-shoots that readily appear will need removing. Shirley – one of the best hybrid tomatoes there is. It’s short jointed so gives lots of trusses of traditionally sized sweet fruits. It’s very early so you’ll have an even longer picking season. Supersteak – a great candidate for the ‘largest tomato’ competitions as it gives ‘beefsteak’ fruits up to 500g each! They’re still very tasty and are lovely stuffed and baked or sliced in salads. Supersweet 100 – you’ll get hundreds of cherry tomatoes from this one and each one is a taste explosion! Scientific taste tests give it a ‘ brix’ score of 10+ meaning to us that it’s one of the sweetest of all.

Pumpkin 'Paintball' x 3 plug plants

Pumpkin ‘Paintball’ x 3 plug plants £4.99
Now it’s easy to grow your own pumpkins for Halloween and enjoy delicious pumpkin pies and soups too! ‘Paintball’ is a semi bush type that needs little space to grow so can be grown in containers or in the garden soil. It gives a good yield of deep orange smooth skinned fruits which ripen in the autumn – you can expect about 3 fruits per plant but if you want an extra-large one you can remove some to leave just one on the plant.

Sweet Pepper 'Redskin x 3 plug plants

Sweet Pepper ‘Redskin x 3 plug plants £4.99
A dwarf bell pepper that’s easy to grow and very early to crop giving a plentiful crop of 10cm fruits. As it only grows to about 40cm its very good for pot and fruits heavily. A sweet and juicy pepper that is lovely in salads or stuffed and baked.

Butternut Squash 'Hunter' x 3 plug plants

Butternut Squash ‘Hunter’ x 3 plug plants £4.99
The ‘butternuts’ you see in supermarkets come from around the world but this one is British bred especially to suit our climate. It’s easy to get 3 or four good sized squashes from each plant and the fruits will store in good condition until after Christmas if kept cool and dry. Grow in the garden in a sunny spot as you would courgettes or marrows. Each plant will need a clear space of about five feet as fruiting takes place on runners. As the fruits ripen they can be placed on an upturned small tray which helps ripening and prevents rots in wet weather.

Cucumber 'Tasty Green' x 3 plug plants

Cucumber ‘Tasty Green’ x 3 plug plants £4.99
Although it grows well in a greenhouse this is a cucumber you can easily grow outdoors giving a good crop of sweet tasty dark green fruits which have no bitterness. Grow in a large pot with canes to support. To get the best crops pinch the tips of the side shoots off once two or three leaves have formed. Pick the fruits when they are about 9in (20cm).

Courgette 'Midnight' x 3 plug plants

Courgette ‘Midnight’ x 3 plug plants £4.99
This heavy cropping green courgette is very easy to grow and a pleasure to pick as the plants are completely spine free. Plant outside in a sunny spot when all frost risk is over and allow at least 2ft between plants. Once the fruits start forming they’ll come thick and fast and need picking when young as then they are at their best. This is a great plant for containers as it is neat and compact throughout