A Members' Posts

Free: Baby anthurium houseplants (Hatfield AL10) 1d - At least I think they're anthuriums! AKA "flamingo flower" apparently. Rooted cuttings taken last year from an original plant from my Gran, so variety unknown. Potted up some spares to give away (maybe not the ones in the photo but you get the idea). Grown for their bright red bracts/spathes that are produced through the year but mostly in the growing season. Seem tolerant of relatively low light and low humidity.

Free: Hardy geranium plants (Hatfield AL10) 2d - Pretty purplish blue flowers beloved of bees (and people). One of the most easy going flowers to grow. Variety unknown (to me) but this is one of the good ones which will flower in several flushes all through the growing season, starting around now. Each time it runs out of steam, cut it right down and it will make fresh new leaves and flowers. Fine in containers. Wants sun but will tolerate a bit of shade. Fine on my sticky wet clay. Not troubled by pests. Fully hardy herbaceous perennial (comes back from its roots every year). Makes a small mound/clump of leaves in the summer with stems. A good strong grower - the clump will slowly get larger and stronger but does not noticeably seed around. You can dig up the whole clump (as I did this spring) or take chunks out to divide up into new plants. I have a few to give away to different people. These are "hardy geraniums" aka cranesbills aka "blue geraniums" (even when they're not blue). NOT pelargoniums which are frost tender and are confusingly also called geraniums.

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Free: Tradescantia houseplants (Hatfield AL10) 8d - One for the inside gardeners. Tradescantia has other names including "purple heart" (probably because of the pretty purple back to the leaves) and "wandering dude" because it grows on long trailing stems. A kind freecycler gave me a lovely bundle of rooted tradescantia cuttings which I put in compost together and I'm now spliting up to pass on individually. They are lovely, but there's only so many tradescantias I can keep! They are tender perennial houseplants, very easy to grow and root very easily from cuttings. They have interesting variegated leaves, almost sparkly in the sun and contrasting purple backs. I think they cope quite well with relatively low light. People grow them as houseplants. You could probably put them outside in the summer, but they would definitely not survive the winter, so you would take them back inside in autumn. Or just keep them inside all year round.

Free: Basil plants (thai & sweet basil) (Hatfield AL10) 8d - Potting up some basil seedlings I end up with far too many. Some are ordinary "sweet" basil and some are Thai basil (variety Siam Queen) which has a more liquorice flavour - but you can use it in the same way. Thai basil has pretty pink/purple flowers if you let it (sorry I can't find photos) - better to eat the tops from time to time to keep it making leaves as long as you can, but eventually it will flower regardless. Basil likes strong sunlight and warmth, so probably keep inside in a bright kitchen window or conservatory. They're very happy outside in pots in summer, but in my experience get immediately eaten by slugs if I plant them in the ground so probably don't do that! These are only just potted up in fresh compost in individual pots, so you can just water them (and eat them) for a while. In some weeks they will outgrow their small pots and then you should pot them on. You can keep them going all summer, but they are tender annual so don't expect them to live forever.

Free: Pulmonaria seedlings (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 9d - Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive. It's heartbreaking to weed these up when they're in the wrong place. Can you help me save some from the compost heap? Seedlings: bring me seed/module trays to pot into and come back ~1 week later. Then you can take your time to plant them out. They should flower early next year, or this summer if you're lucky.

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Free: Sisyrinchium plants (Hatfield AL10) Promised 13d - Passing on these propagated from a plant a kind fellow freecycler gave me last year. Three sisyrinchium striatum plants potted up today - no rush to plant. Will probably give one each if there is enough interest. These are easy to grow perennial grass-like plants with pretty yellow flowers in about June. I think they want well drained soil and full sun but they are happy on my sticky clay in a little bit of shade. Fully hardy in UK.

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Free: Montbretia plants (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 15d - These hardy perennials have pretty orange flowers in mid summer and die back to the ground each winter, only to come back more vigorously every year. They like full sun and moist soil in the summer - very happy on wet clay - but will cope with anything except very dry or shady. (In full shade they probably won't die, but won't flower well and may flop over.) They grow from funny round pinky-orange-ish bulbs just under the soil surface and slowly spread under the ground. They are a little bit invasive as they're hard to fully dig out - because bits of bulb usually remain and they can get mixed up with other plants' roots etc - but they don't seed, so they don't move far from where you plant them and they spread fairly slowly. These are the plant commonly known as montbretia, not the plant commonly known as crocosmia (which is similar, but usually taller and a bit posher). I'm getting rid of this patch because it's in the wrong place and I had to dig up a very old and very dead hebe. If several people are interested I will split up what I've dug up so far (within reason). If possible, please bring a sack/bag/bucket/tray to collect with.

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Free: Aster / michaelmas daisy clumps (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 15d - I’m finding some small rooted michaelmas daisies still… Digging out some asters to give away, aka michaelmas daisies. Transplant well now. Will flower reliably in late August to early October - fluffy seed heads can be left to stand over winter. They ideally want full sun. Not fussy about soil type - grow well for me in sticky clay. Fully hardy perennial in the UK. Vigorous clumps will expand every year, but easy to dig chunks out if they outgrow the space.

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Free: Pulmonaria plants (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 16d - Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive. It's heartbreaking to weed these up when they're in the wrong place. Can you help me save some from the compost heap? Bare root plants by arrangement - would want to go straight in the ground. Or seedlings if you bring me seed/module trays to pot into and come back ~1 week later in which case you can take your time to plant them out. Either way they should flower early next year or this summer if you're lucky.

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Free: Aster / michaelmas daisy clumps (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 27d - Digging out some asters to give away, aka michaelmas daisies. Transplant well now. Will flower reliably in late August to early October - fluffy seed heads can be left to stand over winter. They ideally want full sun. Not fussy about soil type - grow well for me in sticky clay. Fully hardy perennial in the UK. Vigorous clumps will expand every year, but easy to dig chunks out if they outgrow the space.

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Free: Strawberry plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 30d - A couple of strawberry plants (technically 3 but in 2 pots) accidentally dug up today moving something else. Not a brilliant time of year to be moving strawberries, but they're usually pretty tough.

Free: Pulmonaria plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 30d - Bare root plants by arrangement - would want to go straight in the ground. Or seedlings if you bring me seed/module trays to pot into and come back ~1 week later. Either way they should flower early next year or this summer if you're lucky. Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive.

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Free: Coriander seed packets (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 30d - I grow lots of coriander, but I'm still working through my self-collected 2018 seed (which germinates fine - it seems like coriander seed lasts for ages) and I keep acquiring new packets. The packet on the right is sow-by 2024. The packet on the left strangely gives no sow-by date but it is unopened and appears to be newer. Will give separate packs to separate people if there is demand. I also probably have some opened packets and various vintages of home collected seed if there is demand.

Free: Perpetual spinach seed (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 30d - One packet unopened, but sow-by 2023. Probably it will germinate, but you have been warned. I believe "perpetual spinach" is really more closely related to leaf beet (relation of beetroot grown for leaves) and chard than to annual spinach. That makes it much easier to grow - perpetual spinach tends not to bolt and crops for much longer - but [I say] is not quite as nice. (Probably because I don't much like beetroot; if you like beetroot you might think it's nicer.) The opened packet also sow-by 2023. If I remember rightly, it germinated well last year so I expect it will this year, but you have been warned. I think it has way more seeds.

Free: Brassica seeds -past date, unopened (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 30d - These are all unopened, but past their sow-by date. In my experience brassica seeds hold their viability and I predict these will germinate fine, but you have been warned. - cabbage "Durham Early", sow by 2023 - kale "Dwarf Green Curled", sow by 2023 - purple sprouting broccolli "Early Purple Sprouting", sow by 2022

Free: Oregano seed packet (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 30d - One unopened seed packet of oregano seed. Sow by 2026. Packet was free with a magazine, but I have enough oregano plants already. (And for some reason also I have the unopened innards of another packet of unknown date, which I think is quite old - probably I will offer to another person collecting something else.) Hardy herbaceous perennial herb. Very easy to grow and survives any UK winter. Wants full sun and reasonable drainage Good as an ornamental plant too - has pretty white flowers in summer and neat mounds of soft furry leaves in spring and whenever you cut it back. Flowers beloved of pollinators including pretty small day flying moths.

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Free: Sunflower seed packet (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 30d - Sunflower seeds unopened packet, sow by 2027. Probably the interesting one here is "giant single" which was free with a magazine this year. I mostly grow orange/brown flowered sunflowers and multiheaded tall ones, so I'm not sowing these. If they're what I think they are they produce impressively large flowers on small plants, but not very many of them per plant. Amazing, but not what I'm after. While you're here I'll offer the opened out of date "Russian Giant" (tall - the clue's in the name, probably won't germinate by now) and out of date "Giant yellow single" (2022 is not that out of date, you never know).

Free: Carrot seed packets (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 30d - I don't grow carrots because of the dreaded carrot root fly. These are unopened packs free with a magazine. Please say which packs you're interested in - will give different packs to 2 different people if there is interest. - Chantenay Red Cored 2 - unopened, sow by 2025 - Royal Chantenay 3 - unopened, sow by 2025 - Paris Market Atlas, unopened but out of date - sow by 2022 Carrot seed is said to lose viability quickly so I am not confident of this one - will only offer to someone collecting something else.

Free: Cosmos seeds (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 30d - Cosmos is a pretty annual flower, quick to germinate, easy to grow, drought tolerant, good for containers, good for pollinators, good for cut flowers. What's not to like? Sow any time in spring and they're fairly fast to flower and keep going until ~October if they're happy and you keep deadheading and treat them well. Ideally full sun and good drainage, but I don't have that and they're fine. Please specify which ones you're interested in - will give different packets to different people if there is demand. - "Sensation Mixed" (sow by 2027) - "Sensation Mixed" (Mr F) unopened, no date given so I can't guarantee germination - "Candyfloss White" opened last year and germinated well - confident they will this year; in date - "Seashells Mixed" opened last year and germinated well - confident they will this year; in date - "Fizzy Rose Picotee"/"Picotee" out of date, not confident of germination - will offer while you're here collecting something else

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Free: Bluebells (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 43d - Back by popular demand. Bluebells - they are beautiful but these are in the way of where I'm making a new bed. "In the green" so plant as soon as you can, but they'll be ok for a while - best if you keep them under damp soil/compose meanwhile. (Actually bluebells are incredibly tough so they'll be fine if you mistreat them.) The wide photo showing them in flower is from May 2021 - in fact that's the patch I'm digging up. The closeup is probably a Spanish bluebell from my garden but not that patch. This patch behaves more like the native ones, but I assume I have both and they mix, so no guarantees if that's important for you. Happy in wet sticky clay in partial shade but should be fine on almost any soil and ok in full sun.

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Free: Bluebells in the green (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 49d - Bluebells - they are beautiful but these are in the way of where I'm making a new bed. "In the green" so plant as soon as you can, but they'll be ok for a while - best if you keep them under damp soil/compose meanwhile. (Actually bluebells are incredibly tough so they'll be fine if you mistreat them.) Photo is from May 2021 - in fact that's the patch I'm digging up. Happy in wet sticky clay in partial shade but should be fine on almost any soil and ok in full sun.

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Free: Bluebells in the green (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 64d - Bluebells - they are beautiful but these are in the way of where I'm making a new bed. A mix of sizes from seedlings to probably flowering size to definitely flowering size. If you're lucky/unlucky some of them may turn out to be "giant snowdrops" (galanthus elwesii). Will portion up they tray in the photo to satisfy demand. "In the green" so plant as soon as you can, but they'll be ok for a weeks or so - best if you keep them under damp soil/compose meanwhile. (Actually bluebells are incredibly tough so they'll be fine if you mistreat them.) Photo is from May 2021 - in fact that's the patch I'm digging up. Happy in wet sticky clay in partial shade but should be fine on almost any soil and ok in full sun.

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Free: Vigorous white aster (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 86d - I dug up some chunks of this fully hardy strong growing perennial daisy family plant. I'm not 100% certain what it is - maybe shasta daisy aka leucanthemum superbum. I used to think they were marguerites, but probably not because these are fully hardy. Grows from a strong slowly spreading clump of bright green foliage throwing up flower stems with large white daisy flowers. Good for polinators. Cut down the stems in autumn or spring and the cycle repeats. Easy to divide/move/plant at this time of year. The pictures in flower are from summer. The pictures with just leaves are now. Will divide between several people within reason. Seems to be very happy on my wet clay, but ideally wants full sun and this clump did not have that.

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Free: Pulmonaria plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 86d - Pulmonaria plants dug today. Mix of small and large plants mostly will flowering this season. Will split between several people if there is demand. Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive.

Free: White campanula clump (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 86d - Today I dug up some clumps of white flowered campanula (aka Cantebury Bells). One picture shows it in flower (early summer) the other as it is at this time of year. It spreads slowly in a low mat of foliage and makes strong vertical flower spikes of white bells. Fully hardy perennial in UK. It ideally wants full sun and half decent drainage (which I don't have, but does fine anyway.) Moves and divides easily at this time of year. Not 100% sure what species but maybe campanula persicifolia var alba

Free: Fixable LED Christmas/fairy lights (Hatfield AL10) Withdrawn 88d - 10m lead + 18m lit length. 300 lights. Warm white. These were brand new this Christmas and they worked fine outside for a week until they didn't. When I took them down I saw that the problem was a squirrel (I assume) had bitten through the wire in one place (I assume). Probably fixable and I was going to, but realistically I probably won't. Will you? I've marked the point with masking tape for your convenience. I am not an electrician, but I assume there is no safety issue because they are powered by a low power, low voltage transformer. Originally IP44 for outside (or inside) use.

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Free: 2 small verbena bonariensis plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 91d - They don't look much but they'll grow away if you plant them soon and water in. Will definitely flower this summer.

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Free: A couple of small foxglove plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 91d - Bare root, so will want planting soon. Flowers beloved of bumblebees who climb right inside the flowers.

Free: Pulmonaria (bare root plants) (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 91d - I dug up some pulmonaria for another freecycler, but there will be more to go round... reposting because there are more by popular demand. It's a mix of some mature plants and some small plants. All should establish if planted soon and watered in. I expect to divide between several people. -- Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive.

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Free: Pulmonaria (bare root plants) (Hatfield AL10) Gifted 92d - I dug up some pulmonaria for another freecycler, but there will be more to go round. It's a mix of: some mature plants (with flower buds already), some small plants, some root sections broken off with a shoot attached. All should establish if planted straight away and watered in. I expect to divide between several people. -- Pulmonaria, aka soldiers & sailors, aka lungwort is an early spring flowering plant with hairy leaves splotches with silver/white with stalks of blue/pink flowers February-May. Favourite garden nectar source for the hairy footed flower bee. Happy in most soil types and aspects, but especially useful on sticky clay in the shade. Will self seed but is not invasive.

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