It’s been a cold, dull, wet and windy weekend so it’s hardly surprising that I’ve spent much of it armchair gardening. Luckily on Thursday I received the 2025 Chiltern Seeds Catalogues which I’ve been happily browsing through.
As you can see the Grow something new from seed one is a Golden Anniversary Edition to celebrate Chiltern Seeds 50th year. For anyone not familiar with this Catalogue it’s 4 in/10 cm wide and slightly under 12 in/30 cm tall, contains 126 pages listing around 2,500 items in alphabetical order from Abies to Zinnia, and only has 4 pages of photos apart from the 3 cover ones.
Some of the descriptions make me smile such as Tropaeolum minus Tom Thumb mixed which says – If you can’t grow these you’d better give up gardening as a hobby! The Calendula officinalis Mixture of all Varieties entry says – To bring back fun into gardening, this is a jolly mixture of Marigolds to brighten gardens, lives and outlooks.
The other, same size, Catalogue is The VegBook 2025 which has 34 pages listing vegetables from Agretti to Watercress and 7 pages of herbs. It has no photos but lots quirky illustrations by Jacqueline Sinclair.
Have a good week, and take care!
Flighty's plot 
How interesting! Seed catalogues can be both entertaining, absorbing, and informative. I heard on the radio this morning that there has been a very damaging storm across England and Wales. I hope you and your readers are safe.
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LIz this one certainly is, it’s always an enjoyable and interesting read. Thanks, all good here, and I was relieved to see that the plot was okay, but very soggy, when I looked round this morning. xx
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I got these through the post too but haven’t had a look yet. Thanks for the reminder.
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Jackie hello and welcome. Happy reading when you do. You’re welcome. xx
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Lovely colourful frontispiece. Just what you need at this time of the plants year.
Have you grown any of the more unusual varieties of vegetables, such as purple potatoes, original coloured carrots etc?
The catalogue should keep you amused and busily thinking oh, and plotting. M xxxx
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Menhir it sure is, on both counts. I have done with one or two items, such as black tomatoes, in the past. It will indeed. xx
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I’m not knowledgeable enough re NAMES to understand fully , a seed catalogue with no pictures Mike…Clearly I have a long way to go yet!! Am hopeless with name; but faces, both flowery and human, I don’t forget!! Weird or what!! HAve fun with your perfectly valid armchair gardening… 🙂
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Hello I think most of us have that problem, but I’m sure that you know more than you think you do. Thanks, I certainly will. xx
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Yes, for an almost solidly wordy catalogue it is wonderfully accessible, humorous and informative 🙂
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Alison I agree, it sure is. xx
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The weather this weekend has been ideal for some armchair gardening 🙂
All the best Jan
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Jan it most certainly was. Thanks, for you too. xx
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Now that’s a cozy pastime I could do for days, especially with those cute drawings and descriptions. Of course, the list of seeds to order would outstrip my ability to grow and keep alive…. but lists are free, aren’t they?
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Nikki it sure is, and me too. My lists would fill the plot several times over! xx
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I suspect there’ll be more armchair gardening happening than the real thing over the next couple of months so it’s good you have some gardening books and catalogues to browse and keep you busy.
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Jo I’m sure you’re right so that’s what I’ll be doing. xx
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