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Koralik is a determinate bush variety with high yields of small fruit.
Late maturing, Koralik has exceptionally high tolerance to blight.
Fruits weigh 12-15 gms, are an appealing bright red colour with a sweet flavour and all tomatoes on a truss ripen together.
Koralik will thrive outside in wet seasons where other varieties fail.
Grow in a container on the patio or in open beds. Use for salads or chutney.

Annual plant with aromatic leaves for cucumber souring. Dried leaves are good for salads, cottage cheese, fish, roast meat and sauces.
Basil came originally from India where it was used to cleanse and protect Hindu houses and temples.
The flavour is sweet but slightly peppery. It is used extensively in Mediterranean and Greek cooking, blending particularly well with tomato dishes, soups, pasta, risottos and eggs. It also goes well with pork and cheese dishes.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 325

Carrot Amsterdam 2 is a very early variety with slender, juicy, cylindrical, orange-red roots.
Superbly sweet, Amsterdam 2 has a great colour and is virtually coreless, especially when picked as young finger carrots. The firm foliage of this carrot holds well and does not produce oversized roots even when harvested late.
Plant this sweet tasting carrot from early spring until mid-summer in open ground, thin out if necessary. Given time, the carrots will grow to a respectable size. A very versatile variety Carrot Amsterdam 2 has a long season and is an excellent source of vitamin A and antioxidants. When steamed and buttered an Amsterdam 2 carrot turns a meal into a feast.

Seeds per packet (approx.): 1400

Salvia Genus

Salvia: from the Latin word meaning “I heal” or “safe”, referring to the medicinal qualities of some species. Sometimes known as sage or clary, this is a large genus containing both annual and perennial species many of which come from California and tropical America, although there are a few of European origin.

Salvias are members of the mint family, Labiatae, and can be recognized from their square stems and opposite pairs of leaves, which are usually rather velvety or hairy. A familiar salvia is the perennial common garden sage (Salvia officinalis). Salvias for the flower garden include many perennials and annuals. The colourful Salvia splendens and Salvia farinacea are tender perennials treated as annuals for example.

The genus Salvia contains at least 900 species and, because they readily cross pollinate, many interspecific hybrids - both natural and manmade. Salvias are found on most continents. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, wrote about their healing qualities back in the first century. In the early 17th century, the English botanist John Gerard, in his famous Herbal, described a number of sages, referring to the healing powers of these herbs. Until the 19th century most gardeners focused on growing plants for medicinal or culinary purposes; beauty was a secondary, much less important, consideration.

The results of plant exploration in the 18th and 19th centuries brought many new salvias to English and European gardeners from Mexico, China, and Africa. One, Salvia buchananii, was found in Mexico by an Englishwoman, who gave it to a man serving in the army. He in turn brought it back to England and gave it to an English squire named Buchanan. Many such stories accompanied salvias across the ocean. Salvia coccinea, indigenous to Mexico and South America, was grown for decades as a wildflower. Both Salvia splendens (scarlet sage) and Salvia farinacea (mealy cup sage) were discovered in the early 1800's, the former in Brazil, the latter in Texas.

Seed of the majority needs sowing early in the year. Germination is often slow and erratic, especially if a fairly warm temperature is not maintained – around 18°C seems to be ideal. If at least 15°C is not possible do not sow before March. Prick off the seedlings as appropriate. For best results the next move should be to pots, increasing the size of these according to growth.

From the larger pots, move the plants to outdoor positions at the end of May or early June after hardening off: As necessary take out the growing points to encourage bushy growth.

Additional variety descriptions and more species will be added over time. If you have a special interest in Salvia or a particular requirement contact us.

Salvia carduacea forms a rosette of thistle-like greenish leaves, well armed with spines. Sometimes known as the Thistle Sage, it produces heads or whorls of lavender flowers. This species can be sown outdoors in spring or autumn.

Salvia columbariae is another salvia with whorls of bright blue flowers but needs sowing under glass.

Salvia farinacea although perennial is more often treated as an annual. It produces long spikes of violet blue flowers and has a number of good forms such as Blue Bedder and Royal Blue, both with deep blue flowers, and Alba, white.

Salvia grahami (microphylla) is also grown as an annual having crimson blooms, while some variations bear white, purple or carmine flowers.

Salvia horminum
Salvia horminum is deservedly popular for sowing directly into flowering positions. Its decorative value lies in the colourful bracts surrounding the tiny flowers. A number of different varieties are available with bracts of pink, purple, blue and white, all being valuable for indoor display. A balanced colour mixture is offered by packetseeds.com.

Salvia splendens
Salvia splendens is the well known scarlet sage from Brazil and the original species from which the well known bedding salvias have been developed. The stout branching stems bear many showy flower spikes. The type species as well as some of the varieties are inclined to be rather late flowering, meaning a short life when they are used for summer bedding. Some of the named varieties now available are earlier flowering. The varieties offered by packetseeds.com are of the Sizzler series.

You can

- Grow as separate colours to theme your flower beds or containers.

- Make your own colour mixture.

- Buy our mixture.

- You choose!

Sizzler Red:

Red is the best known colour amongst Salvia. Sizzler Red gives an excellent show of colour. Try mixing with yellow French marigolds (Tagetes patula) to give a strong colour contrast. Or mix with other reds in the Sizzler series— Red Spike and Red Halo—for variations on a theme.

Variations on RED:

Sizzler Red Halo and Sizzler Red Stripe

Different forms of bicolour. Try separately or in a mixture with solid red.

Variations on PURPLE:

Sizzler Purple and Sizzler Lilac Halo

Try a mixture of these together, or with white added.

Variations on SOFTER colours:

Sizzler Salmon and Sizzler Orange

For a more gentle but nonetheless vibrant colour try either of these.

More colours:

Sizzler Burgundy Halo and Sizzler White

The White will complement almost any other colour.

Try the Halo Mixture as the mix of Lilac Halo, Red Halo and Burgundy Halo.

Sowing:- Sow onto a seed compost. Cover with vermiculite or similar and water thoroughly.

Do not cover with soil, since light aids the seed to germinate. Vermiculite is ideal since it allows light to penetrate whilst still maintaining a high level of moisture around the seed.

Provide a temperature of around 20°C - 24°C for germination (68°F to 75°F).

Lower temperatures lead to slow and poor seedling emergence. Radicles should emerge in 5 or 6 days, and cotyledons should be fully expanded about 7 days later - a total germination time of about two weeks.

Prick out into small containers as soon as plants are ready. The seedlings are tender and do not perform well if temperatures become too low. Early sowing is thus not advised. In northern Europe and the UK late March is perfectly acceptable.

Pot on when young plants are large enough into 9cm pots or equivalent. Ideally, do not allow day temperatures to exceed 21°C or night temperatures to fall below 10 – 12°C. Give a low nitrogen liquid feed when needed (low nitrogen feeds discourage leaf growth and encourage flower growth), but do not over feed.

Ensure that the plants are kept growing, without any sort of growth check.

Once Salvias have stopped growing it can be very difficult to start them growing again and stunted, hard plants will be the result. Do not allow then to become pot-bound, if necessary pot on into a larger unit. Do not allow the plants to wilt, this will give them a severe check and they will lose leaves.

When ready, plants can be transplanted into the garden from these pots ideally after hardening off for a few days. However, do not plant out until all risk of frost has passed since Salvia splendens will not tolerate even a touch of frost.

Grow in full sun or partial shade.

Pinching is not necessary, but a pinch can help to encourage branching, which in turn increases the number of flower spikes per plant. Pinching will probably add about two weeks to the growing time.

Compact types such as Sizzler will generally take only 10-12 weeks from sowing to flowering. Note, however, that some varieties are day length sensitive and if sown late, the long days of summer will delay flowering sometimes until late August. For this reason packetseeds.com recommends the variety series Sizzler which is day length neutral.

As a tender perennial Salvia splendens will keep growing until stopped by a combination of one or more of high temperatures, drought, wet conditions or frost.

Salvias are generally trouble free, as long as feed and temperature levels are controlled, but Whitefly can sometimes be a problem, as can aphids and red spider mite. Monitor closely and treat as appropriate.

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