Ask Gerry

I am involved with flower bed filling in Roundstone Co Galway. I want to plant native Irish plants, which provide lots of colour and are suitable for a coastal village in Connemara. Can you give some help? Shrubs and hedges could also be included.

Sunflowers - have sunflowers in a pot and they were flowering but now have closed up. Can you tell me why they might have closed and what to do with them?

can I save sunflower seeds for sowing next year?

My Sweet Pea have grown over 7ft tall and are difficult to manage, is it possible to cut them by 1/3 and will this encourage new growth

there is something eating my seedlings in the green house can you tell me what it might be,and how to control it

Where can I buy willow obelisk?

I am due our first baby in September and with loads of visitors etc to the house I want to have the garden looking very pretty (and get some of the work out of the way now) - any suggestions for a cottage garden look?

I forgot to store the packets of seeds that I purchased last Spring such as pansies, petunias and cosmos in a sealed container or bag. They are still in date? I sowed them indoors nearly three weeks ago with very poor germination rates apart from the Cosmos. Cosmos is a bigger seed. I do think germination conditions were adequate. Is it worth testing these seeds using the paper towel method or are they dead?

Withering and dying after first flowering

I have planted quite a number of sun flowers in a propagatorI transferred them today. ( as shown 2 small pots ) When should i plant them outdoors.? 44being ambitious I planted more and when I watered the seeds in the bucket they all moved together. Now I have about 15 very closey spaced and about 3 inches above soil. If I separate them will I kill them or is there any harm letting them grow up as they are?

I have grown sweet pea from seed, in pots, in the cold greenhouse over the winter. I have some healthy looking plants. When should I plant them outside? How should I prepare the soil?

It is early October and I have germinated Dianthus seeds indoors on a window sill. Should I keep the seedlings indoors over the winter or can I put them outside?

I would like to give flower seeds as wedding favours to my guests next September, and wonder what flowers would be good to plant at that time of year? The wedding is on the 10th Sept. I might even make plantable seed paper if the seeds are small enough.

August last year I sowed Hollyhocks fro a packet of Mr Fothergill seed labelled "Chaters mixed" The packet showed flowers in red. yellow, orange and white. They flowered this year, but all white flowers. Dis I get the wrong seed, or did I do something else wrong? If I sow more from the same packet, will they all be white? Should I complain to Mr Fothergill?

Does sunflower come back every year?