About this box
Children love growing things they can watch change from one day to the next, and they lose interest quickly if nothing seems to happen. Every packet in The Little Gardeners Collection was chosen because it germinates fast, has seeds big enough for small fingers, or does something worth running outside to see.
Radish Sparkler goes from seed to something you can pull up and eat in about four weeks. Pea 'Hurst Greenshaft' fills with pods to eat straight off the plant, and Courgette All Green Bush makes a big plant from a single seed and keeps cropping all summer. There are two sunflowers: fluffy golden Teddy Bear, short enough for a pot, and Waooh!, which branches and flowers from July right up to the frosts. Nasturtium Tom Thumb and Calendula Crown Orange have large, easy-to-handle seeds and bright flowers with petals you can scatter over a salad. Viola Bunny Ears holds its two top petals upright, so every flower looks as though it has ears.
Chosen with children in mind
We have left out plants known to be poisonous, which rules out a few cottage favourites such as foxgloves, larkspur, corncockle and sweet peas. Even so, seeds are not for eating, and younger children should sow with a grown-up close by.
When to sow
Peas and radishes can go in from March, straight into the ground or a deep pot. Sunflowers, courgettes, nasturtiums and calendula follow in April and May as the weather warms. Violas can be sown on a windowsill in late winter, or in summer for flowers the following spring. Sowing a little at a time keeps something happening all summer long. Full instructions are printed on every packet.
Eight full-sized packets in our signature eco-friendly packaging – a gift for a child or grandchild, a school-holiday project, and a lovely thing to grow together.
