An article in Farminguk.com states that Gateshead Council is using rare breed animals to help restore a wildflower meadow.

Rare breed Hebridean sheep and longhorn cattle from Bill Quay Community Farm have been used to graze land over winter to help put the magic back into a wildflower meadow at Wardley.

Intensive agriculture and forestry over many years has seen a huge decline in wildflower meadows and the insects and animals that frequent them. This is already changing in Wardley thanks to Bill Quay Farm’s furry friends.

Livestock grazing allows wild flowers to prosper, benefiting a wide range of insects and other animals. This form of management has encouraged breeding skylarks to return to the site.

The improvements to the Wardley meadow play a significant part in the implementation of the Durham Biodiversity Action Plan, which Gateshead Council has supported for many years as part of the Durham Biodiversity Partnership. The action plan exists to help threatened species and habitats and one part of this involves the restoration of flower rich grasslands.

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Rare Breed Organisations

Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association
Focusing on all aspects of breeding and raising Herdwick sheep

Rare Breeds Survival Trust
Dedicated to saving Britain's rare livestock breeds.

Plant heritage organisations

Heritage Seed Library
Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library helps to conserve and reintroduce heritage varieties of vegetables and flowers.

Plant Heritage
The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens

Earlier in the year we published an article about Carlin peas and Audrey from Lancashire decided she would have a go at growing some.

Carlin pea in flower

Shortly after Easter she planted a few Carlins which she had purchased from the grocer to eat.

The peas were planted in spring, just the same way as one would plant any other pea. The resultant 6 foot pea plants have just bloomed in the last week of June.

The Carlin pea flower is small and delicate, typical of the pea family, with a pale, almost translucent lilac upper (banner) petals and a rich wine or burgundy wings and keel.

The opposing leaves of the Carlin plant are almost heart shaped, unlike the oval shape of cultivated peas.

Deep veining is prominent in both the flower and the leaves.

Much like sweet peas, the Carlin pea does require something to grow up, as these plants in Lancashire have currently reached around 6 feet or more.

Audrey is going to keep us posted on their progress

The first record of the Edward VII apple was in 1902.  Introduced by Rowe of Worcester in 1908.

Edward VII

The apple received the RHS Award of Merit in 1903.

Fruits have a firm, rather coarse texture, fairly juicy, with an acid flavour.

Reported to be an excellent cooking apple.

Uses: Culinary
Parents: Female -Blenheim Orange?  x Male - Golden Noble?
Flowers: Mid to late May
Picking: Mid October
Natural Storage: December to April

The Edward VII apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.

Raised in 1907 by Laxton Bros. Ltd, Bedford, England and introduced by them in 1923.

Lord Lambourne Apple

Received the Bunyard Cup from The Royal Horticultural Society in 1921 and an Award of Merit in 1923.

Fruits have a slightly course texture with bright striped skins.  They are juicy, moderately sweet and armoaic with a hint of strawberry.

A good garden apple but no longer commercially grown because the waxy skins clog mechanical grinders.

Uses: Desert
Parents: Female - James Grieve,  Male - Worcester Pearmain
Flowers: Early to mid May
Picking: Mid September
Natural Storage: September to November

Here you will find a few commercial suppliers of old varieties of fruit, vegetables and flowers.

Edwin Tucker & Sons Ltd, Devon (seeds and seed potatoes) Tel: 01364 652233

Chiltern Seeds - Fresh seeds of around 4,500 species and varieties, many rare and unusual, and including almost 200 brand new items and more than 150 reintroductions for 2010. Tel: +44 (0) 1229 581137

Organic Gardening Catalogue, Surrey (organically grown, sundries, discount for Garden Organic and RHS members)

Thomas Etty, Somerset (heritage seedsman and bulb merchant) Tel: 01460 298249

Walcot Organic Nursery - Growers of well priced, sustainably produced traditional and modern fruit tree varieties.

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This is the time of year that many gardener's are daily gathering bunches of these delightfully fragrant flowers.

An old favourite and mainstay of british gardens for generations, this flower now comes in a huge array of varieties with large colourful blooms and glorious perfume but where did it originate?

Sicilian Cupani sweet pea

Earliest documentation suggests that the plant originates from Sicily in southern Italy and was sent to England in 1699 by a Sicilian Monk, Fransicus Cupani to a Dr. Robert Uvedale, a schoolmaster in Enfield.

Throughout the 18th Century, the original purple/maroon bicolour sported several mutations with even a pink/white being documented around 1730.

At this time, the flowers were produced two to a stem, with the stems being shorter and the flowers smaller than the hybrids we see today.

 The 19th century saw the first grandiflora strain, bred by Henry Eckford in Shropshire.  

These grew in a much wider variety of colours and with much larger flowers but still retaining the unmistakable perfume of the original.  

The work of Henry Eckford gave rise to the whole range of 'Spencer' sweet peas, so named from an original sport grown on the Earl Spencer's estate at Althorp in 1899, the 'Countess Spencer'.

(The Andrew Cavendish Spencer Variety sweet pea, courtesy of Roger Parsons Sweet Peas)

From this date on, much work has gone into the breeding of sweet peas to create long stems for cutting with clusters of large blooms from the purest white through to the darkest velvety purple, bearing the names of well known people such as Norman Wisdom, Monty Don and Terry Wogan.

My grandmother grew sweet peas religiously every year for as long as I can remember and I always try to grow plenty to provide a constant supply for the house.  

This year I obtained some seed from the 'Cupani' variety and it has not disappointed.

As expected it is smaller in flower size bearing only two blooms to each stem, with stem length being only about 15 - 20cm it is suitable for smaller arrangements.

The colour is an exquisite maroon/purple bicolour and packs a perfume punch far in excess of its stature.

For any sweet pea grower, the original 'Cupani' is a must, every single seed germinated without scarification or pre-soaking and the plants themselves grew vigorously without problem.

If you want to find out more about the sweet pea, a great site to visit is Roger Parsons Sweet Peas, where a more detailed history exists courtesy of the extensive research of Roger Parsons, well known among sweet pea growers as a Trustee and Membership Secretary of the National Sweet Pea Society.

He is a former Chairman of the NSPS/Royal Horticultural Society Joint Trials Committee. Roger’s particular interests include the history and development of the sweet pea, other Lathyrus species and the raising of new varieties.

He is available outside the growing season to give illustrated talks to all levels of interest.

Picture above from Roger's web site proudly displaying some of his beauties.