Last Updated on December 22, 2023 by Suttons Horticultural Team
Gardening was already in the top 5 hobbies in the UK and something tells us that due to recent events – it must be heading for that top slot! Seed sales within the year have tripled for the Suttons Group and in the 15 weeks of lockdown they grew tenfold!
The underlying trend is a demand for edible seed varieties with almost 95% of all packets purchased in Lockdown being vegetables or fruit as the nation has become impassioned in the world of growing your own produce. With so many of us having taken refuge in our outside space through lockdown, new gardens and their keepers have sprung up everywhere, with some rekindling their passion whilst existing gardeners have simply grown more and this trend looks like it’s here to stay!
With over half a million new customers for the Suttons Group – it’s put even more of a focus on the new varieties for 2021 and Suttons will not be disappointing.
Suttons’ new seed varieties deliver just what’s required to continue to inspire the nation’s gardeners, with new additions throughout flower, vegetable and fruit.
Additions to the flower range include a wonderful selection of uplifting and long-lasting blooms to fill and light up the garden. And there’s new sweet and savoury fruits, which are perfect for growing in small spaces – so everyone can enjoy growing from seed regardless of the size of their outdoor space.
Our new seed range is the perfect antidote as we move forward into the new season and is sure to capture the imagination of all who love their garden.
The Suttons NEW Seed Catalogue 2021 will be available from the beginning of October and I will be sending you a copy as soon as its off the printing press. In the meantime, you can find all the new seed listed below and available to view online on our website.
New Varieties for 2021 – Flower Seed
In 1858, Sutton’s Seeds began supplying flower and vegetable seeds to the household of HM Queen Victoria and received a prestigious Royal Warrant. That original standard of excellence still remains today and we share it with every gardener. Every single seed packet you buy has that same Royal seal of approval.
Unsurprisingly, Suttons’ 2021 catalogue has an extensive collection with 15 new and exciting varieties of flower seed added this year, including cottage garden favourites, ‘must have’ annuals and the pick of perennials from seed for year after year colour, scent and interest to fill both garden and home – whilst keeping the wildlife happy too!
Sweet Pea – Supersonic
Exclusive to Suttons, and improved, this compact ‘Jet Set’ type has a delectable fragrance and exceptionally long flower stems up to 40cm long, making it the ideal sweet pea for cutting.
Dodecatheon – Shooting Star Mix
This long-time ‘connoisseurs secret’ is destined to become a ‘must have’ perennial and customer favourite. With its unusual swept back petals in shades from white through pink to purple, it is a highly desirable plant for sun or part shade.
Viola – Freckles
This rare, unusual viola with china-blue speckled white flowers adds a real ‘wow’ factor to pots and baskets. Easy to grow and ideal for part shade, it is also happy in borders.
Poppy – Amazing Grey
Experience love at first sight with this gorgeous annual poppy. This epitome of elegance boasts dainty flowers in shades of silvery grey to slate blue. Leave the seed heads to self-seed and be enchanted year after year.
Rudbeckia ‘Chim Chiminee’
Mary Poppins would say that the uniquely ‘bristled’ petals like a chimney sweeps brush are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’! The blooms, in an array of rich autumnal colours, appear over several months from summer until late autumn.
Cosmos – Tip Top Picotee
The tallest and one of the prettiest of our cosmos! Produces dozens of pink-rimmed white daisy-like flowers on each plant, filling garden borders with ease. They are also superb for flower arranging.
Idaho Blue Eyed Grass – Moody
Not actually a grass but a relative of the Iris. Boasting elegant leaves and exquisite blue golden-centred flowers, it is an outstanding plant for a rock garden or as a potted centrepiece for a garden table.
Astrantia
This quintessential cottage garden perennial is irresistible to bees and pollinators. The intricate white flowers with pink veining and hints of acid green mark them out as unusual and they make long-lasting cut flowers. If you keep picking; they keep flowering.
Inula orientalis – Grandiflora
This tough, compact, no-nonsense cottage garden stalwart, with tactile woolly buds and finely petalled, spidery golden-yellow flowers. Bees find the blooms irresistible and birds feed on its seed heads in winter.
Echinacea – Sundress
Bees and butterflies love the sparkling, ice-white blooms and cone of acid-green and yellow. This uber-stylish perennial with a contemporary vibe is perfect for borders and containers.
Echinacea – Doubledecker
This two-tiered delight is perfect for butterflies, bees and other pollinators. The ‘crowns’ appear from year two and the sturdy stems, reaching 120cm means they also double up as quirky cut flowers.
Heuchera– Bressingham Hybrids
Forming domes of evergreen leaves, these are excellent for edging borders or containers in sun or part shade. The slender flower spikes, topped by white to deep red blooms, are beloved by bees. They also make elegant and unusual cut flowers.
Calendula – Dandy
This unusual double-flowered ‘Pot Marigold’ with a lime green eye is a top calendula for cut flowers and irresistible to pollinating insects, hoverflies and other garden friends. The petals can be used to colour rice or added to cakes and salads.
Coreopsis – Sunburst
This clump-forming herbaceous perennial is ideal as a centrepiece in a border or large container. Its dazzling, bright yellow blooms offset by the deep green leaves, will fill every day with sunshine.
Cosmos – Tango
Bring maximum flower power to the garden with a blaze of orange blooms. Drought tolerant, happy in poor soil and easy to grow, this favourite of bees and butterflies fills a garden with warmth and colour.
New Varieties for 2021 – Vegetable Seed
Since 1806, Suttons have developed a reputation for quality, using their extensive knowledge and expertise to bring exceptional new varieties to the gardener.
Our new 2021 vegetable seed range is no exception; unsurprisingly, Suttons have some wonderful cultivars in store, having added 21 new varieties to keep your allotments, veg patches and containers well stocked.
The good life just got even better with introductions of easy to grow greens for staying healthy and a new leaf mix to forage from your back door. There are exciting new breeding breakthroughs with additions to our crimson family, varieties with improved habits and those that provide longer lasting crops. There are forgotten finds in herbs, with multiple uses from culinary to natural remedies, and there’s dual purpose to be found in growing for sustainability. It wouldn’t be Suttons without some show-stopping moments with fun to grow seed too!
Swiss Chard – Peppermint
With its pink to white two-tone stems, this will add an air of sophistication to vegetable plots, flower borders or upcycled designer containers. Steam the leaves like spinach or slice the mid ribs into salads and casseroles.
Urban Forager Mix
Bring the countryside to your garden. Packed with uniquely British flavours like Salad Burnet, Garlic Mustard and Sheep’s Sorrel, it is ideal for borders, window boxes or containers. You won’t have to walk far to forage.
Lemon Balm Mandarina
Lemon Balm, with an orange zest! Makes a great addition to the herb garden or add to patio pots, with alluring fragrance and attractive foliage and flowers that bees can’t resist. Add its leaves to vinegars or chopped into soft cheese or try them infused in hot water as herbal healing – they make a super-relaxing drink.
Luffa
What can a Luffa do for ya? To eat, cook like courgettes when young and tender or let them mature, rinse off the flesh then use them to scrub your pans – or back! Children will love it!
Sweet Corn – Snobaby F1
Producing up to five cobs per plant, it is perfect for stir fries and Thai curries. When cobs are 20cm long, pop them in a paper bag, pop the bag into the microwave and popcorn will simply pop off the cob!
Suttons are proud to bring you three blight busting tomatoes: Crimson Cherry which is full of flavour, sweet tasting and has a satisfying tang; Crimson Plum, a ‘Roma’ style tomato with a rich, deep flavour and early ripening British bred Veranda Red, is ideal for hanging baskets, pots and containers – its sweet, cherry-sized fruit, proved popular in taste tests.
Parsley Grune Perle
Extend the growing season of our most popular garnish. Ideal in borders or containers, full of flavour and with extra curly leaves, it is great for overwintering and slow to run to seed. The harvest just goes on and on.
Hyssop Blue
Happy to bask in a sunny bed and perfect for pots or containers, itsbeautiful blue flowers will grace any garden. Adding a unique floral flavour to salads, it can also be chopped as a garnish or used as bouquet garni.
Tree Spinach
The shocking magenta growth tips of this extraordinary spinach substitute add a dash of flamboyant colour to the vegetable plot. This versatile vegetable can be harvested as ‘cut and come again’ or steamed like spinach. Reaching 2m tall, it likes sun or shade and is perfectly at home in the flower border.
Garlic Kale
Crisp, crunchy texture and lingering mild garlic aftertaste. Pop young leaves into salads, steam larger leaves like spinach and lightly boil the flower stems like broccoli. Delicious!
Mizuna – Red Empire
Strikes back in a starburst of colour with dark red leaves and lime green undersides and stalks. Bringing a welcome zing to salads, sandwiches or stir fries, it is one of the easiest Oriental vegetables to grow and can be overwintered in a cold greenhouse or under fleece.
Brussels Sprout – Brodie F1
Mild flavoured and perfect for everyone – even the kids! Try them steamed with smoky bacon, shredded into salads or cooked after rolling them in breadcrumbs. Yum!
Broccoli – Gemini F1
Taking just 80 days from sowing to harvest, this quick cropping broccoli grows like a rocket. Harvest the succulent head first, then the side-shoots. It is delicious steamed then served with melted butter or eaten raw with dips.
Patty Pan Greendisc F1
A squash and courgette rolled into one! Cut when small and cook like a courgette or eat it stuffed and baked when it’s bigger. With flamboyant ornamental lime and green skin, it looks great in borders too.
Chilli Longhorn F1
Lives up to its name, with fruit up to 25cm long! It produces so many fruits that you may have to stake the plant! We discovered the authentic taste of Jamaica in Chocolate Habanero a rich, smoky flavoured chilli. It is perfect for Jerk sauce and one of the hottest Habaneros around.
Pea Proval
Brings you exceptionally early crops of deliciously sweet-flavoured peas. Sow successionally and you can enjoy their fabulous flavour for months.
Suttons New Varieties 2021 – Fruit
Gardeners have relied on Suttons’ seeds to bring quality to their gardens every year since 1858. It’s not just flowers and vegetables, Suttons can be relied on to bring you fabulous, flavour filled fruit and unusual varieties, too.
Unsurprisingly, Suttons have headed to the mountains to bring you some exciting new additions to their 2021 fruit range to fill the garden with flavour and tantalise the taste buds these are sure to be a loved by both gardeners and cooks alike.
Wild Blueberry
Darker than American blueberries, pretty pink-purple inside and great for bringing flavour to small spaces. At just 30cm tall, it is perfect for containers or window boxes and thrives in acidic conditions. Slow growing and self-fertile, it ensures maximum cropping in minimal space for years. Savour that irresistible blueberry flavour in jams, juice, smoothies or pies.
Mountain Cranberry
Produces bright red, juicy fruit with a tart, lip-smacking taste. It is traditionally used in Nordic countries for juices, jams and baking, or sauces for pancakes and meatballs. This low growing, acid loving evergreen, just 15cm tall, fits perfectly into containers and window boxes. It also makes attractive, edible underplanting around plants like blueberries.
An additional 9 new varieties have been added in our organic veg seed range too.
Calendula Pot Marigold
We have only brushed the surface of all of the new vegetable seeds we are introducing this season. To discover the whole range and more information about some of our favourites, click the button below.
