advice on seeds

My brother has a beautiful garden, sadly he has just been retired at the age of 60, due to ill health...(back probs) he cant do as much these days...but apparently his Camelias are beautiful...he had some seed pod thingys on the best plant...he has donated them to me....lol

He advises that i plant them in seed compost, cover them in compst and pat it down...watering from bottom not top...he also said...always plant 2 together in the flower bed...the one he has on its own on other side of garden looks flimsy, compared to the two together.

Also, my own sweetpeas are podding at the moment...and i am colceting the seeds...do i do the same for them?

my advice ....ask your bro he seems to know a lot ...sorry could not resist

This is Patty - on Marias laptop but she said I had to urgently answer this: Camellias are extremely hard to grow from seed as they grow from root cuttings. Those pod things will take at least five years to germinate, whether in a pot or in the ground, so I would defo not even attempt those (even I wouldn't and I grow everything from seed!!)
Sweet peas: You should have been cutting all those seed pods off as you go along, to prolong the flowering, so I am assuming you mean these are the last ones and you want to save them. Wait until the pods turn brown ON THE PLANT and then cut the pods off and take the seeds out. Save them until about October in a dry place, then plant them in compost in pots and leave them outside somewhere fairly sheltered so you can keep an eye on them now and again through winter. In about late Jan/early Feb you can then plant them out (unless it is very frosty/snowy) and they will make nice strong bushy plants. If you don't fancy doing them in Autumn (and they are the best - professional growers always do it then), then you can do exactly the same in about February or March, wait until they germinate and are a better size to manage, and plant them in May. ALWAYS USE THE DEEPEST POTS YOU CAN FIND. Those clear plastic containers you get now with peaches etc. in are absolutely perfect.
Here ends the first lesson!!! xxx Love Patty

Going back to the Camellia - the "flimsy one on its own" has obviously been a root cutting or rooted itself - but this will be a long way from the main good plant if it is.

it is right across the other side of the garden (the flimsy one)...

Cor heck, my brother made it sound easy to grow them from seed..perhaps i will pop the seeds back to him and ask him to grow them for me. I will have the plants when they grow.... BUT...now i feel challenged by Patty..so i might just give it a try..stubborn cow I am.

The sweetpeas, well i was told to keep picking the flowers to stop the plant podding, it did seem to slow the appearance of pods and produce more flowers..but i dont remember anyone saying topick off the pods, i so wanted to have my own seeds, i have already picked the browner pods which were starting to open a bit...i just pray that Hubby did not throw them away....

The fragrance of them is so uplifting to me..i was picking loads for the house the night before i left for wales and was just so happy to have them, until i realised that the 'White talc-like' dried stuff on the leaves...is damage due to a black thing a bit like greenfly...My brother tells me i should have sprayed the plants with soapy water..ah well, its too hard to do from Wales...perhaps Teabag will do it...

Kim, my brothers garden is beautiful, but i do know that Patty is brilliant with plants and seeds too. I know that too many cooks spoil the broth....but, many gardeners make light work..

That white talc like substance is something that goes with sweet peas at the end of the season and is mildew so needs a fungicide early on in the growth so it keeps it at bay!