Gardening Express are proud to present Franchi Seeds of Italy

A story that begins in 1783, the same year in which on the 21st of November at 1.54pm, the professor of chemistry Pilatre de Rozier and the French Major Francois d’Arlandes took off from Paris aboard a balloon made by the Montgolfier Brothers. Thus as man was lifted from the earth for the first time, Giovanni Franchi began selling his seeds in town piazza’s from his horse drawn cart, and he too probably observed with amazement one of those incredible ‘flying objects’ soaring through the sky.

Since 1783, more than 200 years have passed and many other events have shaped our history. Nonetheless, the work commenced by Giovanni carried on, resulting in Franchi being the oldest family run seed company in the world and one of the largest in Italy, combining tradition, experience and quality with state-of-the-art technological solutions and excellence in it’s field.

Vegetable growing continues to be a big tradition in Italy, where seasonal produce is king and original, genuine, virginal regional varieties still survive. Many railway stations, schools, hospitals, offices and factories even have a veg patch – it’s in the blood ! An incredible 90% of our veg seed is still produced in Italy, many in their home region. They are authentic. They have provenance.

We promise you very generous packs full of high quality seed and culinary varieties grown for flavour.

Italy is partly a Mediterranean country, but 3/5ths of it is Alpine, with the Alps and Dolomites in the North and Apennines running down the spine of Italy. You can even ski in Sicily! You think of alpine flowers, but there are alpine veg varieties that love our mild British climate (it reached –32c in Belluno last year in contrast) and will grow unprotected outside all winter. But just treat our tomatoes (or any of the varieties) the same way you’d treat a similar domestic variety and they will prosper.

You can find our seeds in only the best delicatessens and garden centres all over the country. Buon appetito and grazie for choosing Franchi seeds.

Franchi is the only seed brand in the UK approved by the Vegetarian Society