It’s so nice to seed you
Now’s the time to get sowing for a summer bloom of colourful annuals
HAVING just enjoyed the first wave of spring delights in our gardens, now we welcome in the joys of May. Spring is a busy time in the great outdoors and it’s the optimum season to sow seeds.
This is the magic of the craft of gardening – a couple of seeds in a pot will produce blossom, often just six weeks later. This year, because of challenging circumstances, we have many people who are new to gardening so it may be your first time trying this out.
The science bit is that the soil is warming up, daylight hours are longer and there are plants that will germinate from seed, produce leaves, then flower and set seed in a single year.
These are called annuals and will delight us through the summer months. I’d like to show you which ones I’m sowing this week but because we are on lockdown gardening, you may need to improvise.
My occasional treat these last few weeks has been a takeaway coffee in a disposable, compostable cup. I’ve decided to test the cups and see if they are good enough to grow seeds in and, to my delight, they are.
I have some garden peas that I sowed a couple of weeks ago that are now ready to go outdoors and straight into the ground. I’m also reusing yogurt cartons and food containers – just pierce a few holes in the bottom for drainage.
If they are hardy, they will germinate outdoors and you can sow them in situ where you would like them to flower – either in the ground or in pots. Halfhardy annuals are frost tender so won’t manage outdoors for a few more weeks. These you can germinate indoors on your windowsill and move outdoors, gradually acclimatising them to the vagaries of the British weather.
Seed sizes vary – some, such as nasturtiums, are big enough to be handled singly so you can sow them adequately spaced, burying them just below the surface.
Others such as nicotiana and aquilegia are very fine. With these it’s best to surface sow on damp compost and then just cover with a very light sprinkling of sieved compost or some vermiculite.
You don’t want to bury these delicate seeds deeply. Be careful when watering seeds as a big splash can move them around – try watering from beneath by placing in a bowl of water, or use a fine rose on your watering can.
For the time being we will be spending our evenings at home so I’ve decided to grow some classics for evening scent. Nicotiana is the tobacco plant which has pure white flowers that are tubular in shape – the delicious perfume in the evening will attract moths for their nectar.
I’m trying a variety called Fragrant Cloud. It will be great for filling gaps in borders or growing in containers which can be positioned on your patio, and it also makes a lovely cut flower. It’s half-hardy, so surface sow indoors now for transplanting outdoors later in the month.
Night-scented stock (Matthiola bicornis) is a lovely delicate filler plant with lilac flowers. The seeds are very fine so grab a pinch and gently rake them into the soil just using your fingers, or pop some into your hanging baskets.
I’m also sowing some annual climbers. Nasturtium is easy to germinate and will scramble quickly up fences, trellises or climbing frames, covering them with vibrant orange, red and yellow flowers, depending on the variety. Sow outdoors now where you’d like them to flower. Sow more than you need – this is insurance in case some don’t germinate.
When they do, select the strongest seedlings – this is called thinning out. Leave adequate space between the remaining seedlings so they can develop, about six inches apart.
Morning Glory is a beautiful halfhardy climber so you can either keep it in a sunny position indoors – perfect for a conservatory – or plant outdoors at the end of the month. It has beautiful flowers, usually blue or a deep purple. The seeds are quite hard, so soak overnight in water before sowing to speed up germination.
For novice gardeners I’d recommend Nigella ‘Love-in-Mist.’ It’s hardy so can be planted outdoors now. Prepare the soil so it’s a fine crumbly tilth with no weeds or stones, and sow about a quarter of an inch beneath the surface and water in. You’ll be amazed at the amount of flowers and beautiful foliage just one seed can produce.