THE WONDER OF WALLFLOWERS
Plan ahead by sowing them now while thinking about their planting partners for the future
For me, gardening’s all about balance. It’s about being totally engaged in the here and now, but simultaneously being able to reflect on the past and plan for the future.
I might be planting a dahlia today but at the same time I’m thinking about that plant, that bed and, in fact, the whole plot in one week, one month, one season and one year’s time. It’s one of the things I find most exciting about gardening.
Right now I’m focused on developing the beds on my plot for this season but I’m also contemplating next spring. We’re a few months away from ordering bulbs but there are some useful spring biennials you can sow this month ready for blooming in nine months' time.
The likes of lunaria and digitalis will do just this, but I’m set on the earliest possible colour in the form of wallflowers. They can be sown now and grown on ready for autumn-planting in their final flowering positions. There are many wallflower ‘mixes’ available from seed suppliers. These tend to feature oranges, yellows, burgundy and the like. I’m not a big fan but have occasionally used them as a monoculture en masse.
My preference is growing single-colour wallflowers, then adding pizzazz by planting tulips through them. It provides a lovely layered and changing effect as the colours appear and fade through spring. Here are three beautiful wallflowers you can sow now, along with companion tulips (which can be ordered soon). Future planning now will reap rich rewards come spring.