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S THE days grow longer and green shoots start to appear, even through frozen ground, many of us are itching to get gardening again.

While it’s still too cold for outdoor sowing, there are some plants which you can get started indoors in February.

Many of these will end up outdoors – either in the ground or in pots, containers or hanging baskets – when the temperature climbs and risk of frost is gone.

It’s a fun project and it’s exciting to see your seeds first germinate and then develop.

Seeds are a cheap way to raise plants and by choosing varieties you like now you are not restricting yourself to what’s on sale in the garden centre in May. Matthiola incana, commonly called Stock, has large, showy and richly fragrant flower spikes, which come in a fine mixture of colors which you can sit in trays.

One seed per three-inch pot is sufficient, then cover the seed with about half an inch of growing medium.

Water with a fine hose, cover with a sheet of glass or plastic and leave to germinate. When large enough for transplanting in May, give them some support to scramble up – a simple teepee of bamboo sticks is ideal. YOU’LL be rewarded with tons of flowers in summer from white to deep pink atop a frothy foliage if you opt for Cosmos.

Sow indoor batches from now until April. As the seeds are quite fine, just sprinkle them on the top of the compost and don’t cover at all, or just lightly with some grit.

You can also plant these directly into the soil outdoors in May but the flowers will come much later than if you get them going indoors now.

For something very special, try growing the Cosmos atrosanguineus which has lovely dark petals and an unmistakable scent of chocolate. A GREAT trailing plant for hanging baskets. The seeds are very fine, dust like, which means they will need thinning later. Try mixing the seed with silver sand to get a more even distribution.

Sow on the surface of the compost but don’t cover them as they need light to germinate. Try to water from beneath to prevent damping off – a fungal disease they are prone to – and if growing in a greenhouse or propagator, let air in. SEEDS will shiver and rot if compost is too wet and cold but won’t germinate at all in dry soil. For best results sow into damp soil and then water gently – recycling a kitchen spray bottle is ideal for this task. Use tepid water if you can.

Cover seeds with polythene until they germinate as this will help retain moisture and check daily until germination that soil is damp.

Remove polythene or glass once germination has occurred.