Incite a riot of colour for the warmer days to come
Hannah Stephenson suggests some of the best annuals to grow from seed indoors to give vibrant summer colour
In sowing your own, budding gardeners on a budget can produce plants for a fraction of the cost of buying mature ones later on. Plants from seeds you have sown indoors are also likely to flower earlier as this gives them a head start.
Annuals are a good starting point – these plants only last a year, but will give you lashings of summer colour and are great for plugging gaps in borders. They can be started off indoors from February to April, before being transplanted and then put in their final position when all risk of frost has passed.
Many perennials, from hardy geranium to echinacea to sea holly, can also be grown from seed, although you’ll need more patience with these as some won’t flower in their first year.
Annuals benefit from nurturing indoors and then hardening off outdoors before planting into the garden. Here are some of the easiest flowers to grow from seed.
Growing sunflowers is child’s play, and is favoured by parents keen to get youngsters involved in gardening. They have large seeds – perfect for small hands – and can be started off indoors in February and March in small individual pots in potting compost, and then transferred to their final position in late May or early June to make the most of their open faces and glorious bright petals.
For more colour, cosmos are pretty half-hardy annuals that come in an abundance of shades, from white to deep pink. They are great for plugging gaps in the summer border with their feathery leaves and daisy-like flowers. However, they will not withstand frost, so you’ll need to start them off indoors in a seed tray or pots, with one seed per cell.
A more robust option, tobacco plants (Nicotiana) are an annual favourite which have a delicious perfume, so plant them close to the house or on the patio once they are coming into flower. Sow seeds in seed compost indoors in early spring, on a sunny windowsill. Sprinkle a small pinch of seeds in each cell, then cover them with vermiculite and water lightly. Transplant to individual pots to grow on and move outdoors.
Nasturtiums are pretty trailers which have multiple uses in the garden – they can add colour to summer pots, the flowers can be eaten and they can even lure aphids away from French and runner beans – and they’re really easy to grow from seed.
Start them off indoors in seed trays of compost in February, placing the large seeds a few centimetres apart on the surface, then cover with another layer of compost, firming it gently. Place a sheet of cling film over the seed tray and put in a warm spot on a windowsill or in a light area. Once they’ve germinated, you can remove the cover and in a week or two you’ll be able to transplant them into seven centimetre pots, before putting them in their final spot in the garden in early summer.
Californian poppies can be sown in spring or under cover now. They have delicate ferny foliage and bright yellow, orange, red or white flowers that are a magnet for butterflies, bees and hoverflies. They make good cut flowers and thrive in poor but well drained soil.
Meanwhile, calendulas are beautiful orange and yellow flowers produced from seeds with an extended flowering period, lasting until the first hard frost and sometimes beyond. It’s a great companion plant to include in your vegetable garden to attract beneficial insects and keep the pests distracted. The flowers are edible and can be used in soups and salads. It’s also easy to collect seed to re-sow the following year.
Cleome, or spider flowers are an unusual hairy annual which produce impressive upright stems to 1.5m, with scented flowers in shades of violet-pink, rose-red or white from early summer to early autumn. They are another excellent gap-filler in borders for colour later in the season, or are great grown in large containers.
Annuals are a good starting point – they give you lashings of summer colour and are great for plugging gaps in borders