SOW NOW FOR NEXT SUMMER

THE prettiest and best pinks for cutting are Sweet Williams. Quite unlike others of their tribe, these have flowers in tight clusters atop tall stems which are furnished with broad, dark green leaves. They last beautifully in water and are stars among June-blooming flowers.

There are dozens of varieties, but the best are older seed mixes with patterned flowers. Old fashioned Auricula Eyed seed strains are lovely and deeply fragrant. You can buy those from most seedsmen.

Mr Fothergills also offer Electron which has some lighter petal patterns. They’re biennial, needing one summer to develop from seed, blooming one year later.

Now is the time to sow the seeds. They need no protection and can be sown directly into a prepared seed bed. Germination is usually speedy and the young plants will be ready to bed out in September or early October, or left where they germinated and transplanted in March.

Once you have grown sweet Williams, you can harvest your own seeds for re-using next year. In the right conditions, they will often self-sow and stay true. But it’s still wiser to buy your seed each year. That way, the mixtures will keep their integrity.

To perform best, Sweet Williams need free-draining, fertile soil in full sun.