It’s time to sow!
Get sowing to prolong the flowering season, says Ruth
IT’S time to start thinking about sowing half-hardy (HHA) and hardy annual (HA) seeds for this year’s one-season color. Although hardy annuals can withstand the cold, I’d hold off sowing them outside for a few more weeks as the soil will be inhospitably cold and wet, and vulnerable little seeds are at risk of being washed away, of rotting and of becoming the next meal for hungry rodents and birds.
Instead, sow them undercover in seed trays or pots and stash them in an unheated greenhouse, porch, cold frame or mini greenhouse.
Annual seeds to start now could include sunflowers, clary, larkspur, quaking grass, honeywort (Cerinthe) and poached egg plant.
They will germinate and be ready for potting on and planting out before those sown directly in the soil get going.
It’s too cold to sow more delicate halfhardy annuals such as cosmos, nicotiana, cleomes and zinnias now, so start them undercover. Planted out once the frosts have passed, they will soon grow and flower. If you can’t sow directly outside now, you can at least start preparing the soil. Clear weeds and rake over the ground to remove roots, stones and debris. Run the rake one way, then 90 degrees the other to break up the soil and create a fine tilth the texture of crumble topping. Doing this now means you will be giving any lurking weed seeds a nudge and they will start growing so you can remove them before sowing, so the unwanted interlopers won’t out-compete your developing seedlings for light, water and nutrients.