Bedding on a budget

Start the countdown to non-stop summer flowers by choosing your favourite bedding varieties and sowing seed now. Find out how in our easy guide

Nothing beats summer bedding for creating a splash of vibrant colour that lasts for months. You can buy it ready grown in late spring, but it’s much more satisfying and fun to grow it from seed yourself. You’ll get a bigger choice of flowers and even save money. The varieties we’re recommending over the next few pages can all be started off in a propagator in January or February in a greenhouse or on a warm windowsill. Reduce the temperature after germination (the time when the seed sends out a shoot). Start as early as possible because bedding takes a few months to get to the flowering stage. Sow into seed compost in good light, a grow lamp is a good investment particularly if you’re sowing in January ( prices start at £6 from horticultural suppliers). So get sowing now and we’ll give you further advice on looking after bedding seedlings in our next few issues.