Seeds - What & When
hello guys,
Thanks for having me on the forum. I'm a totally newbie when it comes to gardening in general however I appear to have caught the bug. To give you a brief overview I stay in a detached house with front and back garden. Both gardens get a decent amount of sun. I've picked up a cheap but I think suitable plastic greenhouse over the weekend. My plan is to grow my own seeds so that next year, or as early as possible I have my own flowers ready for bedding and or hanging baskets.
So my question is what seeds would you recommend and when should I plant them. I'd like flowers at most times of the year, or when possible. All the time if I could. Obviously it's June the now, am I too late to plant seeds to have flowers later this year or should you always think one year in advance?
I hope this makes sense and hope that it's not too much of a general question but hope you can help so that it gives me a starting point.
Thanks
Kyle
Posts
You want winter flowering / early spring bulbs such as aconite, snowdrops, narcissi, crocus, daffodils and tulips for early colour.
I'd sow some biennials now - these are plants that grow in the first year and flower/self-seed in the second. They tend to be cottage garden type of plant.June is the perfect time to get them growing. So if you sow the seeds now they will grow this year and flower in 2017. I'd grow then in the greenhouse to protect them from slug damage and plant them out next spring. Foxgloves and hesperis matronalis (which is very fragrant) as well as wallflowers, sweet williams and night-scented stock. Most self-seed pretty easily, but it's wise to plant a few specimens each year just in case.
Another long flowering plant is erysimum (short-lived periennal wallflowers). They come in lots of different shades but Mauves Bowles tends to flower from early spring to late autumn. Again they also have a decent fragrance and are pretty cheap in the garden centres. They only tend to survive 3 years, but are easy to take cuttings from and replicate.
Wow that's brilliant! Some great advice. Thanks for that. I do like the snowdrops and have thought about them for next year. When should I plant them? I'll have a look at some of the others I havnt heard of yet.
So yeah, the biennials sound like what I was meaning. Seeds to plant the now ready for next year.
With regards to them self seeding, is this when I have bedded them in the garden. And I'm assuming if they are left they would need some controlling?
Thanks again,
Kyle
Snowdrops are best planted "in the green". That is, you plant them when they still have their leaves so next spring will be the time to get started with that particular plant.
Forget-me-nots and aquilegias are very good at self seeding. If you leave the plants in the ground until they have produced seeds, they will do the job of filling the garden for next spring without any input from yourself. They can get a bit too enthusiastic about this so a bit of weeding out is necessary. Ox eye daisies self seed like mad and are almost a pest but they look lovely at this time of year. Opium poppies (papaver somniferum) are a good annual to grow if you want more of the plants in following years. Not only do they self seed but the seed pods look great if you leave them in the garden during the winter months, and the birds like the seeds too.
You may want to dot the beds with the odd evergreen shrub or larger perennial to fill in the gaps.
Thanks Ceres,
I do like the forget me nots. I'll certainly look into them, I have an idea where I'd put them. Along a straight border I have out the front garden. Run parallel to the lawn so is prob need to weed some stragglers out if they seed quite heavily.
I've also been looking at pansies. I think I read they can be sown in autumn and planted in early spring for summer flowers? Is that right?
I also like viola's and was thinking the pansies and violas would be nice in the hanging baskets. The main thing I'm struggling with is finding out when to plant the seeds. And when they'll be ready. Just a bit of research needed I think. If I could maximise the amount of time I have flowers in the garden, I'd say thats my goal.
Thats good to know about the snowdrops. I thought I missed my chance with them. So basically what your saying is I can buy them come next spring and plant them then.
Ta