The garden club February meeting had seed expert Jason Breed talking about how to direct sow and grow hardy annuals. Jason is area sales manager for Moles Seeds Ltd, a supplier of seeds to the horticultural trade.
ason started his presentation with a list of pros and cons of direct sowing of hardy annuals. The positives of direct sowing into the flower beds is that you do not need to have a greenhouse. Also you can choose a wide variety of colour schemes easily. You can plant a range of sizes to give a vertical interest to you flower beds and finally direct sowing hardy annual requires a minimum of plant care once sown. Once they are grown you can harvest as cut flowers for the house or flower arranging. The downsides of direct sowing is that until established the new flowers are at risk of whatever the elements throw at them. Some species can self-sow readily and take over a flower bed, so need to be kept in check.
Normally you would start your direct sowing of hardy annuals around mid-April after the risk of frost has passed and the soil is starting to warm up. You should sow thinly in the first instance and then once you get germination you can do a second sowing to fill in any gaps where germination failed. For the taller hardy annuals like sunflowers you will need to support the flower stems.
ason started his presentation with a list of pros and cons of direct sowing of hardy annuals. The positives of direct sowing into the flower beds is that you do not need to have a greenhouse. Also you can choose a wide variety of colour schemes easily. You can plant a range of sizes to give a vertical interest to you flower beds and finally direct sowing hardy annual requires a minimum of plant care once sown. Once they are grown you can harvest as cut flowers for the house or flower arranging. The downsides of direct sowing is that until established the new flowers are at risk of whatever the elements throw at them. Some species can self-sow readily and take over a flower bed, so need to be kept in check.
Normally you would start your direct sowing of hardy annuals around mid-April after the risk of frost has passed and the soil is starting to warm up. You should sow thinly in the first instance and then once you get germination you can do a second sowing to fill in any gaps where germination failed. For the taller hardy annuals like sunflowers you will need to support the flower stems.