Anyone planting hardy annuals now?

angelavdavis

Hi all,

I am keen to progress with my flower border to encourage pollinators onto my allotment. I picked up a load of half price flower and vegetable seeds at the weekend and read that hardy annuals planted now tend to flower earlier and for longer.

I was going to have a go at lavatera, cosmos, cornflowers, sweet pea, poached egg plants, poppies, gypsophila and calendula.

Anyone else planting hardy annuals now?

A._Badger

angelavdavis wrote: »

Hi all,

I am keen to progress with my flower border to encourage pollinators onto my allotment. I picked up a load of half price flower and vegetable seeds at the weekend and read that hardy annuals planted now tend to flower earlier and for longer.

I was going to have a go at lavatera, cosmos, cornflowers, sweet pea, poached egg plants, poppies, gypsophila and calendula.

Anyone else planting hardy annuals now?

I read Sarah Raven in the Telegraph suggesting this but I can't help feeling sceptical. I suppose there's nothing to lose - especially with cheap seed - but I fear slugs, snails and bad weather (even here in the South).

Pot grown perennials, on the other hand, I am planting like crazy as I'm sure they do well going in at this time of the year.

If you do give it a try, please let us know how it goes, won't you?

emiff6

angelavdavis wrote: »

Hi all,

I was going to have a go at lavatera, cosmos, cornflowers, sweet pea, poached egg plants, poppies, gypsophila and calendula.

Anyone else planting hardy annuals now?

I'm not sure about gypsophila 'cos I've never grown it, (and I'm hopeless with sweet peas) but all the other plants you mention self-seed into the ground at this time of year anyway, and little plants start to grow, so you should have no problem.
I shake the ripe seedheads of my hardy annuals all round the garden, direct into the soil, and they mostly grow. Also with perennials - lupin, delphinium, foxglove, jacob's ladder, hardy cyclamen etc.

[Deleted User]

I planted sweet peas in root trainers yesterday. The others will wait until next march

foxgloves

I always sow my sweetpeas in October to overwinter in unheated greenhouse, but I don't sow any other hardy annuals until Spring. We're North east midlands, not nearly as far north as some, but even spring-sown annuals that are supposed to be pretty hardy have been nipped by a sharp frost in March, early April in the past, so I don't risk autumn sowing for anything else. Oh.....except for foxgloves, I do sometimes sow those around now, but mostly I don't need too, as they self-seed in the borders pretty heavily most years.

loulou41

I am planting dwarf cornflower now from seeds, they are easy and lovely plants.

olly300

A._Badger wrote: »

I read Sarah Raven in the Telegraph suggesting this but I can't help feeling sceptical. I suppose there's nothing to lose - especially with cheap seed - but I fear slugs, snails and bad weather (even here in the South).

Pot grown perennials, on the other hand, I am planting like crazy as I'm sure they do well going in at this time of the year.

Yes they do.

They are easier to look after than planting them out in Spring as it's more likely to rain.

angelavdavis

loulou41 wrote: »

I am planting dwarf cornflower now from seeds, they are easy and lovely plants.

Loulou are you planting these out in the open or in pots?

Everyone,

Thanks for your feedback/advice. I think I will give it a go - I agree about slugs though, I try to plant everything in pots first because we are organic and even though I collect the slugs and snails to take back home for my chickens, there are always so many tiny ones living in the soil you can never be sure. I have bought some organic snail gel (a first for me), so I think I will surround the sowing areas with this in advance of sowing the seed.

~~Diane~~

I've been and planted 4 seed trays this morning with a few of each variety, 3 little modules of each, if they don't grow nothing lost, I've still loads to sow in spring.

I'm all new to gardening so it's a learning curve for me.

loulou41

angelavdavis wrote: »

Loulou are you planting these out in the open or in pots?

Everyone,

Thanks for your feedback/advice. I think I will give it a go - I agree about slugs though, I try to plant everything in pots first because we are organic and even though I collect the slugs and snails to take back home for my chickens, there are always so many tiny ones living in the soil you can never be sure. I have bought some organic snail gel (a first for me), so I think I will surround the sowing areas with this in advance of sowing the seed.

I started them in trays first as my soil is very poor and full of slugs . They do grow very quickly and I have already planted them in the open esp when it was raining. They are very easy to grow and hardy and look very nice in the border. I just plant them this year to flower next year. If you have got good soil, they will also self seed but the slugs eat mine as soon as the seedlings appear. I find winter pansies are also easy to grow.