Flowers you sow one year and bloom the next
Many people only sow annuals and that’s a shame, as growing biennials from seed is very easy. True, in a small garden, sowing flowers that aren’t going to bloom until the following year can seem a waste of space. However, these are the plants that fill that awkward flowering gap between late March and mid-June. Think wallflowers, foxgloves, sweet William, honesty, sweet rocket, perennial stock and Icelandic poppies.
In my garden, foxgloves and sweet rocket seed themselves after flowering. I just move the ones that are in inconvenient places. They really needn’t take up much room from seed. Sow from May-July – give them a go for floral delights next spring. Learn how to grow easy perennials from seed.
- Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus): The epitome of the cottage garden and a lovely scent too.
- Sweet Rocket (Hesperis matronalis): Another serial self-seeder. I didn’t even introduce this one! Both the mauve and white varieties appear at the end of May and right through June. It’s very happy in partial shade.
- Honesty (Lunaria): Similar in flower to sweet rocket, but earlier, and in white and purple. It’s the seed pods people adore – paper moons.
- Perennial stock or Brompton stock (Matthiola incana): Confusing name, because it can survive into a third season, with an old clove carnation scent, flowering from April until late June. Many colours and forms.
- Iceland poppies (Papaver nudicaule): Lightly scented, crumpled silk-like petals, deeper coloured towards the centre, gold anthers.
Growing biennials from seed – Wallflowers
Wallflowers (Erysimum) are lovely, beautifully fragrant spring flowers. I can recommend Fire King (deep red) and Cloth of Gold (funnily enough, gold), planted in the large gaps when my main border was newly planted. No such spaces now! When the seedlings were big enough to handle, I potted them up into yoghurt pots and then moved them to their final positions after the annuals were finished in October. Pinch out the growing tips for bushier plants.
Plant World Seeds sells a lovely mixture of its own, Plant World Rainbows, well worth investigating. In fact, there’s a terrific and unusual selection on site. They’re one of the most reliable spring bedding plants, surviving frosts and harsh winters. The flowers vary in colour between yellows, reds, oranges and pinks, growing to 20-40cm high.
Foxgloves – perfect for shade
Foxgloves (Digitalis) are one of my favourite flowers – what’s not to love about a plant that looks after itself, has gorgeous blooms and likes shade? Here’s an in-depth look at foxgloves. My original garden stock came from one packet of rare mixed seeds from Plant World Seeds. There are some wonderful varieties available that you’ll not see elsewhere. The general rule is that the shorter they are, the more likely they’ll be perennial.
I let them self-seed – there’s the native purple foxglove, the white variety (both the most rampant self-seeders), plus apricot (no offspring), ones with deeply-freckled throats, and there was a pink/purple giant over 6ft tall. I also have Dalmatian Mixed (a cheapo plug plant mix), plus Summer King and Candy Mountain.
