Nasturtium seeds are so easy to plant because they are large and easy to handle.
Here are some of my seed packets – each containing many seeds to sow.
Every year at this time I write about seed sowing because I am passionate about it – it is so much fun. It is an inexpensive way to add lots of flowers to your garden. There are some reliable favorites that I always sow and a few new ones to try. In this way, my garden feels the same and yet slightly different. My spring into summer garden is not complete without these beauties.
One of the primary uses of flowers in my garden is for cutting and bringing into the house. It brings me so much pleadure and I make sure to leave plenty of flowerrs in the garden for pollinators.
1. Sweet Peas
I have to have sweet peas for their charm and fragrance. Nothing beats a single stem in a narrow vase or a lovely bunch on the windowsill. I love all the different cultivars as long as they have that classic scent of early summer. Our seedlings are already growing. They were started off in the warm of the Carriage House and are now growing slowly in the cool greenhouse. They have already been re-potted into the next size up pots. Do not worry – it is not too late to start them as long as the weather is cold.
Cheri Amour Sweet Pea packet from Renee’s Seeds. The flowers have a ‘heady fragrance’.
Beware when you open the packet – the seeds are like mini marbles and roll everywhere. This year we pre-sprouted them by wrapping them in a damp paper towel so that we could watch them germinate. They were kept at about 70 degrees F to encourage germination. They were then potted into potting soil in old paper towel inners and then when the shoot popped through the soil they were moved to a cold place.
Sweet peas need a trellis or fence to grow up and cling onto with their tendrils.
2. Cornflowers
Cornflower ‘Blue Diadem’ seed packet from Select Seeds.
Cornflowers are really easy to grow. Plant the seeds directly sown into a prepared flower bed. They need at least six hours of sun a day and plenty of organic material in the soil. Plant the seeds three to four weeks before your last frost date. Water the soil when it is dry. Pick plenty of flowers for the house and deadhead the old flower heads to encourage the plants to keep making new blooms. These plants are hardy annuals so flower production will naturally wane as heat and humidity rise in the summer. Pull the plants out and replace them with summer-loving annuals like zinnias.
A bicolored cornflower in my garden with a blue one behind it.
The classic color is this vibrant blue. There are different cultivars with pink, crimson, white, and bicolor flowers. ‘Blue Diadem’ is a tall cultivar that has long stems that are perfect for cutting.
3. Marigolds
All types of marigolds are really easy to grow from seeds. I plant the frost-tender ones directly onto the ground after the soil has warmed up in spring. I particularly love the single flowers because the pollinators adore them. I choose ones with long stems to use in arrangements.
There are several different garden marigold types. There are plenty of really great types that can be used for cutting. The ones that I am referring to here have the Latin name of Tagetes. The entire species name is Tagetes patula. Look for cultivars such as ‘Harlequin’ or ‘Jolly Jester’ with pinwheel-like flower patterns. Other ones that grow are ‘Red Mariette’ and ‘Naughty Marietta’.
Red Marietta Marigold seed packet from Select Seeds.
Jolly Jester Marigold Seed Packet from Rohrer’s Seeds.
Marigolds are very generous with flower production. Keep on picking to get more flowers.
4. Nasturtiums
Nasturtium ‘Buttercream’ seed packet from Renee’s Garden.
Nasturtiums are really easy to grow from the round crinkled seeds that are poked straight into the soil when it has warmed up. Choose the seed type by flower and leaf color, and whether the plants are clump form or trailing.
Large, round, crinkled nasturtium seeds.
The round leaves and the tubular flowers are edible – as long as you do not use chemicals on your garden. I love all the colors but my current favorite is this light creamy-yellow cultivar called ‘Buttercream’. Try planting the seeds along a path so that the plants can drape over the path edging.
Nasturtium plants look lovely hanging over the edge of my Herb Garden path.
A Few General Seed Sowing Hints for Annual Flowers
- Make sure that you follow the seed sowing directions on the packet
- Most annuals need at least six hours of sun a day to produce flowers
- Water regularly and add organic matter to the soil
- Mulch the soil surface to keep water in the soil
- Pinch out the top of the shoot top when the plant is 8-10 inches tall – this produces a bushier plant
- If your soil is poor, or your plants are not growing healthily you may need to add weak strength fertilizer to your watering can. Choose one that is low in nitrogen – otherwise you will get lots of leaves and few flowers.
- Keep on picking your flowers. If you leave them on the plant, deadhead old flowers until late in the season, then you can leave the seeds to dry on the plant and collect them for next year.
- Keep experimenting. Each garden has its own unique growing conditions. If a particular type of seed-grown flower does not grow well for you – then try something different next year or change your seed-starting methods
- Have fun!!!
A garden in Utah that is full of annual flowers for cutting.
Bye for now Gardening Friends – Cheers, Jenny Rose Carey (below there are a couple of links to other seedy blogs that I have written)
Leave a Reply