HARDY ANNUALS - Jump start Spring direct sowing these beauties now!
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Hardy annuals either require cold stratification or simply germinate at cooler temperatures. Often the plants require a period of vernalisation, or cold, to flower prolifically. And they also cope better with, if not enjoy, cooler temperatures.
Both daylight and temperature are triggers for many plants and seeds. As growers, we can take advantage of the coolness of late autumn and winter to germinate and grow hardy annuals.
These cold loving seeds entice you to brave the cold, go into your garden and keep sowing. Their blooms fill the void between late winter/ spring bulbs and warm season flowers. And many are some of the “work horses” of the cut flowers.
While zinnias, cosmos and dahlias need and shine in the warm season, in our southern Victorian location, most hardy annuals germinate easily as soon as the soil cools to their optimum temperature. They form small plants before the days dip below 10 hours, then go dormant for the winter. They will resume growth once daylight again increases and bloom soon after bulb crops have finished.
One indicator of whether you can autumn sow hardy annuals is how reliably they self seed in your garden; if you have poppies, larkspur and bachelor buttons popping up in May, you should try Autumn seeding.
If your winter season is especially wet or your location has a winter weed issue, it is also possible to sow most hardy annuals from mid June - mid August. We cold stratify the seed first and also ensure to sow early enough that the plant experiences the vernalisation period necessary to flower. If the long range forecast is for a warmer than usual spring, sow directly after the winter solstice to offer the plant the optimum coolness required.
Breadseed poppies and shirley poppies are both easy to grow hardy annuals.
We have written about both including direct sow and transplanting instructions HERE.
LARKSPUR
Larkspur are one of our favorite late spring/early summer spires. They are fantastic cut flowers with a long stem length and a two week vase life. We love them arranged by themselves or in combination with pale foliage and lime green flowers, roses, peonies, bells of Ireland, poppies, celosia, zinnias. With an array of colours, they are quintessential cottage garden flowers occupying herbaceous borders for centuries and much sought after by floral designers.
We have written about how to sow and grow larkspur including direct sowing and transplanting instructions HERE.
CERINTHE OR HONEYWORT
With its truly unusual colour, containing silver, green, purple and blue all on one stem, and lovely nodding heads with little bell flowers, this easy to start annual mixes well with other flowers. Cerinthe is cold and frost hardy and will readily self seed.
We cannot help but smile on the gloomiest of winter days when we see the bright faces of calendula. It shines in winter and will readily self seed providing endless cheery blooms which are edible! Calendula are also great cut flowers.
Not only do cornflowers add the whimsy of a meadow to the vegetable garden or border, they are also edible- sprinkle in salads or on cakes. They are easy to grow, cold hardy, come in an assortment of colours and attract beneficial insects!
