Hello February and what better day for making a seed sowing plan than Imbolc – a Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring – that takes place between the evenings of 1 and 2 Feb. This date also marks the point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, which sounds like a hopeful kind of date to me.
My plan this year is to focus on making complementary drifts of colour and texture rather than just dotting stuff around, to better position plants according to their height, to sow most of my seeds directly into the ground (last year, watering my seedlings was like a full time job that I know I don’t have time for this year) and to limit fruit and veg to lettuce, tomatoes courgettes and kale alongside herbs and edible companion plants.
Having had the day from hell on the homeschooling front (we pretty much had to give up and try and start again at 2pm) buying seeds feels like the perfect pick me up, so here’s my starter list along with suggested sowing dates.
Ammi majus
Love Ammi (Ammi majus) for her frothy white umbelliferous flowerheads. Last year I sowed these indoors in February but they quickly outgrew their little pots and the super tender stems were hard to prick out. I then planted them in the wrong place (too near the front of my borders and without enough direct sunlight) and when I moved them they lost their strength. This year I’m going to try just sowing them outside in situ. In which case I’m aiming for the beginning of March and will sow among the alliums and Agastache in the front garden and at the back of the herb border in the back garden.
Cosmos
Cosmos (Cosmos) is such a wonderful spring to late summer flower, bringing colour, joy and a little wild to the garden. This year I’m going to try drifts of the taller pink, white and candy-striped varieties in the borders and dwarf white ones in pots. Again I think I’m going to chance on sowing them direct as I just had too many pots of seedlings to look after last year. In which case sowing outdoors is from May. I may sow a few in pots indoors in March to give to friends.
Echinacea
I haven’t had much success growing Echinacea (Echinacea) from seed so far so going to give it my best effort this year. Again I’ll try growing direct outdoors, from April with some backup 9cm plants on order if they don’t work out. Echinacea pallida (of which I already have three plants) and Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ and ‘White Swan’ are all on the list.
Dill
A herb I haven’t had in my garden for quite a few years, dill ((Anethum graveolens) is lovely for pickling along with mustard seeds and makes a pretty acid green cut flower so going to get some in the borders and pots where it will hopefully then self-seed. Sow under cover from Feb or outdoors from April.
Borage
I get so much joy from growing borage (Borago officinalis) in my herb borders, raised beds and in pots. Just need to work out how to stop it getting such bad blackfly, although this also makes it a good companion plant along with nasturtium, diverting the flies away from your veg. Sow in pots indoors from March, direct sow from April. Looking forward to sowing blue and white varieties.
Other seeds currently in my Sarah Raven shopping basket waiting until I find my discount code (must also check my actual basket for seeds still to sow from last year) with suggested sowing dates so I feel like i’m mildly in control of my lockdown…
Tomato ‘Noire de Crimee’ (Sow indoors Jan-March; Direct sow April)
Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) ‘High Scent’ (Sow indoors Jan-March; direct sow April-May)
Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) ‘Matucana’ (Sow indoors Jan-March; direct sow April-May)
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) ‘Dark Plum’ (Direct sow March-May)
Viola x cornuta (Direct sow March-May)
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) (Direct sow March-May)
Rudbeckia hirta ‘Chim Chiminee’ (Direct sow April)
Lettuce ‘Red Salad Bowl’ (Direct sow April-Aug)
Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) (Direct sow April-May)
Love in the mist (Nigella damascena) ‘Miss Jeykll’ (Direct sow April)
Heartsease (Viola tricolor) (Direct sow April-August)
Calendula officinialis ‘Indian Prince’ and ‘Sunset Buff’ (Direct sow April-June)
Nasturtium (Tropaelolum majus) ‘Empress of India’ (Direct sow May)
Nasturtium (Tropaelolum majus) ‘Empress of India and ‘Gleam Salmon’ (Direct sow May)
Nasturtium (Tropaelolum minus) ‘Black Velvet’ and ‘Ladybird Rose’ (Direct sow May)
Courgette ‘All Green Bush’ (Sow indoors March-April; Direct sow May)
Kale ‘Nero di Toscana’ (Direct sow May-July)
Verbena (Verbena bonariensis) (Direct sow May)
Whirling butterflies (Gaura lindheimeri) (Direct sow May)
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Dwarf Sensation White’ (Direct sow May)
Pale Cosmos Collection (Cosmos bipinnatus) including ‘Purity’, ‘Sensation pinkie’ and ‘Fizzy Rose Picotee‘ (Direct sow May-June)