You learn things when you move to a new place. When I lived in urban or sub-urban areas I bought plants from the nursery or the supermarket, or wherever I could find them. I liked plants and they liked me. I didn’t really ever think about buying seeds though. There just wasn’t any room for it.
Now, I live in a rural and remote place. It’s the land of sheep and cattle, peat and moor, gales and boggy ground. It’s quite North, and one thing I learned was that I always had to add a month to the planting times that you see on seed packets. As a general rule to keep in mind, you understand.
The other general rule to keep in mind is that summer lasts for about 2 weeks here. Three if we’re lucky. And these few weeks can happen anytime from May to August. And they don’t need to happen all together. It could be a day a week for the entire period. It all makes for dodgy gardening conditions. No wonder people have poly tunnels, polycrubs, greenhouses and conservatories.
I, however, do not have those luxuries. Sure I have the builder on tap, but there are always just other things that need the money more than creating a closed environment for plants. Also, I like to see plants outside, beautifying the area and available to brighten the day of anyone passing by. So every year there is a bit of a dodge-ball activity towards starting seeds.
Some years I’ve planted my seeds towards the end of January. This year, however, I decided to start them in the middle of February. I also decided to do multiple sowing periods. This means, for example, that I sowed half a pack of Zinnias the first week of planting and on the third week I sowed the rest. This gives me a better chance of having more seedlings germinate. And, if that happens (and all goes well with the rest of the growing season and bugs etc.), I stand a better chance of having a longer flowering period in the garden as the second wave of flowers (from the seeds that were planted in the second wave) should come into bloom when the first start to wilt. So, theoretically, I should have Zinnias making me happy in the garden for a longer period.
If you take this approach to all your seeds, you’ll have a garden full of flower power during the summer period. The effort will be worth it, promise!
But, I hope you have a lot of counter space in your kitchen! I don’t. So it’s a bit of a squeeze. And I’ve extended to another room’s windowsill. I live in a traditional croft house which has been renovated. These houses are usually made of stone and the walls are about 3ft thick. Of stone! The insulation etc. happens on top of these thick walls! Whew, if I had known that before moving up here I would have asked a lot more questions about the weather! Ha!
This year I planted some Echinacea, Zinnias, Asters, Cosmos and Iberis in the first wave. Then a couple of weeks later I did Limnanthes, more Echinacea and Nasturtiums. Then about a week later I discovered I had a pack of dwarf annual sunflower seeds and tall perennial sunflower seeds, so of course I had to plant them too! All of the spare space on my horizontal surfaces is full and my Nasturtiums are doing very well. They were among the last seeded and they are growing vigorously and happily.
My lovely hubby promised to make me a cold frame or cloche last year so that I could acclimatize seedlings to the outdoors in a fairly gentle and controlled way. Well, honey! I need that cold frame soonish! Those Nasturtiums are growing faaaast!
Tip for families: It’s common knowledge that sunflowers are reliable seeds and great for kids to handle as they’re quite large. Sunflowers germinate quickly given the right conditions and this provides a great activity for the little ones. Nasturtiums are also very good, if not better, for engaging with kids. Their seeds are bigger and more rounded, so they’ll be a bit easier for dinky lil fingers to grasp. Also, they germinate more quickly than sunflowers and different varieties grow in different ways – some are shrubby and some are trailing. Kids generally like this. There are often differently coloured flowers in the seed pack to keep the wee ones engaged and, as the final hurrah, Nasturtiums are edible. So, if your little pumpkin decides to smush a flower or a leaf into his or her mouth, no worries – it’s just a bit of salad!
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