Forever yours…

You plant or sow them once, enjoy the reason why you did it, and then, totally unchoreographed and spontaneously, they turn up again when you least expect it. These are the self-seeding and naturalising plants that stay with you…

Shirley poppies

• Cultivars derived from the European wild field poppy (Papaver rhoeas), which produces stunning blooms with crinkled papery petals in vivid colours.

• The seed can be sown directly in autumn or early spring.

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

• Depending on the cultivar, flowers can be different shades of orange to nearly red and are open and funnel-shaped with a spur on the underside.

• Leaves are rounded like those of a waterlily and edible with a peppery taste.

Cape scabious (Scabiosa africana)

• Mounds of velvety evergreen leaves with strong stems up to 1m high, dividing into many side branches with mauve pincushion flowers at their tips.

• Great one to sow or plant in a fynbos garden.

With the price of everything soaring, including gardening, we have to start thinking about flowering annuals, perennials and bulbous plants that don’t have to be replaced every year, at high cost. So it’s time to think about the returners, which wait patiently in the wings for a turn to perform again.

As we are already into our winter season, some regions might be too cold for sowing directly or for planting last-minute spring-flowering bulbs now, although in temperate or subtropical climates you can still give it a bash. But if you can’t, make a note of the following suggestions in your gardening diary when planning for colour next summer and autumn, as many can be sown (or planted) in early spring as well.

The self-seeding