It's time to sow – and sow

Get sowing to prolong the flowering season, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

IT’S time to start thinking about sowing half-hardy (HHA) and hardy annual (HA) seeds for this year’s one-season color.

Although hardy annuals can withstand the cold, I’d hold off sowing them outside for a few more weeks as the soil will be inhospitably cold and wet, and vulnerable little seeds are at risk of being washed away, of rotting and of becoming the next meal for hungry rodents and birds.

Instead, sow them undercover in seed trays or pots and stash them in an unheated greenhouse, porch, cold frame or mini greenhouse.

Annual seeds to start now could include sunflowers, clary, larkspur, quaking grass, honeywort (Cerinthe) and poached egg plant.

They will germinate and be ready for potting on and planting out before those sown directly in the soil get going.