Sow frost-hardy annuals

Sow your hardy annuals in September and you’ll get much better results than if you wait until next year, says Graham Rice, as he reveals his top picks for sowing now

- Graham Rice

NOW is the time when I find myself pulling out the hardy annuals. Even with the careful and thorough deadheading that most of us never manage, the hardy annuals are done.

The fact that the flowers are running to seed tells us something useful. It tells us that seeds are being formed and have probably already started to drop to the ground – which is pretty much the same as what we gardeners do when sowing them. So let’s do exactly that.

But first, a reminder: we’re talking about hardy annuals here, not asters, zinnias, petunias or pelargoniums, as these are not frost hardy. I’m talking about frost-hardy annuals that you can sow in September and which will have germinated before the cold weather sets in so they have to take the frost when it comes.

Ideal sowing time

The trick is to sow the seeds early enough so that they develop resilient young plants before winter, but not so early that they become large and unmanageable when they surge into growth in spring. I had 6ft (1.8m) larkspurs one year, from sowing too early in the autumn. It was almost impossible to keep the plants from falling over.

September sowing also has the advantage that, compared with March or April, the soil is warm after the summer so the seeds germinate much more quickly, and they get ahead of the slugs.

Leaves develop