Bargain perennials

Why pay pounds for one plant when you can spend pennies to get lots? If you like that idea, why not try growing perennials from seed, says Graham Rice

- Graham Rice

I POPPED into my local garden centre one morning recently and checked the price of delphinium plants. One plant, in a one-liter pot, grown by a nursery from seed, and looking fresh and just right for planting, was priced at £3.99. I then strolled inside and took a look at the seed racks. The same variety, 60 seeds in a packet, cost 99p. So, what do you think?

Of course, if you buy a plant, you can take it straight home and get it on the same day. But raise plants from seed yourself and by next spring you could have 50 plants for a quarter of the price of one. Sounds like a bargain? Yes, I thought so, too.

Not as difficult as you might think

Of course, in between seed sowing and planting comes the tricky bit, but growing perennials from seed is not as difficult as you might think. If you can raise marigolds from seed, you can raise perennials from seed.

There are two different groups and two different ways of going about it. Either way, it’s not difficult.

You can buy seed of many perennials by mail order or from the garden center, or you can save it yourself from your own plants. The seed of most perennials keeps for ages, and whether you sow it this year or next year often makes little difference – especially if it’s been tucked away at the back of the fridge. Columbines, geums, and lupins fit here.

Some perennials are fussy