If you want to try growing from flower seeds then growing bedding plants are a good way to start. You can, of course, always get your flowers in plug plant form, or buy them in pots, but apart from being a more expensive way of filling your garden it is fun and easy to grow bedding plants from flower seeds. The following plants are easy to grow from seed.
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Flower seeds can be sown from late February indoors. Start them off on a sunny windowsill, greenhouse or well-lit shed. Follow the packet instructions but they should germinate within a couple of weeks and once the seedlings get to plug plant size you can plant them straight out.
Nicotiana ‘Lime Green’ (tobacco plant) has masses of lime-green fragrant flowers, especially in the evening, from July to September. It is equally at home in the middle of a mixed border, or in a container.Grows to around 75 cm x 45 cm.
Cosmos is a star of a bedding plant. Not only does it make a great filler in a border and is easy to grow but it produces a succession of large flowers from early summer until mid-autumn. Its feathery mid-green leaves are a nice foil, not just for its own flowers, but for other plants around it. Flower seeds are usually in mixed colour packets. Try Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Purity’ which is white, and slightly taller and bigger flowered than the mixed colours, reaching a height and spread of 1.2m x 0.6 m.
Nasturtium’s are some of the most colourful bedding blants, flowering from June to September. For something a little different Tropaeolum ‘Black Velvet’ has deep red, almost black-looking, velvety flowers, contrasting magnificently against the green-grey leaves. At 30 cm x 40 cm it will not take up too much space at the front of the border, and, if you need any further encouragement to find a home for it, this plant is also edible, the foliage having quite a peppery taste, and the flower petals making a pretty garnish.
Gerberas are other favourite annuals. Their array of colourful flowers from the near fluorescent pinks and oranges, to the pastel pinks and lemons, are sure to provide a colour taste for every garden. Looking as good in pots as they do in borders these daisy-like flowers of up to 12 cm tall are sure to brighten up any garden.
For unique flowers with contrasting stripes Gazania Tiger Stripes are easy to grow and will flower freely from June until October. Again, they are happy in containers or in a border, reaching a height and spread of only 20cm.
Summer bedding plants are perfect for adding colour and fragrance to your borders or patio and for bridging gaps between perennial plants. If you are interested in further information on long-flowering plants the articles Long-Lasting Flowers for a Summer Garden – Tall Perennials and Long-Lasting Flowers for a Summer Garden – Climbers may be useful.
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