GROW YOUR OWN For the best results, follow this step-by-step, month-by-month guide, and then sit back and enjoy
February/March
Sow in a windowsill Achillea millefolium ‘Cassis’, Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Nora Barlow’, Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’, Malva ‘Zebrina’, Panicum virgatum, Verbena bonariensis and Verbena hastate.
Sow seeds on the surface of lightly firmed, moist seed compost in a propagator.
Cover seed with a light sprinkling of compost or vermiculite and keep the compost surface moist but not waterlogged.
The exceptions are Viola cornuta nigra, which likes dark conditions for germination, so make sure you exclude light, and Erigeron, Dianthus and Papaver orientale, which germinate best if the seed is not covered with soil.
If you do not have a propagator, try sealing your plant pot or tray inside a polythene bag until after germination. I use small heated windowsill propagators that have seven compartments but come in all shapes and sizes.
The best way to check that you have watered your seeds correctly is to place a dry finger on the soil. If soil sticks to your finger, you’ve got it right. If no soil sticks to your finger, you need to add more water.
March
Prepare the soil by weeding thoroughly and digging through some leaf mould or mushroom compost before raking the bed to create a fairly level surface.
With a tool or stick, make a furrow to a depth of about 2cm, then sow your seeds, dropping them in 5-6cm apart.
After sowing, cover your seeds by pulling soil over your furrow. You want your seeds to be 5-6cm deep, so move just enough soil to fill in your trench without creating a mound over the seeds.
Use a watering can or hose with a diffuser attached to water the seeds. Sprinkling the water like a rain prevents it from washing away the soil.
Sow direct into the garden Atriplex hortensis cupreata, Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Sonata White’, Foeniculum vulgare, Helianthus annuus ‘Velvet Queen’, Lathyrus odoratus ‘Wiltshire Ripple’, Tropaeolum majus ‘Jewel of Africa’ and Papaver paeoniflorum.
Late March
Your seedlings should be large enough to handle so transplant them into 7.5cm pots or trays.
Gradually acclimatise your plants to the outdoors for 10-15 days by placing them in a cold frame or using a greenhouse. Once the risk of frost passes, plant them out.
If you don’t have a cold frame, you can make one out of a plastic storage box and a sheet of perspex. Rest the perspex on top of the box at night to keep in the warmth and during the day turn it 45 degrees for circulation.
April
Clean your propagator and then sow foxgloves in it and leave indoors.
The seeds sown straight into the ground outside should have germinated by now, so thin them to their correct spacing.
Erect tepees as climbing supports for the sweet peas and nasturtiums.
