Higgledy Garden
  • About Higgledy Garden
  • The Higgledy Garden Shop
  • Ben’s Blog
  • Growing Guides
  • Seed Sowing Guide
  •  
0
Your cart is empty. Go to Shop.

How To Grow Sweet Williams From Seed.

sweet william

When I began my adventures in the cut flower growing arena I had very little space in which to grow my plants. The thought of using up valuable growing space for plants that wouldn’t flower until the second year after sowing seemed like a preposterous idea and one which should be quickly dismissed. For a number of years I completely left biennials out of my cutting patches…that is until I had a surprise visit from Great Uncle Peregrine Higgledy. Peregrine told me the story of how he had wooed Great Auntie Bunty by showering her cottage with Sweet Williams dropped from his inverted low flying Spitfire and grown by his own fair hand. There was no air raid shelter deep enough nor strong enough to protect her heart from a floral bombardment such as this. Peregrine then set me straight on how best to grow biennials and I haven’t created a flower patch without them since.

Sweet William 'Nigricans'
Sweet William ‘Nigricans’

Top Tips For Growing Sweet Williams From Seed.

*Sweet Williams Can be sown from late May until the end the beginning of August. I tend to sow my own on the 21 June…the summer solstice…because it’s sort of cool and makes me sound like I know what I’m up to…..it’s also easy to remember.

*If sowing in modules…so onto well watered seed compost and cover the seeds LIGHTLY.

Sweet William 'Alba'
Sweet William ‘Alba’

*Sweet Williams will germinate at 17-19ish degrees which is about room temperature in the summer…they don’t need a super warm greenhouse or windowsill.

download (1)

*Last year I just simply put the seed trays outside after germination and let them get on with it…watching they didn’t dry out…all was well.

*Although you can sow directly into the soil, I prefer to sow in modules or 3 inch square pots…which equates to 15 pots to a seed tray. I can sow these on the solstice and they won’t need potting up before they go out in late August or September. I plant mine out BEFORE the autumn equinox which is the 21st September…plant out later than this at your peril!

*Space them out to about a foot apart.

*You won’t need to stake them unless your flower patch is very exposed as they are quite sturdy creatures.

The three best Sweet William’s for cutting are ‘Auricula Eyed’,‘Nigricans‘ and ‘Alba‘.

Kind regards

Benjamin Higgledy

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
Sunday Night Picture Show! June 14th 2015. Free Seeds At The Port Eliot Festival.

Fresh posts!

  • Why Higgledy is limiting available stock to 75k packets per year.
  • Eight Months At Bluebell Cottage Nursery.
  • Sowing Sweet Peas In Autumn And Winter.
  • Why you should be sowing Hardy Annuals in late August/early September.
  • Autumn Sowing Of Hardy Annual Flowers.

Sign up for the newsletter!

Once every two months, I send subscribers a discount code or an offer for a heavily discounted bundle of seeds. You won't get inundated with emails... I'm far too lazy for that sort of caper.

Possibly old and musty

  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
© Higgledy Garden 2020
site by santa ana limited
Privacy Policy

Join Us

Once every two months, I send subscribers a discount code or an offer for a heavily discounted bundle of seeds. You won't get inundated with emails... I'm far too lazy for that sort of caper.

Join the chat on social media

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter