In my last post we looked at how to go about sowing hardy annuals in late summer/autumn and it was, I’m sure you agree, tremendously exciting. By now you should have calmed down enough to have fortified yourselves for another bout of hardy annual fun. Regular readers will be aware of how much I like my hardy annuals…they always make up the lion’s share of the Higgledy Garden. They are simple and delightful and most importantly they are the most abundant and productive flowers in the patch.
Here’s six of my favourites to whet your whistle…or is it wet your whistle? So many questions so little time…
Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga. Ammi majus is way more popular than visnaga for some reason. Personally I prefer visnaga. She is a chunkier version of her sister, with more curves. Her flowers are more dense and so is her stem, which makes for more stability in the vase. Autumn sown will tower above spring sown. You get loads of seeds in a pack so why not hold some back for spring? #simples.
Larkspur. Another beauty that provides much bigger plants from an autumn sowing. Larkspur ‘Hyacinth’ (Yes…a confusing name.) has won me over this season. I suggest freezing the seeds for a week or so before planting out.
Godetia. An old fashioned beauty. Grown by Granny and Granddad Higgledy. I only stock ‘Crown’ because in my opinion it’s the best by a country mile…and it’s my shop so I’ll stock what I like!
Cornflowers. Anyone who doesn’t have cornflowers in their cutting patch should be made to live on the Isle of Wight until they repent. Grow all of them. Cheap as chips…and bring you joy all summer long. We have a range of colours…you must have blue, of course, it’s pretty much the law.
Dill is my new hardy annual chum. Until you’ve grown dill ‘Mammoth’, it’s hard to imagine how useful it is as a cut and also as a beautiful thing to behold in the garden.
Nigella. Once you have got Nigella growing in your patch she will keep coming back year on year. I grew them in galvanised buckets this year which was a great success. The seeds pods are useful in the vase too.
I hope this is of some help to you. All can be found in the Higgledy seed shop.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Kindest regards
Higgers