Ten Tips To Sow And Grow Hardy Annual Flowers In September.
There’s something rather magical about sowing hardy annual flowers in September. While most people are winding down their gardens, tidying away tools, and muttering about slug damage and mildew, we flower folk are busy sowing seeds for next year’s glory. It’s like tucking treasure into the soil, knowing it’ll sit snug through winter and burst out come spring with vim and vigour, and a tra la la.
Hardy annuals – cornflowers, nigella, calendula, larkspur, and the like – are tough customers. They don’t mind a bit of frost, they germinate in cool soils, and they tend to flower earlier and stronger if you give them this head start in autumn. So, if you’ve got a spare patch of soil and a handful of seeds, September is your friend.
Here are ten tips to get you going:
1. Choose the Right Candidates
Not every flower enjoys an autumn sowing. Stick to the hardy lot – cornflowers, nigella, calendula, eschscholzia (California poppy), larkspur, corncockle, cerinthe, and even a few Godetia. These fellows can handle a bit of frost and often reward you with stronger, bushier plants than their spring-sown cousins. Half-hardy annuals like cosmos and zinnias will simply sulk and perish if you try the same trick.
2. Pick Your Spot Carefully
September-sown annuals like good drainage. A patch of heavy clay that stays soggy in winter will just rot your seedlings. Choose a sunny, well-drained bed if you can. Raised beds or a sloping bit of garden are ideal, as water won’t sit and stew. The more sunlight they get, the sturdier they’ll be come spring.
3. Give the Soil a Quick Tidy
You don’t need to go mad with the rotavator – in fact, please don’t – but a light dig, a bit of weeding, and a rake over to create a fine tilth is all they ask. Imagine making a bed for a puppy: no big lumps of earth, no stones jabbing them in the ribs, just a soft, crumbly mattress of soil. That’s what seedlings like.
4. Don’t Over-Sow
It’s tempting to fling a whole packet about like confetti, but resist. Crowded seedlings grow weak and spindly, and you’ll only have to thin them later. Sow thinly in drills, about 1 cm deep, and you’ll save yourself the heartbreak of pulling up dozens of little darlings later. Think quality, not quantity.
5. Label Everything
You might think you’ll remember which row is cornflowers and which is nigella. You won’t. By March, your memory will have the consistency of a teabag. A simple stick with the name scribbled on saves a lot of muttering and misidentification later. I’ve been known to nurture a promising-looking row for months before realising it was entirely chickweed.
6. Water Wisely
September is often damp enough that you won’t need to water once the seeds are in. But if the soil is dry at sowing, give it a good soak beforehand so the seeds can settle into a moist bed. Avoid watering afterwards with a fierce jet – it just washes them into clumps. A gentle sprinkle is all that’s required. After germination, leave them to it; hardy annuals don’t like being fussed over.
7. Protect the Babies
Though hardy, young seedlings are still tasty morsels for slugs, pigeons, and other hooligans. Keep an eye out and offer protection if necessary. A bit of horticultural fleece, some twiggy sticks, or even an upturned crate can give them a fighting chance until they toughen up. Slugs, of course, will always be with us, but regular patrols with a torch and a pot for “relocation” (or disposal, depending on your moral stance) will help.
8. Think in Rows and Blocks
Rows make for easy weeding and spacing, while blocks can give you big, generous drifts of colour. Either way, try to group varieties together rather than scattering them all willy-nilly. Not only does it look more deliberate in the border, but it also makes thinning and weeding much easier come spring. Plus, a big block of cornflowers will knock your socks off in June.
9. Leave Them Be Over Winter
This is the hardest part – doing nothing. Once your seedlings are up and have formed a couple of true leaves, just leave them. They’ll sit quite happily through the cold months, looking a bit sulky but quietly building root systems. Don’t feed them, don’t mollycoddle them, don’t worry if they look bedraggled in January. They’re tougher than you think. By March, they’ll pick up as if nothing had happened.
10. Dream Ahead
Part of the joy of sowing hardy annuals in September is the sense of promise. While the world outside is turning brown and dreary, you’ve got little green soldiers waiting under the soil. Make notes, sketch plans, dream of the drifts of blue, white, orange, and pink that will greet you in early summer. It’s gardening as an act of optimism – and I can think of few better ways to spend a September afternoon.
A Final Thought
Sowing hardy annuals now isn’t about instant gratification. You won’t see much this year beyond a few brave seedlings. But come next May and June, you’ll be the one grinning smugly over your armfuls of flowers while others are still waiting for their spring sowings to catch up. It’s a small act of patience that pays back in buckets.
So dust off your seed packets, grab a rake, and tuck a little hope into the soil. Future You will thank Present You, and your garden will be all the richer for it.
We presently have a dozen 1/2 price annuals in the shop….so pop over and fill your boots. :)
Kindest regards
Higgers.