Search Results for: zinnia

Higgledy Flower School. #35. Sowing Zinnia Seeds.

First off the bat my dear chums, you should be aware I am sowing super early in an attempt to ensure I have some Zinnia flowering their socks off for the Port Eliot Festival beds at the end of July. Usually I would hold off sowing for another couple of weeks and if I was sowing directly into the ground I would leave it until the end of April.

Zinnias are horti-famous for not liking root disturbance. With this in mind I have sown the little madams into fibre pots. I am using New Horizon Peat free compost for all my sowing this year. This compost has had very mixed reviews in the past but thus far, for me at least, it has been capital.

I am a fan of a square pot as they have fewer places for snails and slugs to hide…a chap knows what’s what when he is employing a square pot method. These beige rascals are made by a company called Kingfisher. They cost £2.99 for 36 pots. I’m sure you can find cheaper ones but I was in my local garden centre where one has to spend a few quid every visit or be haunted by the village elf.

I have found myself in the habit of germinating seeds indoors where I can keep an eye on them and ensure they are behaving according to the strict rules of the Higgledy Garden. As soon as Furface sees the first green growth he alerts me with a predetermined coded whistle and we move the tray into the light and glory that is the coldframe/seedling tunnel. Here they will stay until toward the end of May. Well…that’s the theory.

If you wish to direct sow your Zinnia in the soil, which is often the recommended method, I should wait until towards the end of April. Soil should be rich in organic matter and the bed should get full sun. I sow plants to about a foot apart.

Zinnias are very productive beasties, so keep harvesting the flowers and they will keep coming for yonks.

Kindest regards

Benjamin Higgledy

Link: The Higgledy Garden Seed Shop Of Dreams.

Granny Zeltec-Higgledy was a stunt woman in the early silent movies…she would jump blindfolded between steam trains whilst juggling King Cobras…hang on to the underside of hot air balloon baskets by her little toes as the balloon sailed high across the Thames (which historians amongst you will know was full of piranhas in the 1920’s)….she would be thrown over waterfalls, high on Absinthe, tied to a brace of bewildered sea lions….what a woman….

It was Zeltec-Higgledy who first brought Zinnias over from Mexico…she had fallen in love with them on a visit to that fine country in the summer of 1926. After a particularly perilous stunt involving a Mariachi band, a petrol soaked sombrero and fifteen packets of Swan Vestas…my famous Gran came to rest (a little toasted) in a bank of gloriously coloured Zinnia. The zesty octogenarian knew at once that these wonderful flowers should have a place in the Higgledy cutting gardens back in Blighty….and diligently commenced collecting some seeds to travel back home with.

Zeltec arrived back on the shores of our Sceptred Isle with four varieties of Zinnia. It is these four varieties of Zinnias which we grow to this very day in our mobile ancestral gardens.

Granny Zeltec’s Top Tips For Growing Zinnia From Seed.

*Although it is possible to start Zinnias off in pots it is probably best avoided….they loath root disturbance…however…fibre pots can help to lessen this woe.

*Zinnias are also not fond of frost…not fond one little bit… At Higgledy we sow after the frosts have finished. As it happens we are sowing tomorrow which is a bit of a gamble but down here in Cornwall we have probably seen the last frost…the ten day forecast is in agreement. HOWEVER you will have more success if you leave sowing until the end of May…think more Acapulco…less Wigan.

*Sow seeds leaving a gap of four or five inches between plants…later thin plants to ten inches apart. Let them get on with it.

The Higgledy Zinnias are: ‘Envy’, ‘Mammoth’, ‘Cactus’ and ‘Persian Carpet’…all of these can be found in the Higgledy Garden Seed Shop.

Have fun!

Kindest regards

Benjamin Higgledy

Zinnia ‘Envy’ is often overlooked by folks in their cut flower patches as they tend to prefer the bright mixes like ‘Mammoth’ and ‘Dahlia Flower’. However this little chestnut is a right little cracker. The pale green flower is a gem to use in the vase and tends to calm down arrangements that are too busy with colour. Zinnia ‘Envy’ couldn’t be described as a foliage plant but it can be used the same way. Using single stems in vintage bottles will elevate to you the penthouse of chic.

Five Top Tips For Growing Zinnia ‘Envy’.

*Either sow in paper or fibre pots in the greenhouse from early April (They don’t like their roots disturbed)…or directly in the ground from mid May.

*Keep them watered as they become established but don’t over water when they are grown up.

*Harden off the plants you have started in the greenhouse and don’t plant out until you are double super sure the frosts have naffed off up north.

*Space your Zinnia plants to about a foot, or a little less apart.

*Cut Zinnia below a leaf node and you will get two more flowers in a week or two….yeah baby….BINGO!

I have dropped the price of my Zinnia ‘Envy’ seeds…and sell the little cherubs at £1.50 for 50ish seeds.

Kind regards

Benjamin

PS Try arranging Zinnia with Larkspur which will add some height interest.

Zinnias are bonkers…so bonkers that they tell me they think they’re squirrels. I have grown three varieties of Zinnia from seed this season. ‘Envy’, Mammoth‘ and ‘Cactus’. The last two are very similar and I may throw one out of the shop next year to make way for another.

Most of the annual flowers that I enjoy growing for the cutting patch have a country style feel about them…it’s the Higgledy trade mark…but Zinnias definitely don’t fall into this category. They were the height of chic in the 1950’s…no surprise that such a colourful and vibrant flower would be so popular after the horrors of the war.

Happily it is dawning on me that the majority of my customers, like myself, are fans of the simple flower displays…flowers in jam jars…simplicity being the key. And there is nothing fussy about a simple jam jar full of Zinnias on the kitchen table…what a joy.

How To Grow Zinnia From Seed.

*Find yourself a flower bed that gets lashings of sun…less Swindon more Acapulco.

*Dig in a good amount of organic material.

*I sow my first batch undercover at the beginning of April…I sow in modules

which helps limit root disturbance….Zinnia seedlings LOATH root disturbance.

*I sow my second batch in the middle of May…directly into the soil.

*Only very lightly cover your Zinnia seeds as they like a bit of light to germinate.

*Keep your seed trays or seed beds lightly watered whilst the seeds are germinating and becoming established…ensure they are not waterlogged however.

*I space mine out to about a foot…though this is easier with the ones you are planting from modules…I generally try and leave the ones that have germinated in the ground where they are…’let sleeping Zinnias lie’.

*The ones you have sown indoors at the beginning of April will be ready to go out six weeks later…mid May…when the frosts should have gone away to Edinburgh. If you have sown in modules that are roughly 3 inches sq…then you will have got away without having had to pot them up…I never pot stuff up…time consuming and boring…too much like work…if I’d wanted a proper job I wouldn’t be doing this would I?

Zinnia ‘Envy’ is a right little cracker…a subtle creamy green colour…like natural yoghurt with a small dollop of mushy peas mixed in…tres chic…and sort after by florists up and down the country.

…and Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flower’ is always a great performer…ra ra ra! Good show Sir!

Zinnias are super productive…and the more you cut them…the more flowers they will produce…they are veritable flower factories.

Have fun Zinniaing!

Best wishes

Benjamin Higgledy

PS If you found this post useful perhaps you would like ‘How To Grow Lupin Sunrise From Seed’.

My digital chum Tony Parsons is the head gardener at Fairlight Hall in Hastings. He kindly sent me this picture of a bunch of Zinnia ‘Mammoth’ that he raised from seed. A very cheery bunch they are too.

Here is a link to my guide to ‘growing Zinnias’

Ben

Ahoy there flower fans!

As many of you will already know, Higgledy is celebrating her 10th birthday with a heavily discounted bundle of 16 packets. Many of those who have been buying this beauty need a few pointers to get them started…

First of all, just to confuse the issue, we have swapped out the Ammi majus, Sunflower ‘Vanilla Ice’ and the Borage from the first batch of 400 bundles that we have sent out and instead added the rather gorgeous Zinnia ‘Mammoth’, Sunflower ‘Moonwalker’ and also Corncockle to the ‘version 2’ bundle.

OK newbies….listen up! ;)

All of the 16 packets are annual flower seeds. These are divided into half-hardy annuals and hardy annuals. Click on the word for a full explanation if you wish but really all you need to know is that the hardy annuals can handle a frost but the half-hardy annuals will have a hissy fit if they meet with one. The vast majority are hardy. This will not only make things easier for you but, on the whole, hardy annuals produce many more flowers than their half-hardy chums.

All the varieties are hardy with the exception of Cosmos ‘Sensation’, Zinnia ‘Mammoth’ and Sunflower ‘Moonwalker’. To avoid these meeting a frost…either sow outside no earlier than late April or sow in pots from early April and plant out in mid May…..easy peasy.

How and when to sow your seeds.

I generally don’t start sowing until after the spring equinox (March 20 2022) and you will find that if you leave off into April and even May, that things become easier with warmer temps and much stronger light levels. The vast majority of my sowing takes place in mid April. Sowing much earlier does not necessarily mean earlier flowers.

You have a choice to either sow your seeds directly into the ground or to start them in pots and plant them out later. Both methods have pros and cons. I tend to do a bit of both but mainly I sow into pots.

If sowing directly into the ground it is REALLY worthwhile waiting until the soil has warmed up in late April. I make shallow drills by scratching a line along a tight line of string. Water the drill before you sow your seeds. Sow the seeds thinly into this drill and cover with a light amount of soil….don’t bury them too deep….a few millimeters is fine…..think seeds not moles. Your seeds should germinate in about three weeks. As a rule of thumb, I keep my rows a foot apart. Keep the seedbed damp but not soggy and waterlogged. Just don’t faff too much….let them get on with it. Your patch will be in full flower by July and you will have flowers until October.

My method is contentious…but it works for me.

*I sow virtually everything into three-inch square pots. A seed that is sown into a three-inch pot in mid April will happily develop in the pot for six weeks until it’s time to go out into the big wide world in late-May. Or he can be kept in that pot over the winter if I was sowing in Autumn…in a greenhouse.

*I use Melcourt Peat Free compost and sometimes mix in some perlite or coarse sand for better drainage. It’s not essential but it makes my neighbours think I know what I’m doing.

*I sow the vast majority of my spring sown seeds in April….some in late March….some in May.

*OK…here’s the crunch. I never pot seedlings on. I find this whole process faffy and dull. Why start seeds off in a seed tray if you are going to later move them to a three-inch pot?…just start them in the pot. Depending on the size of the seeds, I just sow a tiny amount in each pot. Take Cosmos for example. I would sow two seeds in each pot. If two germinate I destroy one. #HarshLeader(but fair). If none germinate, I’ll simply resow. #simples. The other benefit of this method is that you don’t end up having a trillion million seedlings to pot up with nowhere to put them.

*Be aware of how much growing space you have. This year I had a relatively large cutting patch…my flower habit is only for domestic use…for me…my friends and neighbours…and the old folk’s home. #WhatALovelyMan. This space was about 40 square meters (two 20 x 1 meter beds). I plant perhaps between 9 and 12 plants a square meter. Let’s call it 12… 12×40=480 plants. 15 three-inch pots fit into a seed tray…so I need 32 seed trays… 4 seed trays fit into a ‘gravel tray’ (I’m not sure they are called that)…so I need just 8 ‘Gravel Trays’ to fill my whole patch. Work out how many plants you will need to fill your flower patch and concentrate on bringing up this number of seedlings…NOT five times this number of seedlings, which result in poorer quality plants (usually)

*Nurture these seedlings…keep them warm….let them have as much light as possible and don’t let them get waterlogged…damp/dryish is much better than wet.

*After the frosts I plant out…usually mid-May.

*After this…the workload drops to zip all….I just gently hoe around my seedlings every few days. My 40 square meters takes just ten minutes or so. Once the seedlings become ‘plantlets’ (?)…about six inches high, I’ll add a mulch around them to keep the weeds down.

This process is more time-consuming than sowing seeds straight into the ground but in fact, it doesn’t take all that long. Even with a gin and tonic in one hand I can sow up 4 seed trays in less than an hour…so sowing the whole lot would be less than an afternoon. I find this takes considerably less time than weeding around tiny seedlings that were directly sown into the ground….and native weeds grow faster than our non-native flowers. HOWEVER…some growers swear by direct sowing.

If you have any questions then please come and find us on FB or Twitter.

Kindest regards

Higgers and Flash

Ammi majus is native to the Nile River Valley. It is here that Great Uncle Karl Lepsius-Higgledy first came across the plant. Karl had been exploring the valley in 1832 with his trusty pair of off-road chimpanzees, Shackleton and Scott. One morning without warning, Scott began jumping up and down on the spot and beating his chest. Usually, of course, this was a sign that it must be approaching elevenses and time for a dry sherry and a modest slice of Battenberg but on this occasion, the great ape did not reach for the Tio Peppy or indeed the cake tin. In a furious flurry of sand, instinct and determination, the hairy bi-ped rushed into the treeline with Shackleton and Great Uncle Karl hot on his fairly humanlike heels. After a few minutes of tearing their way through the undergrowth, the three brave explorers found themselves in the shadow of The Lost Temple of Shamshamkerbang….now known as The Temple of Shamshamkerbang. This, of course, was a find of great importance and though it was only half past ten they deemed it right and good that they should break with tradition and have elevenses early. It was during this celebration that Lepsius-Higgledy spied a beautiful swath of Ammi majus swaying in the hot African breeze…he knew at once that these beautiful umbellifers were the true flowery treasure of Shamshamkerbang.

How To Grow Ammi majus & Ammi visnaga from seed.

*Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga are both Hardy Annuals. (Click the link for an overview of what Hardy Annuals are all about)

*You can either direct sow Ammi or sow in pots to plant out later. I tend to favour sowing into three-inch pots but many folk have great success direct sowing and certainly, direct sowing will give you bigger plants.

*Autumn sowing will give you the biggest plants…but sow in spring too for flowers later in the season.

*If direct sowing, sow in straight drills….only lightly cover the seeds…about a millimetre is enough and ensure that your soil has been raked to a fine tilth…remember these seeds are tiny…and don’t want to struggle through six feet of heavy soil to reach the light.

*Spring sown seeds should be sown in April/May. Autumn sown can be sown from late August until late September depending on how far south you live.

*Ammi likes lots of water when she gets going so try not to let the ground dry out completely.

*The bed should receive full sun and be well drained….if your soil is clay (shudder)…you can make raised beds and add heaps of compost and grit.

*It is well worth staking Ammi unless your cut flower garden is protected from the wind.

*Once the seedlings are two or three inches high I thin out to about a foot apart (perhaps a little less than that)…I don’t bother replanting the ones I take out as they seem to struggle in their new home…it seems like a waste…but…well….I’m sure you will get over it. ;)

What the FBooksters have to say about their Ammi experiences.

I have a Facebook page for Higgledy Garden. It is frequented by some very knowledgeable types. I have got into the habit of asking them for photos and tips to share here. Please feel free to come and loiter online with us all….there are no trolls there…just a friendly bunch of flowery loons.

Rosy Bows I grew Ammi majus for the first time this year and loved it. I started some seed in pots and sowed some straight in the ground too. It filled a small space between the greenhouse and fence and was just as lovely when it began to go to seed.

Helen Bond Picked these a couple of days ago. Ammi visnaga, zinnia mammoth and the fab long flowering pink rose ‘You’re beautiful’

Tracy McQue I’m just a Scottish slacker I didn’t even need to sow mine – self seeded from last year. Photographed 19.10.17.

Lenore Messick I had some 9-ft. ammi this year from an autumn sowing last year.

Sarah Henry sweet peas and ammi grown from your seeds in the summer.

Melissa Scollard My only complaint….i didn’t grow enough ammi majus. 😏

Kate Eden Ammiazing ………

FAQ: Hey Mr Wiggledy…what is the difference between Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga?

A: Good question….first off the bat, Ammi visnaga is much more chunky and less willowy….this is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your tastes. Ammi visnaga flowers a few weeks later than Ammi majus. Ammi visnaga’s flowers have a green tinge to them…and they are more dome-shaped. I suggest you try both….I know a man who sells great seeds…..

Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga can, of course, be bought from my seed emporium at £1.95 a packet.

If you would like to receive a monthly newsletter which I only get around to four times a year, then please sign up by placing your email addy in the box….the box should be at the very bottom of the page unless the elves have moved it. I offer all the deals out to subscribers first…and also discount codes….the next code will be sent out in January.

Thank you for reading…if you have got this far down the page you are a trooper!

Kindest regards

Higgers and Flash

PS Sharing this post by clicking one of the buttons below will give you 465 karma points and a kiss from the rainbow unicorn of love.

In the last Higgledy lecture we wrapped our flowery heads around the subject of Hardy Annuals. It was emotional. If you have just joined us may I suggest you take a peek at the previous posts and get yourselves up to speed. There could well be a surprise test…points could be deducted…no one said this was going to be easy.

FAQ:

‘Higgers you handsome hunk…what is the difference between a hardy and a half-hardy annual?’

In simple terms…hardy annuals can cope with frosty weather…and so their seeds can be sown in autumn as well as spring. Half-hardy annuals will keel over if they so much as look at a frost.

The slightly annoying thing about Half-Hardy annuals is that they can also require a long season to flower. If you consider they are usually native to places closer to the equator…they haven’t got seasons to get worried about…so they just hang around in the sun, smoking cigars and drinking Tequila until such a time as they feel like flowering.

To combat this we must sow them relatively early. I sow mine in pots in early April. I plant these seedlings out in late May. They flower from July…and right through until Halloween-ish if the weather is mild.

FAQ:

‘Higgers, lion of lions, King of Kings…Half-Hardy annuals (HHA) sound a bit faffy…are they worth all the faff?’

HHA are not at all faffy…there is a little work sowing up the pots…but even then, ‘work’ is the wrong word…it is nothing short of a joy my dear. HHA also offer us more flamboyant blooms….often not as many as their hardy brothers and sisters, but this just means we use them more sparingly. Some HHA are flower making maniacs…for instance, my old friend, Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’ is an incredibly prolific fellow….and no one would dare call him ‘faffy’!

FAQ:

‘After my husband died in a freak golf buggy accident (which my lawyers are confident I will be acquitted for), I was able to dig up his vegetable garden to use for a cut flower patch. Can you recommend some HHA to plant there? Would you have time to come over to Bonkton Hall to help me with my needs?

Here are my Top Seven Half Hardy Annuals for planting in your recently deceased husband’s vegetable garden.

*Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’. I’ve already mentioned this chap once…here he is again. Handsome, reliable and very cheery. I have never been without ‘Marmalade’ in a cutting patch. Some folk just loath yellow flowers…I think there was a movement against them in the 1970’s…it’s time to get over it.

*Cosmos ‘Fizzy Rose’. ‘Fizzy Rose’ is the new Shelia in town. She was loved by almost everyone who grew her this season. At first, I thought she might be a bit of a flouncy tart…but, not so…I’m not going to suggest she is ‘classy’…like ‘Albatros’ (AKA ‘Purity’) but she is a chirpy lass and we LOVE her!

*Tithonia ‘Torch’. This Tithonia is a gem. The lovely Constance Craig-Smith grows lots of this (Well….she has a good seed supplier…) Tithonia like a rich soil. Be careful of the delicate and hollow stems.

*Cleome ‘Violet Queen’. This flower has become a modern classic….a bit like the Ford Capri. The seeds can be a little erratic to germinate…give them lots of time and keep them moist (not waterlogged) She has thorns….oh what a minx! #NaughtyViolet

*Sunflower ‘Earthwalker’. Lots of seed companies will tell you that sunflowers are Hardy…well…sometimes they will make it through a winter but not often. ‘Earthwalker’ has chocolate, bronze and ginger blooms on branching stems. The second flushes of flowers are much smaller and easier to use in arrangements. I generally don’t grow sunflowers for the vase…I just like them loitering in the patch. They are always good for a bit of banter and are often very well read, and up on current affairs.

*Nicotiana ‘Sensation’. I had the best year ever for Nicotiana. I should have won awards and been on the telly. Nicotiana are beautiful creatures. I grow three varieties….but this year ‘Sensation’ won me over.

*Aster ‘Ostrich Plume’. When I asked my flowery Facebook chums what their fav HHA were, Aster ‘Ostrich Plume’ was mentioned a good few times by many. Mine were a bit wimpy this year but I see other folks did better…..grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

*Zinnia ‘Mammoth’. Zinnia are Marmite flowers…not for everybody…I love their awkward and quirky ways. ‘Mammoth’ are usually the most useful in the cutting patch. Plenty of blooms and a good range of colours. Keep the bed rich and moist for a good harvest.

FAQ:

Hi Higgers (Bloody good bloke), I’m a bloke too, and sit firmly into that 4% of your customers who are also blokes. Why don’t more alpha male blokes like you and me, grow Half Hardy Annuals? PS Fancy a beer? …I’ve got a beard.

Good question. Even in our modern age it can be difficult for blokes to admit to seeing beauty in flowers and finding joy in growing them. In one way it is a great shame that more blokes don’t have cut flower patches…but on the plus side…96% of my customers are women. #HappyDays

Thank you to the Facebookies for giving their advice and tips.

Kind regards

Higgers & Flash

Other warbles in this series:

How to sow flower seeds.

Positioning your cut flower patch and preparing beds.

In the previous lesson, we looked at ‘Positioning Your Cutting Patch & Preparing Beds’. It was, I’m sure you’ll agree, pretty nailbiting stuff. Today we will be exploring the delights of how you should go about sowing your flower seeds.

I have asked the wonderful flower folk on Facebook, how they go about seed sowing. Their answers have been very varied and very useful…probably more useful than my own warblings will be. I’ll start off by giving you my own preferred method….then we will look at other people’s methods and I will explain why they are all wrong…OK OK…let me at least add comments to their suggestions.

How I sow Seeds At Higgledy Garden.

My method is contentious…but it works for me.

*I sow virtually everything into three-inch square pots. A seed that is sown into a three-inch pot in early April will happily develop in the pot for six weeks until it’s time to go out into the big wide world in mid-May. Or he can be kept in that pot over the winter if I was sowing in Autumn…in a greenhouse.

*I use New Horizon Peat Free compost and sometimes mix in some perlite or coarse sand for better drainage. It’s not essential but it makes my neighbours think I know what I’m doing.

*I sow the vast majority of my spring sown seeds in April….some in March…perhaps some Carnations in February. NB Carnations are making a comeback….well….they are in my garden anyway. I also sow a few trays in May for later flowers. In June I’ll start sowing some biennials but I’ll be writing about those beasties later in the week.

*I give my seeds a very light covering of compost or vermiculite. I buy a bag of vermiculite from the garden centre when I buy my compost. Peat free compost can sometimes develop a green mossy bloom on the surface if left damp…I find that a gentle covering of vermiculite stops this. Vermiculite is also a glittery gold colour….so it’s like bling for your seedlings. #innit. Much like the perlite…vermiculite is not necessary…but it helps…I doubt if I spend more than £10 a year on it.

*OK…here’s the crunch. I never pot seedlings on. I find this whole process faffy and dull. Why start seeds off in a seed tray if you are going to later move them to a three-inch pot?…just start them in the pot. Depending on the size of the seeds, I just sow a tiny amount in each pot. Take Cosmos for example. I would sow two seeds in each pot. If two germinate I destroy one. #HarshLeader(butFair). If none germinate, I’ll simply resow. #simples. The other benefit of this method is that you don’t end up having a trillion million seedlings to pot up with nowhere to put them.

*Be aware of how much growing space you have. This year I had a relatively large cutting patch…my flower habit is only for domestic use…for me…my friends and neighbours…and the old folk’s home. #WhatALovelyMan. This space was about 40 square meters (two 20 x 1 meter beds). I plant perhaps between 9 and 12 plants a square meter. Let’s call it 12… 12×40=480 plants. 15 three-inch pots fit into a seed tray…so I need 32 seed trays… 4 seed trays fit into a ‘gravel tray’ (I’m not sure they are called that)…so I need just 8 ‘Gravel Trays’ to fill my whole patch. Work out how many plants you will need to fill your flower patch and concentrate on bringing up this number of seedlings…NOT five times this number of seedlings, which result in poorer quality plants (usually)

*Nurture these seedlings…keep them warm….let them have as much light as possible and don’t let them get waterlogged…damp/dryish is much better than wet.

*After the frosts I plant out…usually mid-May.

*After this…the workload drops to zip all….I just gently hoe around my seedlings every few days. My 40 square meters takes just ten minutes or so. Once the seedlings become ‘plantlets’ (?)…about six inches high, I’ll add a mulch around them to keep the weeds down.

This process is more time-consuming than sowing seeds straight into the ground but in fact it doesn’t take all that long. Even with a gin and tonic in one hand I can sow up 4 seed trays in less than an hour…so sowing the whole lot would be less than an afternoon. I find this takes considerably less time than weeding around tiny seedlings that were directly sown into the ground….and native weeds grow faster than our non-native flowers. HOWEVER…some growers swear by direct sowing….as we shall see.

Here’s what my customers say….well most of them are customers….some of them are just waffs and strays. ;) Thank you all for your comments and tips. #Facebook.

Lorraine Pullen Morning Ben my top tip would be don’t sow many seeds. In the early days I would happily sow whole packets in a couple of trays and then spend hours pricking out hundreds of plants that I had no room for and ended up giving away. Now I sow one small pinch of seeds into a small pot or a cell of a tray and still have a few left to give away and this way I have space in my greenhouse for lots more variety.

A lady after my own heart.

Joff Elphick When I was growing cut flowers for a boutique hotel and cookery School I sowed absolutely everything direct. It meant no one needed to water over hot weekends, there was no check in growth at pricking out or potting on and nothing ever failed. No cloches, or fleece etc was used. Zinnia, cosmos, Ammi etc etc. Basically everything you sell was down direct. Save yourself a lot of trouble and try it.

There you have it…everyone has their way. Joff has grown flowers for a long time…and knows his onions….so to speak.

Nicky Ogborn All my seeds get started in yoghurt pots, food trays, basically anything without holes in the bottom and put on my sunny windowsill until I prick them out (tend to pick out the biggest ones and then give up halfway through a pot as I run out of space/lose the will to live). Easiest and most resistant to pests would be antirrhinums and scabious. Gypsophila and persicaria were a bit tricksy for me this year.

I have taken Persicaria out of the shop as it was too sulky for the happy vibe I want to push out. note how pricking out her seedlings gets Nicky down! Don’t do it Nicky! You have to be careful when starting seedlings on a windowsill that they get enough light…remember the light is only coming from one side.

Hannah Roberts If you have young children don’t use plant labels use masking tape all the way round pot & write on the tape to identify seedlings.

Hannah, you are a genius. Flash is a fan of label theft too.

Kerry Skinner 1. Might be better to use pots which are all the same size! Ben says…
My beginning was Thrifty, determined to re use/ re cycle but that became messy..and not space efficient.
2. Also, make a list of what you are planting, I didn’t so countless googling to check whenever I found a badly labelled stray pot..
3. Make sure your labelling doesn’t wash off! Or just enjoy a lucky dip..

I like consistency and order…I am turning into my Dad.

Rosemary Mckerrell agree strongly re not sowing too early but if the temptation is proving too much antirrhinums do well with an early start (even Jan/Feb). Higgledy antirrhinums are brilliant. Flowered well in summer and good second flush now.(and v little rust)

Rosie takes heaps of wonderful flower photoraphs (that I steal). Visit her page to have a look.

Rosy Bows I have two cats who love to dig and sunbathe on any bare earth – so I sow in small pots and plant out to discourage them! Then seed between for later flowers. I do thin out but hate doing it poor babies

Wildlife, as well as domestic beasts, will quickly gobble up seedlings if one isn’t careful.

Karen J N Edgar Direct sowing is great fun. Don’t be afraid to give it a go. Too many – pull some out. Had great success this year by doing this. Nigella cornflowers poppies bidens all easy to grow this way. Mind you they will find their own space!. Don’t have a greenhouse. No room. Use two shelves from an old fridge to cover pots of seeds outside too until they germinate. It works. Motto – give it ago.

As Karen says ‘give it a go’…I don’t want to be too prescriptive with my own method…it’s all about experimenting. PS I use storage boxes as mini greenhouse. Works a treat.

Lenore Messick Don’t start seeds too early – they will sulk. Wait until the soil is good and warm if you’re going to sow direct. If you’re sowing inside (windowsill), wait until there’s plenty of light. If you can stand looking at it for weeks on end, it really works to line the windowsill under your seed flats or pots with aluminium foil – reflects the light. I have also found my cheap electric propagator to be a good investment.

Yes, good point. I didn’t write much about direct sowing….but in my experience sowing outside before mid-April is counterproductive.

Alison Badman Don’t be tempted to start sowing too early indoors or in the greenhouse Reading comments on other FB gardening groups so many people think a warm late winter day means spring and try to get ahead with sowing only to find they have straggly seedlings reaching for light and it’s too cold to plant out. On the other hand it’s worth do late midsummer sowings of annuals to get a continuous display into autumn.

Newbies be aware of how folk have learned not to sow too early…we all know it’s tempting…but it will disapoint…and worse…by the time you’ve realised it’s gone wrong you will have missed a really good window of opportunity to sow. I know of one amazing flower grower who doesn’t sow a single seed until May.

Jan Willetts If you have seedlings try watering with cold camomile tea, it prevents damping off disease. I make a pint with one teabag.

Being a rugged, alpha male type, I haven’t got any Camomile tea….but this sounds wise.

Lesley Brown on gardeners World on Friday a lady cur off a seed head (Hesperis Matronalis) and just stuck in in the ground where she wanted it to drop seeds and grow.

I would prefer folk to buy seeds from me! ;)

Dysko Stu Using perlite and vermiculite in 3×3 with correct compost means you can sow fewer seeds and get greater yields. Then you don’t have to replant them. All stuff you’ve said before. The first year I didn’t do this and yields were low. Then I lost loads during repotting.

Another shout out for perlite and vermiculite. NB Perlite is for mixing in with compost…vermiculite is for a top layer.

Sian Price This might sound a bit woo woo but since I started doing the moon gardening thing – flower/Root/leaf days – germination rates are far better for the herbs! Seriously works.

I don’t believe biodynamic gardening BUT I do believe that if a grower is going to take as much care in sowing seeds as Sian does then those seeds will have a better chance than most. I think Sian is ace. #PleaseDontTurnMeIntoAFrog

Caroline Davies Buy Kelly’s Cornish ice cream. They sell it in handy mini propagators.

#Brilliant

Deanne Brown 1) Pull seed head off flower
2) Crumble
3) Throw to back of border. Hope for the best.

When Deanne was at school he was very disruptive. ;)

Jane Langley Write on both sides of the label as one side always fades.

#Organised

We have taken a totally different approach to the cut flower patch of the walled garden at Port Eliot this season. Usually I would use the tried and tested method of direct sowing in straight lines a foot apart and filling any gaps, where there is poor germination, from seedlings that have been started undercover (mainly half hardy  annuals).

This season we are looking for more height and flounce (and less cornflowers that took over last year!) The beds in the walled garden are pretty much weed free, this makes it much easier to simply scatter seeds as the danger of them being out competed by weeds is far lower than say, my allotment, which is a weed fest.

The main bulk of the scattered seeds are Larkspur, Ammi majus (which flowers earlier than it’s brother visnaga), Daucus carota (wild carrot…not the popular purple one…but the more rustic pale one) and Dill ‘Mammoth’.

I have 1000 seedlings that are presently being pampered undercover at the Higgledy HQ which include: Zinnia, Rudbeckia, Nicotiana, Sunflowers, Cosmos, Tithonia, Malope, Chrysanthemum and Lupins. The intention is let these chaps wriggle away undercover and slowly trickle them out into the garden from mid May.

So much of the timing being right for the festival, at the end of July, is in the hands of the Goddess Flora and she can be a mischievous little Imp…she sends some flowers too early…and others too late. This season I have made a sacrifice in her honour and helped provide 51,000 packets of bee friendly seeds to the good people of 38 Degrees for their ‘Save The Bees Campaign’...so hopefully she will pat me on the head, tickle me on the chin and help my flowers strut their funky chicken.

I shall be visiting Port Eliot next week and will report on if we have any germination from the direct sown seeds.

NB There is still plenty of time for you to sow your seeds…I haven’t sown any directly into the ground in my own flower garden yet (Port Eliot being a walled garden is much warmer)…the soil here is still a little wet and cold…I’ll give it another week….no rush.

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards

Benjamin Higgledy

This will be the third year that Higgledy Garden has been offered the opportunity to get involved with the Port Eliot festival. Alongside Mike Le Jardin and Catherine St Germans we get stuck into some serious spring sown annual action.

The festival is held on the last weekend of July…so unlike my other cut flower gardens…this chap has to be firing off on all cylinders for that weekend…this is not so easy. Annual flowers have varied times of how long they take to flower from sowing…and these times are altered by the weather conditions. Although the flowers will be getting into their stride by that weekend…and will be working very efficiently as a cutting garden, it is the following two weeks when they will really be strutting their stuff. So it pays to make an early start on the sowing and risk some inevitable failures.

In the previous two years we have done most of the sowing directly into the soil in early April. This is pretty early for direct sowing but remember we are in Cornwall and we are in a wonderfully protected walled garden.

This year the plan is to make a very early sowing in the middle of March of a limited number of hardy annuals. We are looking for more height and movement this season and with that in mind we shall be sowing Larkspur ‘Giant Imperials’, Ammi majus, Godetia ‘Crown’, Daucus carota, Corncockle, Cerinthe and Dill ‘Mammoth’. These chaps have all got a fighting chance of germinating outside if we have a mild late March. We will then make a further sowing in early/mid April to cover ourselves.

Meanwhile back at Higgledy HQ I shall be sowing up 600 pots of annuals (From mid March)…I will let these beasties grow away undercover before planting them out at the end of May in gaps between the direct sown flowers.

Although this method is more time consuming than direct sowing, it will help ensure we get a great mix of plants.

Other plants will include:

Sunflower ‘Earthwalker’ & ‘Vanilla Ice’

Candytuft

Aster ‘Ostrich Plume’

Cosmos ‘Purity’, ‘Sensation’ & possible Xanthos

Sweet Peas

Cobaea

Bells of Ireland

Bupleurum

Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’ & ‘Goldilocks’

Zinnia ‘Mammoth’

Phacelia

Scabiosa

Didiscus.

One issue we had last season was that the Cornflowers rushed ahead of everything else and peaked too soon…this year will will have considerably fewer of them and have ones that were sown a couple of weeks later.

NB I don’t advise my customers to sow this early…in fact I spend most of time suggesting they don’t!

I will write up how we are getting along and put all the posts in a new ‘Port Eliot Festival’ category….so please stay tuned…

Kind regards

Benjamin Higgledy

Higgledy Flower School 2016. #33. Echinops.

Echinops saunter through their flowery universe whilst channelling the vibe of a medieval mace. The silvery blue, spiky chaps are friendly in each and every other way however and seem to have an understanding with the bees and the butterflies who hang out around them all summer long.

Echinops are perennials…you may get a few flowers in the first year but you may not…but after the first season you will have an abundance of the beasties year in year out. They self seed like troopers too….

“When not looking lovely in the garden, they look quite something in a vase, both in flower and afterwards, when you are left with a washed blue seedhead. They last a long time, too, particularly if you change the water often.” Alys Fowler

*I sow mine in pots in the spring but you can sow from Autumn too.

*Sow in pots no smaller than square three inch pots as the roots of Echinops need a bit of wiggle room to keep them happy.

*I plant out my spring sown seedlings after the frosts about a foot apart.

*Echinops are happy in a wide range of soils but seem to prefer well drained ones….and will not grumble if the soil is poor.

*Harvest the first flush of flowers and a second flush will trot along in a few weeks time. They should flower from early August.

*Should you wish you can divide the plants in the spring.

*Echinops are most excellent when dried and will make your arrangements looks as though they have been sent back from a glorious utopian future.

…In Greek, ‘Echinops’ translates as ‘like a hedgehog’…..it’s funny how Greek names sound so much more clever when you don’t know what they mean….

Now if you are interested in growing some Echinops from seed…I might be able to help you out…I know a fairly decent fellow who may have a few packets of ‘Ritro‘…he sells them at £2.25 for 50ish seeds.

Kindest regards

Benjamin Higgledy

If you have any questions then please ask away…you can find me onTwitter or Facebook.Should you wish you can join ‘Club Higgledy’ (see the right hand side bar).

Higgledy Flower School 2016. #20. Growing A Cutting Patch In Containers.

I get asked lots about whether or not it would be possible for a modest cutting patch grown in containers…so last year I gave it a go to find out.

First off I bought myself a dozen builder’s buckets from a chap at the market….they cost a pound each. I drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage…(Dear Liza looked astonished)

You could use any containers with drainage holes…terracotta pots would be great…but I wouldn’t go for anything less than a foot wide and deep.

Fill up your containers with compost…Peat free is the way we roll at Higgledy…if I remember correctly we used New Horizon.

For most of my buckets I sowed seeds directly into them in April…but some were planted up seedlings that had been brought up in the garden tunnel (in the days before it blew away to France)

I sowed:

*Cosmos

*Sweet Peas

*Craspedia

*Nasturtium

*Candytuft

*Orlaya

*Chrysanthemum ‘Rainbow’

*Malope trifida

*Corncockle

*Didiscus

*Larkspur

Generally the whole project was a roaring success but there were some failures…Craspedia and Nasturtium were very poor…probably because the growing medium was too rich. Everything else grew perfectly and if I was pretty skimpy when harvesting them, they did indeed function as a perfectly good cutting patch.

Three plants per bucket seemed about right.

Not having to weed was GREAT!

Flowers in buckets need watering at least every 48 hours.

It is important to note however that your container grown flowers will need a good amount of direct sun…about seven hours…so if you have only a balcony to grow on…it must be south facing.

I loved the fact that you could rearrange your ‘cutting patch’ by moving the buckets about…it was like big flowery lego. I had mine on a raised lawn…and let Sweet Peas tumble over the edge…you would have to look carefully to see that the flowers were grown in buckets.

The other great joy was that I had some flowers so close to the house…rather than having to get on my bike and potter off to the lotty.

I shall be up-scaling the project this year and fill up thirty buckets or more…I want to the bucket King of Cornwall. #DreamBig

New recruits will include Mina lobata, Helichrysum ‘Copperhead’, Borage, Nigella, Zinnia…Sunflowers…

Best wishes

Benjamin Higgledy

If you have any questions then please ask away…you can find me on TwitterorFacebook.Should you wish you can join ‘Club Higgledy’ (see the right hand side bar).

Higgledy Flower School 2016. #5. Half Hardy Annual Flowers.

If you can throw your minds back to the distant hours of yesterday tea time…you will recall being on the edge of your seats as we learned the fundamentals of growing Hardy Annuals in the cutting patch. Naturally I had some concerns about following that most juicy of topics up with another roller coaster ride of high energy floral knowledge without there being some sort of a gap to allow you to catch your breath or have a brandy. However…with due consideration I think we throw caution to the wind and brace ourselves for the danger and the glory that make up the ever eventful world of growing Half Hardy Annual Flowers.

What are Half Hardy Annual Flowers?

Half-hardy annuals such as Cosmos, Rudbeckia and Nicotiana die if exposed to the cold, so they can’t go into the garden until after the last frost. Generally these flowers will be native to somewhere more toasty than the UK where they can lounge about at their leisure setting seed more or less when they like due to the lack of seasons. Here in the UK we are big into seasons and any guest plants have to tow the party line. This often means starting the seeds off in pots.

Tips For Growing Half Hardy Annual Flowers.

*Most Half Hardies can be sown outside as long as you wait until after the frosts…usually about mid May. Follow the same rules as we looked at yesterday for Hardy Annuals….only the timing of the sowing changes.

Link To: The Hub Page Where You Will Find All The Lessons For The 2016 Season.

*Some folk (myself included) get better results if we sow in pots from early April and then plant out the seedlings/plantlets after mid May. I use 3 inch square pots…15 sit nicely in a standard seed tray and the pesky slugs find it difficult to hide anywhere between the pots.Its easy to assume that sowing in pots is much more work…but its not the case…when direct sowing you will spend much longer weeding around tiny seedlings a few weeks after sowing. Weeding a bed with nothing in it that you wish to keep, before then planting seedlings, is a very quick process. Both methods probably take a similar amount of time to achieve good results this time is spent  at different stages of the season.

Which Half Hardy Annual Flowers To Grow In The Cutting Patch?

Here is a link to the selection of Half Hardy Annuals that I stock in the shop and grow in the Higgledy Garden.

Here’s a few Half Hardy Annuals that I don’t like being without.

*Rudbeckia. Some people don’t like yellow flowers…I think this strange opinion became widespread in the 70’s…if you don’t find Rudbeckia attractive then your retina have probably fallen out.

*Cleome. These are wayward beauties…exotic…a little bit excitable…they always come across as having had  a couple of Lambrinis over the odds. They are best surface sown in pots…I keep a sheet of newspaper over the seed tray to keep the moisture in while still letting some light in….give them plenty of time to germinate…once they get going they will rock out for Jesus.

*Nicotiana. Flowering tobacco. Another one to surface sow…sow REALLY thinly…the seeds are the finest powder known to modern man. These flowers will release their scent in the evening…I grow some under my windows and it fills the cottage with headyness.

*Helianthus. Sunflowers. We don’t want big dustbin sized flowers in the cutting garden…we want branching stems varieties with plenty of bloom. ‘Vanilla Ice’ was my best seller this year…it’s a cracker.

*Zinnia. Mexican Sunflower. More exotic vibes from these beasties…grown correctly they will be super productive…they have a quirky edge with the new vanguard of British floristry loves.

All of these can of course be found in the Higgledy Garden Seed Shop.

Your Half Hardy Annuals should flower from July, right through until the November frosts.

I hope this has been useful and has set you on a path to cut flower patch stardom (via my shop of course…#kerching!)

Enjoy the weekend. We will be back in class for tea time on Monday…exploring the possibilities, dangers and temptations of growing a dedicated bed of Biennial Flowers.

Other ‘How To’ guides in this series:

*Hardy Annual Flowers

*What Flowers To Grow In The Cutting Garden

*Preparing Cut Flower Beds

Kind regards

Benjamin Higgledy.

Link to: Higgledy Christmas Gifts.

If you have any questions then please ask away…you can find me on TwitterorFacebook.Should you wish you can join ‘Club Higgledy’ (see the right hand side bar).