NOTES from. the garden / / sowing for summer
NOTES from. the garden / / sowing for summer
A late spring means there's still time to sow favourite summer blooms, herbs, and other edibles
This year I’ve sown both thousands and seeds and none.
Thousands as a school gardener at Godwin Junior School where many hands make light work when it comes to broadcasting seeds or tucking in seedballs but also extra management when it comes to specific sowing distances. Some kids by nature are very precise, others more interested in bunging them in so they can dig for worms (by far the favoured and most relaxing activity), which can lead to cramped seedlings and much potting pot; sometimes I sneak in and move stuff around before the next weekly session, sometimes it’s a good illustration of what does and doesn’t work.
None when it comes to my own garden to which I bid a final farewell on the Spring Equinox at peak sowing time, the new yard yet to be fully explored (it’s pretty bijoux, so explored in terms of aspect at least) and embraced. Now I have the usual cravings for this flower and that herb or edible – annual cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) and bishop’s flower (Ammi majus), opium poppies (Papaver somniferum) and calendula (Calendula officinalis), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), courgettes (Cucurbita pepo).
Technically it’s a little late for the cosmos (optimum indoor sowing time March–April in the UK, with flowering in 7–12 weeks) but the season is slow so I’m going to make cell sowing a batch of my favourite types – ‘Sensation’ and ‘Candy Stripe’ for the back of borders, ‘Purity ‘ for cut flowers, and compact ‘Sonata’ for pots – my job for the day. You can also direct sow cosmos in May, or rather when the soil has warmed up (we live in hope!).
If neither of these methods work, I’m hoping a friend might have a few extra seedlings I can take to bung in my kitchen border or pots, or from which to propagate a couple more plants. I learned this from fellow plant lover Anya Lautenbach aka anya_thegarden_fairy, who has created most of her wonderfully abundant garden in Buckinghamshire mainly through propagation techniques (well worth following her Instagram and Youtube channel). The trick is to pinch out the top of a cosmos seedling after it has grown two sets of true leaves, which helps produce bushier rather than tall growth from the leaf node. This pinched out cutting – ideally 5–10cm (2–4 inches) long – can then be placed into a pot of potting soil with a handful of grit mixed in for drainage. Dipping the stem first into rooting hormone gel aids root growth but is optional. Water lightly and place in a bright spot but out of direct sunshine, and you should have a rooted plant in 3–4 weeks.
There’s still time for the ammi (sowing time March–May, indoors or out), opium poppies (sow in March–May or end of August–October for flowering next spring; patience is a virtue), calendula (sow March–May for flowering/harvesting July to September, or August to September for flowering next May–July), fennel (sow from March to July in its final growing site, with harvest of leaves and flowers/pollen from May to September), tomatoes (sow Feb to March for greenhouse varieties, and March to early May for outdoor ones) and courgettes (sow indoors April–May or direct May–June to harvest July–October).
I’ll also be planting out agapanthus rhizomes and dahlias tubers this month (going to have to do these direct when the soil is a bit warmer, as missed the boat for starting them off earlier in spring) – although you can sow dahlias too (March to April), ideal for drifts of pollinator-friendly single-flowered types such as the dark red velvety ‘Bishop of Auckland’ or the deep maroon ‘Chocolate Sundae’. If anyone has some spare fledgling allium plants (these bulbs should be bedded into the ground in autumn), do send them my way.
Other than that it’s perennials and biennials all the way, some of which (including my old stalwarts Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Alchemilla mollis, Erigeron karvinskianus, catmint, and a foxglove or two) I managed to legitimately liberate from my old garden through cuttings, division, and pots. But that’s another story (do watch this space). . .