Talkback: Hardy annuals - Talkback

06/04/2009 at 20:57

Me I love them all,but who could resist sun flowers poppies stock and busy Lizzies,most of all though Pansies are my all time favourite all their sunny little faces even in the middle of winter with a wonderful array of colours.

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06/04/2009 at 21:31

Zinnias, they are just totally dramatic and fantastic value. Really long lasting, great as cut flower. Easy to germinate and come in some amazing varieties. The sexiest of which is Red Spider or even fireworks mixed. I sowed mine a week ago and they are already standing proud in their tray waiting to be potted on.

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07/04/2009 at 09:49

As I post this comment my computer is next to a deep windowsill (no greenhouse unfortunately) crammed with hardy annuals in little cell trays growing by the hour! Can't wait to see them all in the wonderful summer glory later in the season. For the sheer joy of watching something grow from a tiny seed to a beautiful flowering plant hardy annuals are hard to beat.

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07/04/2009 at 17:34

Hi I'm new to gardening and have just bought all my annual seeds. I've noticed on the seven day forecast above that there could be a ground frost on Sunday. Can I plant my seeds before this or will the frost kill them? I noticed the soil temperature doesn't go down to zero, so does this mean they will be alright. Any idea anyone? Thanks!!

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07/04/2009 at 19:19

Claire hardy annuals are just that- hardy. I have found self-sown nasturtiums,poppies and marigolds in my garden from last year so yes you can plant them.

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07/04/2009 at 20:20

Claire, If a ground frost is forecast I'd delay sowing for a week until conditions (and temperatures) improve. We're talking about hardy annuals here, with the emphasis on HARDY, so cold temperatures won't harm them. But seeds won't germinate if temperatures are below about 5˚C, so you won't be losing much time. An alternative to sowing directly in the soil is to soil in modular trays to grow plugs to plant out, but you'll need somewhere sheltered to do this, like a greenhouse. However, the way I think about this is that one of the joys of hardy annuals is that you can sow directly into teh soil where you want things to flower without the hassle of sowing in pots and planting out. What do others think?

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07/04/2009 at 21:42

I agree with Antonia - Sweet peas are so easy to grow and from just one packet of seeds you get a lovely, fragrant garden display and still loads of bunches for the house. I do have trouble getting busy lizzies to germinate - lucky if I get 8 plants from one packet of seeds. That's still enough to use in my hanging baskets but can anyone tell me where I might be going wrong?

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08/04/2009 at 14:04

I love poppies and have some pink ones sown a few years ago from seed collected from my mother-in-law's Essex garden. Every year I am treated to a glorious display as they self-seed prolifically, however I also save some seeds each year just in case we get a late frost that kills them all off. This year I am also trying the Californian poppies I got free with my Gardeners' World magazine and some 'Flanders poppies' from T&M. I also love pansies and marigolds as well as osteospermum. This year, for the first time, I will be trying sunflowers, again using the seeds I got with my GW mag. I will start these in the greenhouse though as I live in Sheffield and it can get quite cold at night right through the spring.

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09/04/2009 at 15:05

I couldn't agree more as to all the obvious advantages of growing annuals. Trouble is, I'll run out of space one of these years because of the number of them that self-seed! I too have poppies and nasturtiums back and without any of the nurturing that my perennials get. I wouldn't worry about sunflowers, by the way - I left one standing last autumn thinking of the birds but they didn't get there fast enough. Despite that really cold spell in Feb here in the south east, I keep having to pull out their unmistakable seedlings from the front of my border.

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09/04/2009 at 15:35

A splendid hardy annual is Salvia viridis. It gives you a variety of colour-white,blue.mauve,pink, all from one packet. Do not forget the forget-me-not which also comes in blue,pink,lilac and white. Limanthes douglasii is so hardy it will stand all year round in the vegetable garden and can be dug in for green manure.

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09/04/2009 at 17:13

I have a relatively small garden and am using as much space as I can for veg to feed the family but I could not be without the annuals that bring colour to the garden. I know that many prefer the green coolness of the foliage plants/shrubs but in the gloom of the current recession there is nothing nicer than the brashness the annuals promise to provide...gladenning even the hardest of hearts.

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09/04/2009 at 17:22

I love annuals, I regularly have Sweetpeas, poppy's, begonia's, Busy Lizzies, this year I am even trying cornflowers, you can't beat Sunflowers for a good show. Annuals everytime for me. I do love the staple perennials, but annuals help to ring the changes

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09/04/2009 at 19:22

me and my mother grow busy lizzie bergonias sweet peas and marigolds for our baskets.I also scatter corn flowers love in the mist poppies infact anything i can get my hands on.Im waiting for pansys to come as i now have a window box to fill.Ilove any flower they all give me a buzz.

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10/04/2009 at 15:18

Hardy annuals are of great value to me as I use them to fill holes in my perrennial borders which are quite large and take some filling. As i garden on a very heavy clay soil which takes a long while to warm up in the spring, I have again this year, sown hardy annuals in trays and pots in my cold frame and now have them hardening off, ready to plant out in a week or two. This year, I've usedd some cottage garden seed mixtures and they seem to be coming along great. Can't wait for their flowers in the summer!

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10/04/2009 at 16:35

I grow quite a few annuals but having a high cold garden in Cumbria I have found its best to grew them all undercover, then planting out when frost hopefully has disappeared. They are great to fill the gaps that appear each year when I lose plants through winter, as I always seem to. That gives me time to think what else I might like to put in.

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10/04/2009 at 18:54

This is only my second year gardening but last year I grew the following from seed: dwarf sunflowers, cosmos, loads of marigolds. This year I am trying my hand at Clarkia which according to the article I read you sew straight in to the ground and forget about. I am growing the others as well as well as dwarf french beans and tumbling toms to go in hanging baskets. What a fab hobbie!

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10/04/2009 at 20:35

When you grow Annuals here is a tip to save transplanting Take the ones you like of similar height Godetia/Cornflower /Love in a mist/Poppies /Marigolds (not french ones) Shake them in to the same packet and sprinkle very thinly in wavy lines or rings among the Bushes or Perenials they will then throw their seeds for several years if you let them and give you a very colourful garden

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10/04/2009 at 20:57

I have over 300 sweet peas in pots waiting for planting out - there's nothing like them for colour and scent. I also love godetia and cosmos. I grow lots of flowers that make fantastic bouquets and cost a bomb in florists (if you can get them at all): malope, cerinthe, salpiglosis, eustoma (lisianthus), flax, cleome, tithonia, viscaria, moluccella, bupleurum, cosmidium, gaillardia. And things like night-scented stock and zalusianskaya that smell fantastic in the evening. It amazes me when people say annuals are too much trouble to grow.

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10/04/2009 at 23:25

obtain seed catalogues from the seed companies study them and try something new but dont forget thefavourites and dont forget the fragrances sweet peas are a must the beauty of annuals is you can ring the changes every season keep anote book handy enjoy your garden

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11/04/2009 at 08:26

Will the GW team be covering companion planting in any of the future items on veg growing? It was mentioned in passing on yesterday's programme (10th April), but more details and suggestions would be helpful, especially to novices. Thanks