Plants with simple flowers, such as cosmos, ox-eye daisy and echinacea, are a great source of pollen and nectar for pollinators, flowering from summer through to autumn. And they’re easy to grow from seed. Follow our step-by-step guide to growing pollinator-friendly plants from seed, below.
You Will Need
- 10cm pots
- Multi-purpose, peat-free compost
- Watering can with rose attachment
- Hardy annual seed
- Pencil
- Vermiculite (optional)
Step 1
In March or April, fill your 10cm pots to the top with seed-sowing or sieved multi-purpose compost. Gently tamp the compost down in the pot and then level off with a pencil or stick.
Step 2
Step 3
Use your hands to sprinkle compost or vermiculite carefully over the top of the seeds so they’re covered to a depth of about 3mm. Label your pots.
Step 4
Use a can with a fine rose to water the seeds in. Place in a greenhouse or on a warm, bright windowsill indoors. Keep the compost just moist.
Step 5
When the first true leaves show, use a pencil to prick out each new seedling, holding it by the leaves, and planting out into individual pots.
Step 6
Grow on indoors until after the last frosts (in May or June), when you can plant them out into your patch. If slugs and snails are a problem in your garden then wait until the plants are large enough to withstand attack, before planting out.
