Foxgloves in mixed colours. Jason Ingram

Start sowing in July

Published: Tuesday, 5 July 2022 at 1:25 pm

Discover the gorgeous flowers and delicious veg you can start from seed this month with Sally Nex

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Sowing seeds in late summer is like a vote for the future. Seeds you sow now keep your veg patch productive for longer this autumn, and they’ll fill your garden with next year’s flowers too. I sow lots of biennials every July: they look so natural and, by sowing now, you can look forward to flowers much sooner than if you wait until next spring to start sowing. When these flowers burst into bloom next year, I know summer has really begun.

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More seed sowing advice

July seed sowing inspiration

Plants featured in this video

Dwarf French beans

Dwarf French beans are brilliant in containers – you don’t even need to bother supporting them as they’ll just cascade prettily over the sides. In the garden I sow a big batch now so they’re just starting to produce sweet, crunchy beans as the main climbing beans are going over. That means I can keep picking till the first frosts. Soybeans also work well in pots.

Swiss chard

Plant chard where the evening sun can just catch it and those gorgeous coloured midribs glow like stained glass. This is one of the most handsome plants in my veg garden – plus it’s brilliant value as you just pick and pick those lush 'spinachy' leaves for weeks on end.

Chicory & winter radish

The sophisticated, peppery flavours of late-season salads like chicory, radicchio and winter radishes take a bit of getting used to, but I find they’re much milder if you roast them with a little honey and balsamic vinegar. They grow best in the cool of autumn so sow them now to refill emptying veg beds and squeeze one more harvest from your plot.

Parsley

I use loads of parsley in cooking so I need a good winter supply – and I’ve found moss-curled varieties stay green all winter – you don’t even have to cover them with cloches. Sow an extra batch now and it’ll be just the right size for winter picking but be patient – they take about a month to germinate.

Coriander

Coriander is another really good annual herb to grow through autumn and winter – its spicy leaves are one of my favourite salad ingredients. It’s much hardier than you think, and stays leafier for longer too if you sow it now, so it’s doing most of its growing in the cooler weather of autumn.

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Foxgloves

My favourite of all the wonderful range of biennial flowers you can grow has to be foxgloves. They send up their elegant spires in late May and by June you’ve got a garden full of vibrant pinks, whites and reds just buzzing with bumblebees.

Forget-me-nots

Once you’ve sown your first batch of forget-me-nots you’ll never have to be without them again as they self-seed all over the garden – just edit out any seedlings you don’t want and leave the rest to grow. Look out for pink and white versions as well as traditional blue.

Sweet rocket

Deliciously scented sweet rocket is a real star of my early summer garden, frothing up into a riot of flowers which seem to go on for weeks. I love the pink version but the white one is even more special – as dusk falls it just shines out from the garden like moonlight.

Sweet Williams

Lovely old-fashioned sweet Williams are having a bit of a comeback right now and I’m so pleased – not being particularly fashion conscious, I’ve been growing them on and off for years. They just explode into a riot of exuberant, in-your-face pink, ruby red and white flowers that seem to go on for weeks. They’re deliciously scented too - I like to cut a few sprays to bring into the house as natural air freshener.

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