12 Flower Seeds To Sow In Autumn
Autumn is here! Now is the time to sow these seeds for beautiful winter flowers!
Violas e.g. Pansy Swiss Giant. Wide range of colourful shades including blue, purple, yellow, red, white, and bicolours. Seeds germinate within 10 – 14 days. Viola seed is very fine and needs to be sown on the surface of fine damp compost. Violas begin blooming about 12 to 14 weeks after planting seeds.
Poppies e.g. Flanders Red Poppy. Single, scarlet flowers. Seeds germinate within 2 weeks. Poppy seeds need light to germinate, so don't cover them with dirt. Blooms 2 – 3 months after planting.
Calendula e.g. Calendula Pacific Beauty. A blend of yellow, orange, and golden flowers that are semi-double to fully double. Sow seeds 5mm deep. Seeds should germinate within a week. Plants will blossom 8 weeks from sowing.
Sweet Peas e.g. Sweet pea Bijou Mix. Bijou' is a dwarf sweet pea vine, produces masses of sweetly fragrant, pastel-coloured blooms of lavender, blue, pink, red and white. To help them germinate, soak the seeds in water overnight to soften the hard outer coat. They’re quite large seeds so they’re easy to push into the ground. Plant them around 2–3cm deep . Plants begin flowering generally from 3 – 4 months from sowing.
Alyssum e.g. Alyssum Mixed Colours. Lovely smelling flowers in shades of pink, red white and purple. Surface sow the tiny seed and keep lightly moist until germination, which is usually 15 to 20 days. Expect flowering at 8 – 9 weeks.
Primula e.g. Primula malacoides Mix. Flowers in shades of white, rose, pink, lavender and purple. Primula seedlings need light and air to germinate. Sow on the surface of the compost and do not cover with soil. Flowers should appear 18 weeks from seed.
Mesembryanthemum Mixed: e.g. Mesembryanthemum Mixed Species. Daisy-like flowers 2.5cm across in shades of pink, purple, cream, orange and yellow.
Cornflowers: e.g. Blue Boy Bachelor Buttons. The flowers are an intense blue colour. 80 – 90 days to flowering maturity.
Linaria Fairy Bouquet e.g - Linaria Maroccana. Cover seed just below surface of soil. Flowers from 10 weeks after sowing. A charming small flower that looks like baby snapdragons in a fruit salad mix of colors of yellow, rose, blue, violet, and more, most often sweet bicolors.
Snapdragons e.g. Mixed Tall Deluxe Mix - Antirrhinum Majus. The flowers come in a wide range of colours from reds, orange, yellow, and maroon. 2 – 3 months from seed to flowering stage.
Digitalis purpurea: e.g. Foxglove Dwarf Foxy Mix. Seeds take 14-21 days to germinate and will flower in the second year. This compact selection produces flowers in a range of soft pastel shades, from cream to pink and rose.
Delphiniums: e.g. Delphinium Pacific Choice Mix. Sow seeds directly in garden bed. Germinations takes 10-20 days. Lavender, purple, white and blue flowers.
About the Author
Kelly Dini is the Seeds for Africa customer service guru! Kelly is a qualified horticulturist with 20 years of hands on experience and loves to assist customers with recommendations and giving excellent advice.
