Sow & Grow - May

A handy guide to what to do in your garden this month.

Firstly; DON'T PANIC!!

I'm seeing so many posts on Facebook groups where people are distraught that they've left it too late to grow anything this year - there's loads of time yet. You can sow some types of annual flower seeds right up until midsummer and they'll still grow and bloom in time for you to cut before the season is out.

Seeds to sow

Really, in May, you are spoiled for choice on what seeds you can sow. Many cut flowers are annuals, with a relatively short growth cycle, so you can sow them now and be arranging them in a vase in around 10 weeks time!

On your seed packet it will tell you when to sow indoors (if the seeds need heat to germinate) and when to sow outdoors. Indoor sowing is usually February to April, typically the colder months here in the UK, and as the light and heat levels improve during spring they will advise you can sow outdoors.

When a seed packet advises sowing outdoors or 'direct sowing', this doesn't mean you need a garden. Most flowering plants will be quite happy grown in a container outside if that's how you like to (or have to) garden. The biggest problem you will probably face is watering, as pots dry out much quicker than a large garden flower bed.

Seeds you can sow this month are:

• Alyssum

• Calendula

• Candytuft

• Carnation

• Cosmos

• Poppy

• Snapdragon

• Sunflower

• Cornflower

• Gypsophelia

What to Grow

Don't worry if you would like to grow something that needs a longer germination time and should have been sown before now, or if the thought of nurturing something from a seed fills you with dread. There are lots of flowers you can buy as plug plants, or as larger plants in pots, either mail order, from florists, garden centres, plant fairs, or even your local allotment shop.

This is also a good way of growing biennial plants that just produce foliage in their first year and flower in the second, if you didn't manage to sow any seeds last year.

It's also how you will need to buy any perennial flowers, bushes, or shrubs that grow from cuttings, corms, bulbs or tubers, as it's probably too late to get these going in time to flower this year.

Biennials you can buy now include:

• Aquilegia

• Columbine

• Delphinium

• Foxglove

• Lupin

• Wallflower

• Angelica

Perennial flowers that may be available now as cuttings or young plants:

• Dahlia

• Crocosmia

• Gladioli

• Lupin

• Bulbs 'in the green' - these are things such as Snowdrops, Daffodils, Bluebells, etc that have finished flowering but still have their leaves. You can plant these now, let the leaves die back (to feed the bulb), and they will appear again each year in spring.

The list of perennial shrubs and trees that you can buy as plants from garden centres or nurseries, or online, is extensive but a few good ones to look out for to use in cut flower displays are:

• Hydrangea

• Viburnum

• Hypericum

• Eucalyptus

• Rose

• Hazel

• Peony

This list is by no means exhaustive, and is specific to the UK where I am based, so there may be many more seeds and plants that you could grow in your garden. The best idea, especially with seeds which are relatively inexpensive, is to just try it and see if it works for you!

Happy gardening!!

Sarah x