Sow & Grow October
- Sarah Francis
- Oct 1, 2023
- 3 min read
'Surely there's not much going on in the garden at this time of year' I hear you cry.
Au contraire mon ami! There's loads to do.
What to Sow
You can sow the last of your biennial seeds if you're super-snappy about it, and you live in an area with mild winters and/or you have somewhere sheltered they can grow on over winter.
Following on from last month, you can carry on sowing your hardy annual seeds this month - these are flowers such as:
Ammi Majus
Borage
Calendula Indian Prince
Cerinthe
Chrysanthemum
Corncockle
Cornflower
Dill
Eschscholzia (Californian Poppy)
Godetia
Gypsophila
Larkspur
Nigella
Phacelia
Salvia Viridis
Scabious
You can now throw your Sweet Peas in to the mix as well, as an autumn sowing of these will flower much earlier next year. A further sowing in spring will ensure succession right through until September. As ever, the good eggs at Higgledy Garden have you covered with several varieties now available in gorgeous colours, fantastically scented, and great for cutting. There are also 2 discounted bundles! Take a look here to see them all.
Not technically sowing, but now is the time to start planting some of your bulbs.
Here I have had delivered:
Allium Ping Pong
Anemone DeCaen mix
Gladioli nanus The Bride
Iris Hollandia mixed
Ranunculus Picotee mixed
Narcissus Paperwhite
Tulip Triumph mixed
Tulip Apricot Emperor
Tulip big Love
and I found in Lidl, a bag of 50 Tulip bulbs for £6.99 containing Orange Lion and Van Eijk.
I will plant my Ranunculus and Anemone corms now, but keep them in the greenhouse until spring as these are slightly on the tender side. I'll also get my Iris, Gladioli and Alliums in over the next couple of weeks too.
I will leave all of the Tulips until November, and the Narcissus until late November/early December as these will be grown inside in pots as Christmas decorations so I don't want them to grow and flower too early.
What to Grow
Biennial seedlings can be potted on or planted out now to overwinter outside. If you're clearing your beds of annual flowers that have 'gone over' (stopped flowering or are past their best) or have moved any plants to a different area of your garden, they can go in the space left behind. It's perfectly OK to create a nursery bed if you have a lot of seedlings, planting them closer than you would in their final position. They're better in the ground if at all possible, as they benefit from all the microbiomes in the soil. You can then transplant them where you would like them to grow in spring, or thin them out where they are.
There's still a good few weeks of flowering left for your late summer plants though! The more you keep cutting them, the more they will continue to bloom until the first frosts destroy their delicate cell structure. The Cosmos in my garden seem to be never ending, as does the Leucanthemum.
In The grow-your-own Cut Flowers Club we have spent the last month talking all about planning your plot, in order to maximise your growing next year. Now really is a key point in time if you want to grow any flowers for any occasion next year - especially early in the season. Any autumn sown seeds will flower much earlier than their spring sown counterparts, and many spring flowering bulbs will only flower if they're planted now. If you, or anyone you know, needs or wants to grow flowers next year, it would be fabulous to welcome you in to the club to get help and advice, and for you to share your journey. Winter can be a lonely time in the garden, and it's often hard to push yourself to get out there and care for your plants, but with the encouragement and accountability of the club you can do it!
You can ready more about the club here and I'm delighted to be able to offer you, my lovely readers, a special rate if you subscribe using this link
Until next month,
With love,
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