Flower Seeds

Flower seeds – more information

Sowing flower seeds gives you fantastic bang for your buck. It’s a great way to fill your beds and borders with summer colour without buying costly garden-ready plants or bedding. There are so many flowers to choose from to grow from seed, including annual and perennial varieties. Thompson & Morgan’s quality range is the best place to source your seed to fill garden borders, containers and hanging baskets with overflowing vibrant blooms in shapes, sizes and colours to delight the eye.

How to plant wildflower seeds

Wildflower seeds are a fantastic option for neglected parts of the garden that could do with some TLC. Rake the area of ground that you want to sow your seeds, removing rocks, stones and perennial weeds, before evenly scattering your wildflower seeds over the soil surface. Lightly rake the seeds in and give a good watering with a rosette watering can head.

Wildflower seed balls make sowing your garden with wildflowers even easier. Simply throw the balls of seed and clay into beds and borders to create little bursts of colour. The balls contain peat-free compost to boost the seeds, with a touch of chilli powder that acts as a natural deterrent for slugs and snails.

Why grow flowers from seeds?

Starting your flowers from seed enables you to grow so many more flowers for a fraction of the price that buying the same amount of garden ready plants would. Sowing your own seed gives you the freedom to achieve early flowering by a few weeks with garden favourites like scented sweet peas. Simply sow these hardy seeds in autumn while the temperature is still warm enough for germination. Keep the young plants in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse during the colder months.

How long do flower seeds take to grow?

Hardy annual flower seeds like cornflowers and poppies take an average of 70 days to flower from seed. The time from seed to flower varies depending on when you’re sowing your seeds. Seeds sown under cover in a steady warm temperature will germinate more quickly than those direct sown in the ground outdoors where temperatures vary.

Different types of flower seeds take different lengths of time too. Sunflowers are a fantastic starter flower seed for beginners. The colossal flowers are quick to sprout and bloom. Great quick annual flowers to grow from seed include petunias, marigolds and poppies.

Perennial flower seeds like aquilegia, dianthus and rudbeckia take a few months to bloom. Sowing perennials is cost effective and guarantees colour in the garden for years to come.