Annuals are flowers that complete their lifecycle starting with a seed, to flower, to setting seed and dying all within year. Annuals can be hardy, meaning that they can be reasonably frost tolerant. Us wildflower enthusiasts can use this to our advantage and sow hardy annuals now for an early show next year.
Officially Autumn this year begins on September 22nd, the Astronimical calendar has already been wilfully ignored and I already have my 'big coat' and wooly socks out. The wildflower beds are enjoying their last hurrah before they inevitably go to seed. I'm so grateful to the wildflowers, they've really put on a great show and have been a welcome distraction to the chaos of 2020.
To plan 2021, I've been looking back at my photos from previous years. In Spring 2019 I sowed Cornfield Confetti with borage and phacelia.
In Spring 2020, in the same area I sowed Vibrant Impact annuals with Phacelia and Borage (both photos taken in July). The wildflowers are along a lane alongside a hawthorne hedge so you can only imagine the activity between birds and insects.
The plans for 2021 are now to create beds for each wildflower offering we have. Both Cornfield Confetti and Vibrant Impact Annuals are hardy annuals, we want to test performance between a Spring and Autumn sowing. Window Wildflowers can be sown direct into the ground in September, there is an upcoming blog about wildflower containers so keep your eyes peeled!
My home seems to be in it's own micro climate, a few weeks behind everyone else. I'm hoping by sowing in Autumn, my wildflowers will bloom sooner and I won't have be to as envious of my neighbours.
To give your Autumn seeds the best chance, get your soil ready. Clear your soil and rake it so your little seeds don't waste their energy pushing through big lumps of soil, then firm the soil by walking over it. Don't fertilise the soil, fertilising your soil will encourage leaves rather than blooms. Then broadcast your seeds and water with fine sprinkles.
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