Skip to content
All notes

· Growing · Seeds

Sowing hardy annuals in autumn

Sow cornflowers, ammi and sweet peas now and they flower weeks earlier next year, on stronger plants. Our list and how we do it.

A watercolour of a seed tray of seedlings on a potting bench with seed packets, a trowel and bright flowers

Some annuals are tough enough to sit through the winter as small plants. Sown in September, they flower in May and June, weeks before the spring sowings, on bigger plants with longer stems.

What we sow now

  • Cornflowers
  • Ammi (bishop’s flower)
  • Nigella
  • Scabious
  • Sweet peas, in deep pots in the cold frame

How

We sow into modules in the potting shed, plant out in October while the soil is still warm, and cover the beds with fleece on the coldest nights. That is all. They do the rest.

Fennel Row
Order flowers

Ask the potting shed

Answers about bouquets, delivery, weddings and visits

Hello from the potting shed! Ask me what is in season, about delivery, wedding flowers or workshops.

Accent