What We Are Sowing - July

July seems like a bit of an odd time to be sowing seeds. Flowers are coming thick and fast; the fruits of your labour from earlier in the year. However, July is a super important time in the flower growing calendar because it is the time to start lots of your biennials seeds off. Biennials complete their life cycle in two years. They germinate and put on growth in the first year, and then flower and set seed in the second. They are normally pretty hardy plants and will tolerate a frost. We start our seeds off in the midsummer of the first year, and they are expected to flower in the late Spring of their second.

When I looked on Instagram in March and April and wondered how on earth people had gardens full of blooms so early in the season!? Well, it turns out it’s biennials and careful planning. Examples of some biennials are; Lunaria, foxgloves, sweet william, wallflowers, and hollyhocks. I have recently been introduced to Cynoglossum (chinese forget-me-not) by the wonderful Jan at Field and Bloom. She has been supplying us with stems of this gorgeous binennial, so some have you may have had it in your bunches. This is one that I really want to try this year! Take a look below at some of the other flowers we have started off this July.

From Left to Right: Foxglove ‘Sutton’s Apricot’, Hollyhock, Sweet William, Hesperis (sweet rocket).

Let us know what you are sowing and growing! Have you got any recommendations for us? We’ve also been collecting seeds this year, so we will have a go at planting them, and see what comes true!