Topic: Any advice on growing WALLFLOWERS? It's my first attempt this year.

[GrannieAnnie]

I have a feeling that wallflowers may be grown more in your country; nobody I know grows them here. Any advice? I have a couple seedlings that germinated and would like to grow them along the front walk which only gets AM light and gets very hot in summer. Does this seem feasible?

[small]

I don't know if this will help because I don't know what your seasons are like, or how big your plants are....I sow wallflower seeds in summer, grow them on in a spare patch of veg ground, then into final positions in my flower borders in about November. They then flower from about April on. You're supposed to start again every year, but I usually have a few plants that carry on another year. If yours are only seedlings now then they probably won't flower till next year, but it's worth trying. Mine don't get an awful lot of sun but thrive, and they are finished flowering before the hot weather (when we get any).
Hope that's some sort of help! Worth trying - wallflowers are both beautiful and gloriously scented imho.

[claybasket]

Hi Grannie Anne,wallflowers smell wonderfull ,Clothe of Gold is lovely golden color and smell ,I plant Forget-me-Nots in between, just scatter the seeds ,I sow the wallflowers in pots in spring and position them in the flower beds to flower in the spring ,keep watered in really hot weather,this yr I tryed taking cuttings they are still going 

[Digeroo]

The nice thing about wall flowers is that they do their thing between the spring bulbs and the summer bedding.  Lovely under a window so the scent fills the house on a sunny evening.

If your summers are hot presume you may have problems getting them through the summer.  But they are pretty tough cookies.   How cold is your winter?   They are basically cabbage family so if you can grow winter cabbages you can probably grow wallflowers.

Plants used to be on sale here in the Autumn in bundles covered in wet newspaper for planting out but not seen them like that for years.  I tend to sow May-July.  Though there is a perennial type but I don't think it has the smell.

[GrannieAnnie]

Thank you for all the help. The place I'd plant them is right against the house which allows some plants to survive our winters (even a petunia survived one year) which means the wallflowers might as well. But I don't know what type/name the seed was. Can you believe I sorted the seeds in a Wildflower Mix packet to get these? Now there was a challenge identifying each type seed, I kid you not, however one of these packets grew a thorny weed last year a repeat of which we do not need. These have germinated but yesterday still had no true leaves, seem to be much slower than everything else.
Now that you say how glorious they smell, I really am desiring them this year!   

[jimtheworzel]

is'nt it wallflowers that  get  ' club  root '?

[daveylamp993]

wallflowers DO get clubroot,but ifind it does not affect the flowering,i plant my seeds in june/july put them in the borders in october/november and they are then transferred to window boxes early spring and give wonderful fragrance,i also grow sweet william the same way,a great combination.

[goodlife]

If your wallflowers grow nice and bushy.. you can root some cuttings from them..and have some MOOORE plants

[Digeroo]

I am not sure if they are seedling now that they will flower this year.  I grew some from a mix packet but they came up the following year.  Most of them were the Siberian type, lovely orange flowers but not much smell.
How do you know from a mixed packet which seeds are which.  You might have 'Hesperis instead.   

Dave's Garden has some info about hardiness.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1562/

Do you have a problem sourcing seeds?

[Tee Gee]

which only gets AM light and gets very hot in summer. Does this seem feasible?

I see your Zone area is six to seven which relates pretty much to the northern parts of the UK where you can grow Wallflower ( Chieranthus) quite easily as they are quite hardy!

I plant my seedlings out in October / November in time for them to settle in before the onset of winter, then they basically go into semi dormancy through the winter months.

Once the soil begins to warm up they set of and I usually have them in flower in late spring (May)

At the moment my plants are under a foot of snow!

Regarding your plants/seedlings I am not so sure about as I don't know what size they are and what your weather is like at the moment.

I think I would grow them on in pots 3"-4" pots in a cool greenhouse or coldframe until the worst of the weather has passed then plant them out!

As they are a spring flower they will tolerate partial shade but I don't think they will stand very hot weather, although in the UK this is rarely a problem, as hot weather in spring has been in short supply this last few years so I have not been in a position to find out!

This link might help you.

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Cheiranthus/Cheiranthus.htm

[rugbypost]

Exactly the same as TEE GEE but if you start them in pots now you will be ready when  the last frosts have gone plant out at 12 inches apart and don't forget the butterfly's love them so watch your Brasiccas

[GrannieAnnie]

You all have helped so much! Today they are just showing their true leaves a little bit. I'll do as suggested and see what happens, try to plant them where the afternoon sun won't beat down on them. We sometimes get 100 degrees F. I'll also check a nursery that has more unusual bedding plants than my usual haunt. Many thanks again