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Hi growing gurus

I need some inspiration for my cottage garden.  It is looking very new, with lots of bare earth in between my slowly establishing perennials (h. geranium, rose, catmint, cotinus, alchemilla, some grasses and spiky things too).

I'd love to sow some seeds straight into the ground that will flower this year.  Colour scheme is blue / purple / white / maroon. Have sun,  partial and shady conditions. I am a complete seed virgin (apart from a disastrous window sill attempt years ago), so need some real easy sure things.

Any inspiration would be very much appreciated, and I will repay any tips by sharing my own special area of knowledge, how to grow the patchiest lawn in the northwest!  ::)

Cheers
PH

You need hardy annuals  ;D   Sow where you want them and you'll have loads of colour this year.  You can buy seed in collections, eg hardy annual cottage garden blue selection.  So it's then dead easy.  You don't have to go for a mixture though.  Suggestions for dead easy ones, calendula (pot marigold) Sorry I know it's orange but it's a must have in a cottage garden  ;D.  Cornflower, nigella Miss Jeykll blue, cosmos, candytuft, nasturtium, night scented stock mixed with Virginian stock, nemophila (baby blue eyes), poppy, limnanthes (poached egg plant), linum (flax), lunaria (honesty), californian poppy.  Sweet pea, sweet william, pansy, viola can be grown in pots and planted out later. 

I may have missed some but if you look on the seed packets for HARDY annuals you'll have a lovely display.  Good luck  ;D

Thanks Wardy, some good ideas there.  I'll get down to the garden centre tomorrow!

PH

take plenty of cash with you ;D

hmmmm, the overdraft will be increasing yet again! ::)

For annuals, Wilko's, Aldi and so on have budget ranges at ~50p per packet

phil

Hope I'm not to late to save your bank balance

Just to second Phil, I have bought a lot of seeds this year from Poundstretcher.  I am a bit of an annuals freak myself, and at 80p for a pack of seed I can grow an enormous range of flowers/veggies.  The most expensive seed I bought this year was £2.99 which I thought was a complete rip off. 

Compare Alyssum from Homebase (£1.79-ish) with Poundstretcher whose average price for a pack of seed is 80p.  TBH it is exactly the same thing and you seem to get more seed for your money with the cheaper ones.

I should have been named Prudence.  ;)

Good luck with your annuals.  I warn you - it can become very addictive!

Quote from: Charlotte Sometimes on April 20, 2005, 17:48:06

.....I should have been named Prudence.  ;).....

I thought Prudence was quite a nice name until I heard that it was Gardon Brown's middle one!

Garden Brown is that a Freudian slip?? :-\

Aha! Pound Stretcher sounds the place to go! Not too late to save my overdraft (actually I think it may be terminal anyway!)

Cheers!

Cheap seeds are a gamble, why are they cheap? I suspect they are repackaged or not properly sorted. 'You pays your money and takes your choice'

Why work like the devil preparing a plot and then take a gamble on anything coming up. Buy the best you can afford and sell/swap the extra plants. You will be quids in.

I don't think so Heritage. Vegetable seeds, whatever their price are covered by the same regulations governing germination rates - if you have a problem you are covered whether the seed came from the "Purveyors of Seeds to Her Majesty The Queen" or Lidl

They are not "repackaged" they are packed by seed merchants for the chains in their own  packets and, in my experience, they are just as good as the ones from better known companies - most of whom use the same merchants to pack them in their own packets! If they don't use the same merchants they come from the same growers.

Phil

Sudan 1 was also under strict regulations, Wyevale garden furniture was pukka,  you cant catch BSE from cows. I could go on and on. If there is room for a scam somebody will do it. Buy seed from repudable seedsmen and you reduce the risk.  Call me cynical if you like but reading some of the problems on this site about germination makes me think. I always buy good seed and have no problems

Along with the nigella and virginia stocks, a cottage garden really benefits from Nicotiana Alba.  Especially if you, like me, love sitting outside in the summer and enjoying all the smells!  Also, they seed themselves, so you get the bonus for several years.  They do grow quite tall so staking can help.  Not an annual but a perennial, I can't imagine a cottage garden without Jasminum officinale (the white one most often sold as a house plant.  In the south east, they grow beautifully and are quite hardy.  Had one as a house plant for years and it hardly ever flowered.  Dumped it (literally) in the garden one March and was rewarded by the most magnificent plant, year after year, with wonderful scent.  Climber by the way!  Makes a great background!

Happy sowing - oh, and with your perennials, please don't overlook the wonder varieties of penstemon with all their great colours.  Very rewarding, even flower after the beginning of the autumn frosts, lovely, delicate elongated bell flowers!

Good luck   :D

Thanks for all your help.  I plumped for Woolies seeds in the end and have gone for Nigella, Cosmos, Poppies, Cornflowers and Stocks, all sowed on Friday so hopefully we'll have a load of flowers in the height of summer.  am getting very excited!  ;D

I thought of another plant for your cottage garden but it's a perennial and has a wonderful scent.  Sweet rocket (hesperis matronalis).  It grows in my garden (very shady and quite dark) and as it's white it stands out, particularly at dusk

I love it and am always relieved to see it come back each year

Good luck with all your annuals

That sounds lovely. I will bear it in mind when I plant up my shade garden, which is currently a bit scruffy and mainly houses old branches awaiting the tip and the compost bin! Cheers.