What seeds can we plant now that are easy to grow and produce (fairly quickly) colourful/impressive flowers

[TooTicky]

Otherwise I shall end up spending 3 weeks reading the backs of little packets.

cornflowers, gypsophillia (not solourful but grow fast and tall and make a great flower for back of border), poppies, marigolds.... mst garden shops do little packs of mixed seeds for kids, I think they work. (Hope so- ds23 has a party Saturdaya nd I got them a pack of poppies and a pack of carrots each plus a gorgeously old fashioned board book called the carrot seed).

Don't forget the veg- raddish and carrots are great, and definitely don't forget the pumpkins!!
They grow so fast and the kids love them.

Thanks. We're on the case with veg (well, nearly) but I wanted to make an effort with flowers this year as well.
(Did you say ds23? Omg, you have my admiration)

Oops though frankly should put ds123 for everything as I can never remember what relates to which anyhow (did I rell you my nan had 16 kids?????)

NAsturtiums are good as you can eat them in a salad, and Marigolds can be used as an ingredient in buns as well, and lavender in icer cream. I find that always goes down well with the boys- edible floristry.

ds23 . So its not just the plants that grow fast round here!

Sunflowers! Nice big seeds, almost always germinate (plant individually in small pots) and once they are big enough, slugs won't eat them. We have a big slug problem so most other flowers don't make it past seedling stage.
Veges are good too - beans, courgettes - we even managed to get some carrots last year, even with the teeny tiny seeds.

Ooh, tell me about marigolds in buns... and do you have to get a specific type? I mean, you can't eat ornamental cabbages, can you?

I can try and dig out the recipe somehwhere, but its just common garden amrigolds, petals taken and gently washed and stirred through sponge mix and done like small buns in the over. Would work with a big cake too, no doubt- not the hugest taste difference but a gorgeous coloured efffect as they have golden specks.

another opne to try

and another

Wow!! Definitely marigolds then. Ooh, can't wait to buy seeds...

Although slugs will get your marigolds as well if they are eating your sunflowers....

Oh

try grit etc - i have to admit that I have no sympathy for slugs and only a teeny tiny bit for snails, and none at all for aphids or lily beetles. Also try growing them in pots until they are a bit bigger and tougher before planting out. You can get marigolds in punnets as well, which might be a good back-up option.

Ticky we have slug problems too- we grow things in window boxes, with the vaseline trick.

another vote for nasturtiums. Also love-in-a-mist is p*ss easy and re-seeds itself (like nasturtiums) so you get a fresh crop every year.

Crop is not the right word I know, but pg brain is like mush tonight

The only problem with nasturtiums is the black fly. Like bees to honey, black flies & nasturtiums.

Californian poppies are gorgeous and you get some lovely colours now. Also godetia. Larkspur is also nice. And night-scented stocks are very easy and give a gorgeous smell on hot nights. They look pretty insignificant but the fragrance is knock-out.

Well, between us the 4 dcs and I have chosen: sunflowers, marigolds, nasturtiums, california poppies, pansies and stocks. The pansies are the most complicated but ds1 fell in love with them. Dd2 is strangely attached to her stocks... just hope they grow!