What seeds should I get?

[ErrolTheDragon]

I've never been very good with seeds (other than self seeding plants!) but I need to do something about that to make up for not going to garden centres (DH needs to be careful). This year I had mixed results with what should be easy ones - nasturtiums were great, some of the sunflowers were good but only a few got to maturity; sweet peas and cosmos I thought I'd done in time but some have never made it to flowering.
I don't have a greenhouse or anywhere to put one (sloping garden.). I'm wondering if cloches or something would be helpful but I don't have much hard standing. Limited space indoors - the windowsill I can normally use has student DDs houseplants on it, and my kitchen table is already somewhat occupied with herbs.

Outdoor sown seeds do take longer to get going, but I have found that the random self sown ones always seem to flower. So I suppose that where they are sown must make a big difference to their rate of germination and maturity to flower.
I’d do a bit of an experiment and sow some easy seeds in different places and see which develop soonest. You may also find that some of your annual from this year self seed. I have a patch of self seeded nasturtiums that are always later, but they are in flower now which is lovely Autumn colour.
Some Cosmos, particularly the larger variety do flower later.

I have had success this year with annuals - calendula, french marigolds, and cerinthe were the best. My cosmos were rubbish this year.

I also tried growing some perennials from seed - knautia, geum, geranium, achillea. Some of which are ready to plant out now, and some will be stored in a cold frame over the winter until they are bigger for spring planting.

Would a cold frame be an option for you?

I probably should try to find somewhere for a cold frame. Do they need to be in fairly full sun, or is that maybe not a good idea?

On a whim I used my Tesco points to get a few months access to a couple of gardening magazines.
Both of them have a free packet of seeds with every issue. The weekly Garden News is particularly great for the seeds. The cover price of the magazine is £1.99 but (without Tesco Points) a monthly subscription is £4.50.
I forgot how nice it is to have a magazine delivered each week (Last time I did I was 13 and it was Jackie ) and I'm always excited to see what the seeds are. And the seeds usually say they are worth 2 to 3 pounds. The seeds are from T&M and are generally considered easy ones.
If you aren't bothered about the mag; some of the seeds have been varieties of Poppy, Marigold, Viola, Sweet William,- those are what I can think of of the top of my head.

If you prepare the ground - rake it over - now is a good time to sow a lot of annuals. Calendula, cornflower, aqualegia and cerinthe. They get a head start.

Cosmos - I sowed mine in modules outdoors when the weather started to get better this year. I've got a fairly sheltered dry but not too dry spot to leave them in though. It's not in full sun but does get warm.

I think cold frames can make a real difference - or just a sheet of thick clear plastic/polycarbon on some bricks and held down - just to give a bit of shelter and warmth if money is tight.

I think that cold frames need to be in a fairly sunny spot, but sheltered from wind and so on. That is what I've done with mine.

What a lovely thread!

Hi Errol .. I have a sloping garden too and no.space for a greenyoise. I also grow seeds on window sills and haven't had much success with flowers apart from calendula which have dome brilliantly from seed straight in the ground (in outdoor pots) and are still flowering. I planted hollyhocks in a trough and they came up but never flowered. We have a slug problem here and I had to cover with plastic bottles at night or when it's damp.

I think a cold frame is a great idea.

IAintentDead .. that mag sounds great. I will look into that. I remember getting Jackie when I was 13 too !! Do you remember Steve and the Toblerones? I was sent one through the post once. I was thrilled!!

Sorry I veered off the topic there!!

Greenhouse, not greenyoise!

Some good ideas here. I've had a tendency not to like yellow and orange flowers much except in spring, but this year the nasturtiums have blown that prejudice out of the water so sounds like I should definitely get some marigold varieties.
Violas are a good idea too - I don't know why I didn't think of that as I do get some self seeders, I guess it's usually too easy to pick up trays from the garden centre. I'm like a kid in a candy store trying to choose between all their pretty little faces.

I've had a tendency not to like yellow and orange flowers much except in spring I like yellow in spring, but love orange and deep reds in autumn, when they fit in with all the berries and leaf colours. So calendulas, nasturiums, and you could try the various rudbeckia type daisies with red or orange flowers with brown centres. Remember too that nasturtiums come in a variety of colours from cream through to deep, almost black, red.

This ear I've tried corn marigold, Glebionis. A yellow flower, but they're suprisingly showy, and are giving a wonderful display at the moment.

Cerinthe is a wonderfully exotic looking flower that you could sow directly now. Blu, purple with greyish blue foliage, it’s an annual that when happy grows pretty large.

It’s surprisingly successful on my cold, craggy clay exposed northern allotment.

Calendula come in a wonderful range of colours, some much redder/pink.

And do you have enough windowsill for some sweet peas? I’m trying to work out where I could put some that won’t get tutted at.

I need to find some space to start some sweet peas indoors and then have a second sowing but not as late as this year, I think.

You can try winter sowing seeds if you haven’t got a greenhouse. You just need milk jugs. The plants are earlier and not frost tender.

These lovely little blue flowers have been successful planted straight into outdoor pots and have lasted for months. They look great with the grasses in this planter....

IAintentDead .. that gardening mag sounds great. I will look into that. I remember getting Jackie when I was 13 too !! Do you remember Steve and the Toblerones? I was sent one through the post once. I was thrilled!!