There can’t be a gardener in the land who doesn’t feel the urge to get something new growing, come March. Even non-gardeners must feel the lure just a little!
The easiest way to scratch this itch is to buy some packets of seeds. But which ones? We 3Growbags know which seeds are on our list for 2026 (Brace yourself, you’ll never have heard of most of Laura’s…)
Every year, like many gardeners, I have my non-negotiables – Cosmos, Nicotiana sylvestris, cherry tomatoes, broad beans, baby cucumbers, Ammi, etc. But even an old-fashioned traditionalist like me likes to ring the changes sometimes.
So, although Cosmos ‘Purity’ is a yearly must, I’m also going to go MAD and try a new Thompson & Morgan variety called Cosmos ‘Fondant Fancy’. It looks FUN and I can justify its knicker-pink frilly flowers by saying they are perfect landing sites for pollinators 👍. They would give Laura the shudders, but Caroline might be more kindly disposed.
Sorry, Laura, you’re not going to like this one either. I read somewhere that Petunia Tidal Wave ‘Red Velour’ was a stonking good do-er. Even seed-companies like the estimable Chilterns describes it as an ‘outstanding spreading Petunia in bold, vibrant and rich red’…I’ve already got them coming up like mustard and cress on the windowsill.
A new love is the annual climber Tropaeolum peregrinum whose dainty yellow nasturtium-like flowers will quickly reach a height of 2 m. by June. They do round here, anyhow.
I always like to get a few perennials sown in spring and some with TLC may even flower in their first year. This year, my hopes are pinned on those lovely coneflowers, large-flowered Echinacea.
Then there are the biennials. Much as I adore their scent, I find sowing wallflowers too much of a faff, but every year I am lured by the siren call of foxgloves (Digitalis), which are the loveliest of all the wildlings in my opinion. I sow a little of the fine seed in March, pot them on then plant their leaf-rosettes outside in autumn to flower the following June. Glorious!
Hmmm she’s making out they’re new and exciting but isn’t Elaine essentially just sowing cosmos, petunias and foxgloves?
For me seed sowing is a chance to experiment with either something rare, or something you can’t afford to buy as a mature plant. My local nursery currently has a well-grown specimen of the mysterious and ancient wheel tree, Trochodendron araliodes, for sale at £82.50 – I grew it from a seed packet costing roughly 80p.
Even seeds from commercial companies are expensive nowadays so this is where organisations that run seed exchange programmes are absolutely manna from heaven. The 20 packets you receive from the Hardy Plant Society just for the cost of admin and postage are practically worth their weight in gold – (albeit you have to be a signed up member of the organisation first, which is no hardship as they run a super programme of talks and
And the thought that the seeds have been lovingly collected and donated by like-minded gardeners to share the pleasure of their hobby gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. If you do choose this route however you do need an acceptance that success is not always guaranteed, and patience can be required. Peony seeds for example can take up to three years to germinate.
Growing bulbs from seed can also prove to be a waiting game, and sometimes a little underwhelming if you are trying to propagate a named cultivar as these are usually better produced by asexual means such as splitting or microprogation. But I have had pretty good results growing Eucomis, Watsonia and Dierama species from seed, with bulbs or corms of flowering size achieved after only a couple of years.
It is also very helpful to be able to grow some of the more unusual biennials from seed such as angelicas. You rarely see them for sale – due to the large pot size they would need in their second flowering season. I often leave mine in their seed pots until early in the second year to allow for full germination, and then grow them directly in their flowering space.
So it’s important that you sow your seeds in a fashion that can put up with variable germination rates and possibly a long wait until anything appears at all. I’ve put a link to a video I made showing the seed sowing technique to E and C that I’ve used ever since I was taught it in a masterclass by expert plantswoman, Marina Christopher. But as you will see they weren’t paying full attention…
Yes, I tried to look interested during Laura’s seed-sowing masterclass, but silently I dismissed her rustic approach of leaving them outdoors to germinate whenever they feel like it – this year, next year, sometime, never. No, no, I want action and I want it now. I minister to seeds in my two little turbo-charged propagators like Mother Theresa herself….. but for a very short time.
They get about 10 days to do their stuff before they’re deemed to be ‘bed blocking’ and out they go to take their chances in the under-resourced nursing home that is the greenhouse. It’s a tough transition. I could detect an audible gulp from my Astrantia Major ‘purple cloud’ seeds when they saw me read the back of their packet – ‘Provide heat, may take up to 80 days to germinate’ – I don’t think so, darlings.
Neither of my sisters have owned up to nasturtiums (childrens’ plants according to Laura) but I know they both grow them because I’ve seen the evidence.
They don’t like sunflowers either. That’s akin to disliking Michael MacIntyre or dappled sunshine and although I admit it can be challenging to keep a 10 foot sunflower aloft in a Highland climate, my Helianthus (sunflower) ‘Magic Roundabout’ is a non-negotiable project.
I’m also going to try an annual climber for my glasshouse to replace my unsatisfactory incumbents – Clematis armandii (aphids and consequently horrible sticky effusions); Trachelospermum jasminoides (covered in black mould) and last year’s annual climber, Cobaea Scandens or cup and saucer plant (flowers far too late).
In their place I’ve got seeds of Dolichos lablab ‘Ruby Moon’ which sounds like a Grand National runner but does actually have great flowers, smashing seed pods and, should global affairs deteriorate further, can also be eaten.
What about you? What are your ‘must have’ seeds? We’d love to know!
With understated charm and great longevity in the
Laura’s seed-sowing masterclass, informative although too much patience required for Caroline (see our post above 🤣)
Successful seed germination depends on a few variables, but you can greatly improve your chances by using the right tools! Here are five things we recommend you have:
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4 replies on “What seeds we’re sowing 🌱🌱”
Hi Girls
You mention the Hardy Plant Society seed offer.
Did you know that the Cottage Garden Society (annual membership only £15 or £18/couple) has a seed exchange – (if you donate seed as well you get extra packets). Brilliantly organised – send an SAE for the seed list. Only open to members.
Am sure this would be right up your street – very friendly society with interesting quarterly newsletter.
Keep up the good work – love reading your weekly updates.
Hi Annie, thank you for writing in and reminding us about the CGS. I am very familiar with the wonderful Cottage Garden Society, and am a member of the East Sussex branch of it. You are absolutely right about their lovely seed list – in the past I have contributed and received many packets of seeds through their scheme – excellently run, as you say. So many little treasures! Glad that you like our weekly musings – keeps us out of mischief, anyway…..All the best, Elaine
I always grow cosmos – this year Itks Double Click Cranberry, Double Click SnowPuff, Fandango and Xsenia. Also always grow zinnias. Have sown some nicotiana (perfume deep purple), asters, cleome, ratibida columnifera, morning glory and have loads more on their way from Chiltern seeds, including marigolds, sunflowers and nasturtiums. As to climbers am trying rhodochiton this year.
Wow, Rosemary – you’ve got this spring sowing absolutely SEWN UP (see what I did there) ! Your garden must be overflowing with glorious colour in the summer. You have just reminded me to sow some zinnias – it’s another annual I really like – not least because of its attractiveness to all sorts of pollinating insects. I have sown some morning glory like you, but this year I am definitely growing them in pots – too many times I have planted them out to clamber up the pergola, forgotten that I’d done it a couple of weeks later, and yanked them out thinking they were wretched bindweed! Have fun watching all those lovely plants develop. All the best, Elaine