Growing Annual Flowers from Seed

When starting your own seeds, it helps to separate them into two planting categories: indoor-
planted and outdoor-planted. For indoor-planted seeds, be sure to use potting soil that's made for
seedstarting.

Easy Annuals to Start from Seed

Start these outdoors, right in your garden where you want them to grow. This technique is often
called "direct-sowing." There's little if any advantage planting them indoors. Most (except sweet
peas, sweet alyssum, poppies and larkspur) are tender annuals and should not be sown until after
danger of frost.
• Sunflowers
• Marigolds
• Morning glories
• Bachelor buttons
• Calendula
• Castor bean
• Cosmos
• Nasturtiums
• Sweet peas
• Sweet alyssum
• Larkspur
• Annual poppies
• Ammi majus
• Zinnia
• Hyacinth bean

Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)
 Plant these seeds indoors, under lights, six to eight weeks before transplanting into the garden.
Especially small seeds (including nicotiana, petunia and snapdragon) should be broadcast on a
small seed tray. Once the seedlings have their first true leaves, carefully tease them apart and
transplant into separate growing cells.
• Cleome
• Coleus
• Snapdragon
• Ageratum
• Amaranth
• Nicotiana
• Lavatera
• Petunia
• Impatiens
• Salvia
• Statice

For more information, read Seedstarting Made Easy and Growing Under Lights .

Types of Annuals—Hardy to Tender

Hardy Annuals
• Bachelor buttons
• Calendula
• Spider flower (Cleome)
• Pinks (Dianthus)
• Forget-me-nots (Myosotis)
• Pansies (Viola)
• Larkspur (Delphinium consolida)
• Linaria
• California and Shirley poppies (Papaver)
• Love-in-a-mist (Nigella)
• Pincushion flower (Scabiosa) • Snapdragons (Antirrhinum)
• Lavatera
• Annual baby's-breath (Gypsophila elegans)
• Stock
• Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus)

Half-Hardy Annuals
• Statice
• Marigold
• Nicotiana
• Painted-tongue (Salpiglossis sinuata)
• China aster (Callistephus chinensis)
• and various types of salvias and chrysanthemums.

Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)
 Tender Annuals
• Morning glory
• Zinnia
• Coleus
• Sunflowers and tithonia (Mexican sunflower)
• Cosmos
• Amaranth
• Ageratum
• Celosia
• Gomphrena (globe amaranth)

By Kathy LaLiberté

There was a day when I grew all my own annual flowers from seed — as many as 25 different
varieties. Though my garden is now smaller and my ambition has mellowed a bit, I still start
many flowers from seed. Here's why:

Say you want to plant a 12-foot row of zinnias along your walk, or put 40 white impatiens in
your shade garden. Buying these plants at your local nursery will probably set you back at least
$50, whereas a packet of seeds will run you about $4. That's an extra $46 to spend on some other
gardening essentials!

Another reason I start annuals from seed is that even the best garden centers don't offer some of
the most worthy garden annuals. To make sure I always have love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus
caudatus), Nicotiana langsdorfii, Phlox drummondii, Salvia horminium, lavatera (Lavatera
trimestris) and other favorites, I always start them myself.

Most annual flowers are easy to grow from seed. The real challenge is figuring out when and
where you should plant the seeds. All too often, people find themselves at home with a stack of
colorful seed packets and no idea where to begin.

I don't know why it is, but seed packets rarely provide the basic seedstarting information a
gardener needs to know. The packet usually won't tell you whether the seeds should be started
indoors under lights, or should be planted right in the garden. You won't be told if the seeds need
light or darkness to germinate, or if the seedlings are frost hardy. These days, with so many
unusual varieties available from seed, you may also wind up purchasing seeds for something
exotic, like the Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) that even a highly experienced
gardener would have difficulty bringing into flower.

To ensure your success right out of the gate, start with some of the super-easy seeds listed in the
sidebar at right. Give yourself a year or two with these foolproof favorites before you venture
into growing some of the more challenging annuals in the next list.

No matter what kinds of annuals you grow, here are a few things you might want to know before
getting started (if you haven't grown plants from seed before, be sure to read Seedstarting Made
Easy):

Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)
  What size are the seeds? This may seem like a peculiar concern, but if you're going to
plant your flower seeds directly into the garden, or put individual seeds into peat pots, the
seeds need to be large enough to handle. Dust-like seeds (such as petunias and
snapdragons) will get lost if you try to direct-sow them (plant them right into the garden).
The seeds in the "easy" list at right, are all one-eighth inch or larger.
 Are there any special germination requirements? Though most seeds prefer to
germinate in darkness, some require the lights on. Sometimes seeds (such as lupines,
sweet peas and morning glories) have very tough seed coats and should be soaked or
nicked before planting. Some seeds will also take their time germinating. While most will
be up in four to seven days, for some it's normal to take three to four weeks to get going.
 How rapidly will the seedlings grow? This is a tricky one because growth rate is
genetically programmed, but is also influenced by growing conditions. Plants grow much
more rapidly in an 80-degree greenhouse than under a grow light in a cool basement.
Some annuals, such as impatiens, will be a good size for transplanting when they're about
eight weeks old. But if you start your zinnias eight weeks before transplanting, they'll be
root-bound and too tall by the time they go into the garden. Most gardeners sow fast-
growing annuals, such as sunflowers, bachelor buttons, calendulas, zinnias and
nasturtiums right into the garden. I agree that it's not worth the trouble to grow these
seeds indoors for just three to four weeks, and also run the risk of transplant shock.
 How long will it take from germination to bloom? The seed packet should tell you
how many "days to bloom", which means how long it takes from germination to
flowering. If you have a short growing season and the packet says it will be 80 or 90 days
to bloom, you will need to start the seeds indoors if you want to see them flower for a
couple weeks before frost. The easiest annuals to start from seed (see list at right) usually
come into flower very quickly, often blooming just 50 to 70 days after planting.
 How cold-hardy are the plants? Seeds of hardy annuals can be planted directly in the
garden as early in the spring as the soil can be worked. Once the seeds have germinated,
the young plants will usually tolerate a light frost and temperatures down to about 25
degrees F. Half-hardy annuals can be started indoors six to eight weeks before
transplanting, or planted right in the garden once the soil has begun to warm up. Most
will tolerate a light frost, but be prepared to protect young seedlings if temperatures drop.
Tender annuals can be sown directly in the garden, but only after all danger of frost has
passed. These cold-sensitive seeds can also be sown indoors four to six weeks before the
last spring frost date. Transplant into the garden when you are confident that nighttime
temperatures will stay above 40 degrees F.

If you are interested in starting lots of annual flowers from seed, consider investing in a
seedstarting reference, such as Eileen Powell's excellent book: The Gardener's A-Z Guide to
Growing Flowers from Seed to Bloom. This book describes more than 500 different types of
flowers and how to grow them. You'll find important information about germination
requirements, plant hardiness, time to bloom, etc. The more you know, the better you'll grow.

Kathy LaLiberté is an award-winning writer and founding employee of Gardener's Supply. She
gardens in Richmond, Vt.

Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)