The Ultimate Guide to Growing Stunning Flowers

Unleash your inner adventurer and embrace the thrill of growing your own plants from seeds. Not only is it simple and cost-effective, but it also offers a wider range of options in terms of variety and color compared to buying pre-grown plants. Don't limit yourself to just vegetables - flowers are just as easy to grow from seeds!

Annual flowers started from seed should bloom during their growing season, and some might even self-seed as bonus plants for the next year. Perennial flowers grown from seed might not bloom during their first growing season but will have a head start on prolific blooms in their second year.

HOW TO START ANNUAL FLOWERS SEED

One of the best ways to fill your flower gardens with color is to plant annuals, which grow quickly and bloom all season long. Several of these varieties are very easy to start from seeds which are less expensive and give you more exciting choices than buying plants at a garden center.

Germination conditions: Start indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost, or direct-sow after the last frost. Cover seeds with 1 to 1½ inches of soil. Growing instructions: Plant in full sun to partial shade and in light, well-drained soil; rich soil promotes foliage but few flowers. Space 8 to 12 inches apart.

Perennial flowers may not bloom their first year, but if you have the patience to wait, you can fill your garden for a fraction of the cost of buying mature plants. Annual flowers will bloom right on schedule, and many of them will even seed themselves, so you'll only have to plant them once to receive years of beautiful blooms. If you've been dreaming of nonstop color, pick up some seed packets, and get started with the tips below.

Growing Perennial Flowers From Seed

As far as timing is concerned, most cold-hardy perennial seeds like a long cold period before they will germinate. Seeds started in December or January will greet you in the spring with more seedlings than you could ever hope for.

The overwhelming majority of perennials grow just fine using my basic seed-starting method (below). 

Grow perennials from seed:

Method:

1. To start with, fill a seed tray with a good potting mix and make sure it’s in a warm area of the house so the seeds can germinate. It’s possible to increase the germination rate by chilling or soaking the seeds before sowing them.

2. Sprinkle seeds over the damp potting mix and then cover them very lightly with more mix.

3. Use plastic wrap to cover the soil and retain moisture while the seeds germinate.

4. Place the tray in a good light and watch the seedlings grow!

5. It takes the majority of perennial seeds only three to five weeks to germinate, but don’t be surprised if you see some growing faster than others, this is normal. Perennials may have a germination rate as low as 50% in some varieties, in comparison to the roughly 95% germination rate of annuals.

. When germination does occur, the first leaves will be simple leaves and do not look the same as mature ones. Later, true leaves will follow.

7. Once the seedlings reach sufficient size, move them to the flower bed for acclimation, ensuring adequate water  every day.

8. Some perennial varieties, such as Lavender ‘Lady’ and Verbascum ‘Snowy Spires’ (below), will flower in their first year from sowing. Other varieties like Echinacea ‘Sundress’ will only flower reliably the year after sowing.

9. All of these varieties can be sown from February to July in the same year. The Lavender and Verbascum, however, will perform best if sown early. Another perennial to sow early is delphinium – if sown in February or March, most delphinium cultivars will flower the same year in the mid to late

Most Perennial don't bloom until their second year, spending their first season growing a strong root system and lots of leaves for photosynthesis. You can sometimes get around this waiting period by starting your perennial seeds in the fall and fooling the plants into thinking the following spring is "year two," but more often than not you'll just have to be patient.

After your perennial flowers are established, they will begin blooming and grow larger every year. In a few years' time, you'll be able to make even more plants by dividing the ones you have.