I KNOW I’ve talked about sowing seeds over the last few weeks and I’m sorry to be talking about it again. It’s just that it’s the time to sow so many different varieties of seed, including the early sowings of half-hardy flowering annuals, vegetables, herbs and even first year flowering boarder perennials.

So I make no apologies that again I was busy sowing a wide range of seeds over the weekend (although I did have some keen help in the form of my grandson, Hayden, who turns seven next week – oh where has the time gone!). Hayden was keen to grow flowers so he could give his mother a bunch – how cute are grandchildren.

If you’re growing flowers from seed with young children, it’s important that the types of flowers are those which are easy and fairly quick to germinate! Also, the seeds need to be of a size that young children can handle. If anyone has sown begonia seeds, they will know what I mean.

So, with this in mind and with Hayden’s keenness, he managed to sow seeds of Cosmos ‘Psyche White’, a double flowering form, and Cosmos ‘Rubenza’, a single ruby-coloured form. Both varieties grow to around a metre tall, so will be ideal as cut flowers.

He also sowed Calendula ‘Neon’, a bright orange pot marigold which grows around 60cms tall, which is quite tall for a calendula.

Hayden also sowed a few sweet peas, which he first soaked and ‘chitted’ before sowing. The seeds were sown in small seed trays with clear plastic dome tops. These trays where placed on the kitchen windowsill, so all being well he should see signs of germination in about two weeks.

I’m also pleased to say that some of my earlier sowings, again which I placed on my windowsill, are now germinating – my Antirrhinum ‘Illumination’ Mixed Colours, Salvia ‘Seascape’ Mixed and Petunia ‘Rose Vein Velvet’. I used small seed trays with clear plastic domes and now that the seeds have germinated and are showing their seed leaves (different to the plants’ true leaves), it’s time to open the dome vent to allow excess moisture to escape. Too much moisture will lead to the seedlings being prone to damping off, a disease caused by several different fungi, all of which thrive in damp conditions. It’s best at this time of year to keep seedlings more on the dry side.

You might recall that I was grumbling the other week about my Christmas and Lenten Roses (Helborous niger and Heleborous orientalis) being late into bloom this year. Yes, I know it has been wet and unseasonally warm. However, a few weeks ago we did experience a couple of heavy frosts; it might not have been much but it was heavy enough to kick-start my Hellebores into bloom!

As you can see from my photograph they are looking very colourful indeed, and although they’re much later this year, they are certainly worth the wait.

Readers with eagle eyes may have noticed that I previously cut back the Helleborous foliage; by doing this you can see that it has given the blooms more prominence.

Interestingly, I was tidying around the base of the plants over the past week and was pleased to find a number of germinated seedlings; these are from last year’s displays as it takes around nine months from seed to germination. I do collect my own seeds, but it looks like I missed a few. Nevertheless, I will eventually lift these seedlings and pot them up for planting out in the autumn. Still it’s always nice to have a few free plants!