Seeds to sow in February?

Perennials seeds to sow in February

If you’re wondering which seeds to sow in February – its a great time to sow the seeds of perennial plants. These are plants that die right down in the winter and start growing again in the Spring. Some perennials flower in their first year after sowing and make ideal cut flowers. You can sow perennial seeds most of the year but February is a great month in which to start them.

Achillea is a perennial that will bloom in its first year providing lots of stems for your vases – it comes in many colours, cerise, red, white and yellow as well as paler peaches and apricots.

Try geums, cota, galega, lythrum, lisymachia, gaura, agastache.

Annual seeds to sow in February

Annual plants grow, flower and set seed all in one year. They are split into hardy and half hardy. As their name suggests, some of them can withstand the cold better than others.

Hardy annuals

Hardy annuals will readily germinate at almost anytime of the year, but they require light to grow. By the middle of February (here in East Sussex in the UK) there is 10 hours of daylight each day, enough for seeds to grow and not get ‘leggy’ stretching for light.

Try : antirrhinums, cornflowers, sweet peas, larkspur, clarkia, statice, calendula, ammi majus, daucus

Half-hardy annuals

Half-hardy annuals are not frost hardy – any frost will kill them. If you have nowhere warm to keep them until all danger of frost is over then don’t sow them too soon. They will only take 6-8 weeks to germinate and make small plants, so count back 8 weeks from your last frost date before you sow them – out last frost is the middle of May so I won’t be sowing them until the middle of March.

Try: cosmos, zinnia, phlox, tithonia.

Recommended seed merchants

• Chiltern seeds
• Kings seeds
• Moles seeds

If you like to learn more about seeds, sowing schedules, becoming a flower farmer then our 1:1 mentoring sessions maybe just what you need.