Hardy annuals to direct sow must be the top choice in combining economy, colour and just being so easy to grow: some of them will self-sow too, so you’ll never have to buy seed again
Cynoglossum amabile
This elegant, self supporting relative of the forget-me-not carries open sprays of sky blue flowers, with a darker spot at the base of each petal, on slender upright stems. It makes a pretty cut flower for cottage-style bouquets and can either be sown in spring or treated as a biennial and sown in summer. It’s especially pretty when it self sows around roses. 45cm (18in).
Eschscholzia californica ‘Appleblossom Bush’
In the 1990s and 2000s a number of neat and bushy eschscholzias were developed that featured silvery blue foliage and double or semi-double fluted flowers, often in pastel shades. The flowers of ‘Appleblossom Bush’, sometimes listed as ‘Appleblossom Chiffon Improved’, are pink and white and this is a lovely plant to sow direct in gravel. 25cm (10in).
Lathyrus odoratus ‘High Scent’
This pretty picoteed sweet pea is one of the most fragrant of all sweet peas and combines its powerful fragrance with creamy flowers that are beautifully flushed with purple towards the edges. Carrying four flowers per stem when grown informally, it starts to flower earlier than many sweet peas. Sow in the autumn for the best plants, or in spring. 1.8m (6ft).
Lavatera trimestris ‘Silver Cup’
The beautifully veined flowers of this dramatic annual are carried on tall, bushy plants which spread well and develop an almost shrub-like presence. Each trumpet-shaped flower is boldly veined in vivid pink, with a neat dark eye, and shades to pink towards the edges. The petals have a reflective sheen that gleams in the sun. 70cm (2ft).
Limnanthes douglasii
Of all the direct sow annuals featured here, this is the one that tolerates damp soil best. Once you have it, it will often self sow in autumn, develop dense foliage over the winter, even on clay, and then be covered in the bright, yellow and white, poached egg flowers for months. It will even flower in mild winters, especially in sheltered sites. 15cm (6in).
Nicotiana langsdorffii
Normally classed as a half-hardy annual, and sown in a propagator or on the windowsill, I’ve sown seed outside in May and by August it was flowering prolifically. The bright green bells, held on wiry stems and sparked inside by blue anthers, sway prettily in the breeze and are pretty cut flowers. In well-drained soil, plants sometimes overwinter as perennials. 1.2m. (4ft).
Nigella damascena ‘Miss Jekyll’
This classic love-in-a-mist with its distinctive sky blue flowers, grows well from a spring sowing and even better when sown in the autumn; its sharply divided leaves are an appealing winter feature and then it flowers more prolifically and earlier than spring sown plants. A lovely cut flower, it self sows well. 45cm (18in).
Omphalodes linifolia
Like Cynoglossum, this is an annual which is both lovely in itself and also a great mixer with perennials and shrubs – in the garden, and in the vase where it lasts especially well. The silvery foliage is topped with slender stems carrying small pure white flowers which have the bonus of being sweetly scented. Better in damper soils than most of those featured here. 40cm (16in).
Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’
One of the most dramatic of all poppies, ‘Ladybird’ has been selected for its especially vivid red colouring and the intensity of the large, black, rather square blotch at the base of petal. For sowing in autumn or spring, ‘Ladybird’ tends to self sow less than other poppies so there’s no danger of that red colouring taking over the garden – but it does need careful placing. 40cm (16in).
Tropaeolum majus Alaska Series
Nasturtiums are one of the best flowers for kids to sow: the seeds are large, they come up quickly, the flowers are colourful and the leaves are edible. Plants in the Alaska Series are neat and bushy (they don’t climb), have prettily marbled leaves and the flowers, in this separate colour and others and a mix, are shown off just above the leaves. 30cm (1ft).
