Garden Inspiration, Garden Tips and Ideas, General Tips

15 Easy To Grow Flower, Vegetable And Herb Seeds For August.

Posted by

Ali Barwani

9 August 2021

On 5 August 2021

Firstly, we hope that your gardens didn’t get too battered by the torrential rain we all experienced last month. Now, with calmer weather ahead, it is time to think about getting back out into the garden.

Recently I was asked by customers Angela J. and her 5-year-old daughter Ruby “What summer holiday gardening activities can we do?” I suggested sowing seeds as a project they could both get passionate about. Angela and Ruby were amazed to learn that you can still plant seeds and wanted help choosing some to try.

So, this week’s blog, all about seed sowing in August, will be of great interest to them and others interested in growing plants from seed.

Growing from seed is marvellous because it is cheap, easy to do, and very rewarding. However, for many beginning gardeners it may seem miraculous, even ludicrous to hope that the tiny seeds inside a packet will eventually give rise to plants.

But generally, they will! Of course, sometimes, especially if you don’t follow the instructions on the back of the packet, your doubts may prove to be well founded.

What seems even more ludicrous to some is the fact that now is the ideal time to sow many seeds.

Isn’t it too late to be sowing seeds?

Do not worry, sowing seeds is not just about the race to sprout the first tomato seeds in February. In fact, sowing seeds too early in the year isn’t a good idea, it just means they spend several months hanging around on windowsills until the conditions are right for planting them out.

It is not too late to enjoy the thrill of growing your own plants from seed this year. In fact, August is a good time to get sowing if you choose the appropriate kinds.

Why Is August A Good Time To Sow Seeds?

August is a good time to sow seeds because the ground is still warm from summer, meaning they will germinate and grow quickly. And we also have the possibility of two more months of the growing season ahead.

Think about it. Many plants growing in the garden will have flowered and set seed by now, and soon those seeds will be sprouting in pots, paths and paving cracks. In other words, Nature is our guide.

August is the perfect time for the gardener to look forward to next year. This is the month to inspect your flower beds, borders and pots, and note the empty spaces needing more colour. Many flower seeds can be directly sown in the spots where you want them to flower next year.

Sowing flower seeds in August means you will have an earlier display of blooms than if you had waited until spring. Sow appropriate vegetable and herb seeds now and you will have crops you can harvest this winter and in the spring.

Top Five Flowers To Sow In August.

In this section I have selected five hardy annuals you can sow right now that will flower early during summer next year.

Each can be grown on its own, or in combination with the others. They all require the same treatment and conditions. These beautiful flowers need neither rich soil nor constant watering. They are all hardy plants that can cope with bad weather.

All can be sown directly into well prepared ground in August. ‘Sown directly’ means planting the seeds in the place where you want them to flower next year.

1) Calendulas (Calendula officinalis). These colourful cottage garden favourites are hardy, reliable and easy-to-grow. Calendulas, also called pot marigolds, come in many varieties. Calendulas produce a profusion of bold daisy-like flowers that can be single or double. Pot marigolds are usually bright orange or yellow; but can be found in pale shades of orange, light yellow, and cream. I adore forms like ‘Snow Princess’ that have a contrasting dark brown centre.

Calendulas will happily grow in poor and dry garden soil. They flower best in a sunny position, but I have found that they flourish even in my north facing front garden.

Calendulas flower freely from summer through to late autumn. Although treated as an annual I find they survive the winter and flower again in their second year. Last year I had a few bright orange calendula flowers open in my garden on Christmas Day.

Pot marigolds seed freely, but the quality of flowers will reduce over the years. For a top-quality display, it is best to renew your stock annually.

Fun Fact: calendula flower petals are edible. The peppery tasting petals can be used to decorate soups and salads.

To learn more about edible flowers:

https://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/blog/creating-your-own-edible-flower-garden/

2) California poppies (Eschscholzia californica). California poppies bring a pop of colour to summer borders and pots. They sound and look exotic; their delicate silky petals of the flowers are heightened by pale blue-grey fern-like foliage. California poppies are self-seeders on poor soils.

Carol’s Delight: Our furniture, giftware and Christmas expert Carol discovered the joy of California poppies during her exercise walks during the lockdown summer of 2020. And this year Carol grew masses of colourful California poppies in her own garden.

California poppy mixes can include white, cream, salmon, yellow and burnt orange forms as well as the classic bright orange. California poppies are at their peak in summer.

Expert Tip: August sowings produce a longer flowering season.

3) Cornflowers – (Centaurea cyanus). A beautiful hardy annual that produces flowers with edible petals. If you have enjoyed the delicious Sicilian Lemon and Earl Grey cake at our Alexandra Palace Centre café, you may have noticed the dried cornflower petals decorating the icing.

Expert Tip: Cornflower seeds sown in August will produce a mass of flowers in May.

‘Cornflower blue’ is a colour we all love. It is popular for bridesmaid’s dresses, and summer frocks. It is also a favourite eye-colour for the heroes and heroines of romantic novels.

‘Can I get the icon in cornflower blue?’. Like icons, cornflowers don’t just come in blue. The variety ‘Black Ball’ has chocolate-brown blooms. Cornflower seed mixes, such as ‘Polka Dot Mix’ from Suttons includes whites, pinks, purples, reds, and burgundy. My favourites are the classic double blue forms because a true-blue flower is a rarity in nature and in the garden.

Design Tip: orange and yellow are opposites on the colour wheel. These complimentary colours look even more stunning when planted together because each enhances the brilliance of the other.

4) Flowering Carrot ‘Dara’ (Daucus carota). This selected form of the native wildflower Queen Anne’s lace looks equally good in a wildlife garden or filling out the flower borders. Scatter the seeds in a sunny spot where you would like to see them flower.

Dara produces plates of foamy, tiny flowers that change from white to pink to burgundy as they mature. The flowers can be cut and will ‘come-again’ for the home or in gift bouquets. The seed heads are highly decorative in the winter garden.

Dara will attract insect pollinators and pest-predators to your garden – It is a wildlife friendly plant.

5) Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena). Nigella works well planted as drifts filling spaces in a mixed border. Its delicate flowers appear to float in a mist of frothy foliage, and are followed by decorative, inflated seed heads that can be used in dry flower arrangements.

‘Persian Jewels’ is a selection of white, pink, lavender and blue flowers.

Expert Tip: the closely related form, Nigella hispanica, ‘Ebony & Ivory’ makes a stunning addition to flower beds. The white or blue flowers have a luxurious velvety-purple centre. I find its flowers are longer lasting compared to other forms.

Did You Know? Nigella seeds are used as a spice and condiment in North African, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. The dry seeds have a nutty flavour. Look for the black seeds on Turkish flat breads and Indian naans.

How Do I Sow Hardy Annuals?

Sow your seeds directly into weed-free, finely raked soil where you want them to flower.

Cover the seeds lightly with fine soil to a depth of about 6mm.

Germination should be rapid, between 14-21 days.

If you have sown too many seeds, then thin out young plants to give them space to grow. Remove any competing weeds as they appear.

For a more detailed guide to sowing hardy annuals:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=390

Top Five Vegetable Seeds To Sow In August

Bonus Tip: You can still sow quick maturing salad crops for a late harvest. These include summer lettuce, radish, rocket, and sorrel.

Now, let’s look at some winter and spring crops we can plant.

1) Chard. August is your last chance to sow a crop of this productive and attractive leafy vegetable.

With its brightly coloured midribs, chard also makes a colourful addition to the flower border – giving the garden a true cottage garden vibe.

To learn more about the history of cottage gardens, visit out blog:

https://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/blog/cottage-garden-design-tips-and-key-plants/

2) Hardy spring onions – Look out for the varieties ‘White Lisbon’ and ‘Performer’. Spring onions also do well in containers. White Lisbon is a very fast-growing variety, it can be ready to harvest after just 2 months. Hardy spring onions are good for overwintering and harvesting in spring.

3) Kohlrabi. This unusual vegetable is a member of the cabbage family, but it is grown for its swollen stem which can be grated and eaten raw in a winter salad, or steamed, roasted, or stewed. When harvesting your kohlrabi don’t waste the leaves which can be used as greens.

The time to sow them is now and they will be ready to harvest in October. Kohlrabies are easy to grow. Sow the seeds 1 cm deep in rows about 30cm apart in prepared ground. Thin out the seedlings when they are about 3cm high. Keep the seedlings well-watered.

For kohlrabi recipe ideas:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/kohlrabi-glossary

4) Mizuna. Very fast growing and cold tolerant Japanese mustard greens. The leaves have a mild, warm flavour. They can be eaten raw in salads, steamed, or in stir fries. Mizuna can be treated as a cut-and-come-again plant. Other oriental vegetables that can be grown now include Pak Choi and Chinese cabbage.

5) Spinach. This leafy vegetable grows best in slightly cooler weather when it is less likely to bolt. Bolting means when a plant prematurely starts flowering and setting seed.

Spinach is a tough plant and can survive frosts and rain. Plants sown in August can be harvested from November through to March.

For a detailed look at growing spinach and chard:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/growfruitandveg_growingspinachchardandbeet1.shtml

Top 5 Herbs To Sow In August

Herbs are easy to cultivate indoors or in the garden. The great thing about growing herbs is that you get more variety to choose from and your herbs will always be fresh.

My choices for herbs to grow now include:

1) Parsley. Sow parsley seeds in pots on a sunny windowsill and then plant the seedlings out in September. Parsley plants started now will last you all winter.

Expert Tips: Parsley seeds are notoriously slow to germinate. A traditional hack is to soak the seeds overnight in water before sowing.

Parsley plants need space to develop into strong plants. Ideally plant them 10cm apart in the garden.

I like the variety ‘Titan’ because it is robust, weather resistant, and produces very dark green leaves.

2) Borage. Borage is a lovely fresh, cucumber tasting herb. Its beautiful blue flowers can be used to garnish a jug of Pimm’s. Borage leaves and stalks cans be chopped and added to salads and cream cheese mixes. Beautiful bristly borage can be sown in the same manner as the hardy annuals above.

3) Chervil. Cheerful chervil with its delicate aniseed flavour is an must have herb for me. Chervil is one of the few outdoor herbs that can be harvested all year round.

Chopped chervil leaves are wonderful for cheering up winter soups, scattering over fish and egg dishes, and garnishing hot buttery jacket potatoes.

Chervil seeds can be directly sown in shallow lines in well-prepared soil in August. The seeds drills should be about 1cm deep and covered after sowing. The seeds take around 3 weeks to germinate. Alternatively, you can scatter a few seeds in a small pot of seed compost and cover lightly.

4) Coriander. This divisive, pungent herb is tender. August is your last chance to grow a garden crop of coriander.

Coriander seeds are often slow to germinate. So, treat them in the same way as parsley, as above.

5) Dill. Delicious Dill with its anise-like flavour is the perfect herb for fish dishes. With its feathery leaves and delicate umbels of yellow flowers it looks like a diminutive fennel plant.

Expert Tip: Dill hates being disturbed. In other words, sow it in-situ, either in large pots or in the ground where you want it to grow.

Bonus Tip: Many herbs can be grown indoors in pots on a windowsill as microgreens, that means for baby leaves ready to harvest when they are 2 or 3 cm high.

In Conclusion:

The end of July isn’t the end of gardening. It’s a shame that many gardeners do not consider sowing seeds in August.

August offers us the opportunity for sowing seeds while the warmth of late summer remains in the soil and with the possibility of two more months of the growing season.

We have selected five annual flowers, five vegetables and five herbs that can be sown right now.

So, this month, why not see what our seed displays have to offer in the way of annuals, vegetable, and herbs. And like Angela and Ruby you too can get hooked on seed sowing.

Some of the seeds we stock:

Calendula ‘Snow Princess’ and ‘Summer Sunset’ Thompson & Morgan, £2.99 each.

Calendula ‘Edible Flowers For The Kitchen’ Franchi Seeds, £2.69 a packet.

Eschscholzia ‘Fruit Crush’ & ‘Jelly Beans’ Thompson & Morgan, £2.99 each.

Cornflower ‘Polka Dot Mix’ £2.79 and ‘Black Ball’ £2.29 both Thompson & Morgan.

Flowering Carrot ‘Dara’ £0.99, Suttons Predators.

Nigella ‘Persian Jewels’ Thompson & Morgan, £2.99 a packet.

Chard ‘Rhubarb Chard’ Franchi Seeds, £2.69 a packet.

Kohlrabi ‘Kolibri F1 hybrid’ Thompson & Morgan, £3.99 a packet.

Spinach ‘Gigante d’Inverno – Suttons, £0.99 a packet.

Coriander ‘Calypso’ Thompson & Morgan, £2.49 a packet.

Dill Thompson & Morgan, £2.49 a packet.