It is time to start sowing seeds.

The beginning of March signals the start of our seed sowing. For the next eight weeks we will be busy sowing thousands of flowers. Starting with the slower growing hardy annuals, and as the days lengthen and temperature rises we will move on to the less tough, half hardies.

In total we will sow over 200 trays of seed, with over 70 different types of flowers and in total about 100 different varieties.

By sowing lots of different things, it allows us to keep our offering fresh, no two bouquets will ever be the same throughout the year. Plus it means if we have a disaster with one crop, say a late frost, an invasion of insects, or a greedy rabbit or two takes a liking to something, we will always have something else to turn too. When teamed up with all the bulbs, tubers, biennials, shrubs and perennials we have in excess of 350 different varieties each year, we never get bored of what we have to work with.

We store all our seeds in a sealed box in the fridge, then when ready to sow, we remove them, write out a label, fill a tray with compost, give it a good water, add the seed, and then depending on the individual variety and its requirements we will add a top layer of compost or vermiculite.

The trays are kept in the unheated greenhouse until they begin to germinate. We then prick out any excess seedlings to allow the others the space to grow big and strong.

When the weather outside has warmed the soil enough, (they say if you would sit on the ground with a naked bottom then its the right temperature, we have never tried that by the way) and the days lengthened, we then transplant the seedlings out in to the prepared flower beds. Then we wait, keep a good eye on them, cross our fingers and hope and pray that they grow into some amazing beauties over the coming months, they’ve never failed us yet!