A Self-perpetuating Annual Flower bed.

[veggiechicken]

I'd like some ideas for a self-perpetuating annual flower bed please. One that I can sow this year and never have to sow again - but I don't want perennials, just annuals.

Ideally, the flowers will self seed easily but not enough to be a nuisance, be good for cutting, and attract butterflies & bees. Also they should be easy to grow from seed and need very little maintenance.

So far............Calendula, Limnanthes, Borage.............

[busman43]

How about poppies

[muddled]

nasturtiums?
Do bulbs count....they spread.

I could send you honesty seed (the pink variety) although it's too late for this year.

foxgloves and hollyhocks seed all over the place and wallflowers too.

[veggiechicken]

Thanks for the offer muddled, but pink Honesty is something I have aplenty Foxgloves too. Strictly speaking, they're biennials - but I think I'll make an exception for them
Nasturtiums - good thought

[WPG]

Nigella and escholzia maybe?

If bulbs can also be included, I'd suggest allium sphaerocephalon. The bees absolutely love them, and after the first year they self seed, so are always multiplying.

[busman43]

How about poached egg plant. Comes back every year.

[kris1960]

I'd like some ideas for a self-perpetuating annual flower bed please. One that I can sow this year and never have to sow again - but I don't want perennials, just annuals.

Ideally, the flowers will self seed easily but not enough to be a nuisance, be good for cutting, and attract butterflies & bees. Also they should be easy to grow from seed and need very little maintenance.

So far............Calendula, Limnanthes, Borage.............

What a fabulous idea!
Will set aside a bed for this but understand less about flowers than veggies. My imagination says that after first year they will organise themselves to come up at right time of year for them and already at right depth. A bit of weeding, a touch of spacing and the joy of watching them emerge.

First look at 'flower mill' last night, alphabet idea intriguing.

Would still be reading this forum and asking questions but have longed for a whole day at allotment all week and am just off.

[kris1960]

Still here- just had another thought- have been bordering and sprinkling flowers in veggie beds- perhaps I cold have a vegetable border around this- some lovely frilly kale maybe....tbc

[roitelet]

How about Nigella, Cornflowers,Sweet Rocket and Cosmos.

[Alicante]

Nigella look beautiful planted in large patchs and their seedpods stand all winter and look good in the frost. Californian poppies also self seed freely.

[mothhawk]

Centaurea (cornflower), echium, sunflowers, larkspur possibly, though I'm not sure if it self sows well, candytuft, flax probably will, and crepis (pink hawkbeard), myosotis (forget-me-nots), Shirley poppies, how about Virginian stock, or is that one you have to start indoors? Can't remember offhand.

[Vickilou]

Hi, cerinthe self seed for me

[Gillykat]

Virginia Stock is as tough as old boots I planted some in containers in our courtyard two summers ago and it's just self seeded since there - even in cracks in the paving. This winter just gone was so mild that I even had the flower in bloom all the way through!

I've got some up on the allotment now as it's one of my favourite flowers....long with nasturtium, nigella, cosmos, poached egg plant (limnanthes), Californian poppy etc.....most of the flowers mentioned on here in fact! Last week I planted a few perennials into the spot I want as a permanent flower bed and then filled the rest with various hardy annuals so once they're up it'll give me a lovely cottagey garden effect

This is the area this morning planted up and just waiting for my wee beauties to start growing. The paving slabs are just there for ease of weeding and deadheading etc - they're less noticeable once the plants get growing!

[veggiechicken]

2018 self-seeders

Next year's seedlings are appearing in the garden. Take a look around yours and tell us what you've found.

Cerinthe, Calendula, Nigella, Forget me not.



Wallflowers and Honesty and ? Polemonium

[mothhawk]

Pot marigold, forget-me-not, musk mallow, wallflower, cerinthe (which I'm not really keen on, so it gets pulled out when I see it), feverfew, phacelia, foxgloves, and borage, which keeps coming up and I keep pulling it out, it makes and spreads more seeds than you think

edit - and poached eggs.