Jane Powers warms to the hardy plants that brave the chill of winter
One of my favourite annuals, which is chugging to the end of its season just now, is a pretty European wild flower. Orlaya grandiflora has delicate, ferny foliage topped by complicated white flower heads with large outer petals. The lacy umbels are just like your granny's best embroidered doilies. And although I'm not keen on real doilies, I'm partial to flowers that mimic them. Orlaya is a member of the carrot family, a clan that produces the most lacelike of flowers, including angelica, cow parsley, fennel and the pink-frothed darling of this year's Chelsea Flower Show, Pimpinella major 'Rosea'. Until recently the family's botanical name was the sonorous and descriptive Umbelliferae, with its apt and inescapable evocations of umbrellas. Now, alas, taxonomists have decreed that it must be known as Apiaceae (and I'm sure I'm not alone among gardeners in resenting the change to this more pedestrian name).
Another umbelliferous - a nicely orotund adjective that's still okay to use - plant is the Mediterranean Ammi majus, or bishop's weed. When well grown it produces big, cottage-cheesy domes of flower, much prized by floral artists. Like its cousin Orlaya it is a hardy annual. And like its cousin it may be sown now, while there is still a little warmth in the soil.
A good number of annuals may be sown in autumn, which gives them an advantage over seed started during the following spring. After germinating, autumn-sown seedlings do not make much growth above ground; underneath, though, the little roots are quietly colonising the soil or compost. When the weather warms up in spring, the plants shoot up quickly, fed by the healthy network underground. Such annuals are stronger and flower earlier - a boon when you're trying to fill early summer gaps in the borders.
Or, if you have a new garden and haven't decided what to do with it yet, a quick-maturing display of annuals will take the bare look off the place and give you time to decide on a more permanent scheme. They cost, at most, €3 or €4 a packet, so they are a gratifyingly economic way of filling a patch with flowers. Depending on the species, each packet may contain anything from 10 to 200 seeds, so you'll have plenty for friends, neighbours and plant sales. But, if possible, don't sow the entire packet at once: if disaster strikes a batch of seedlings, you'll be able to recoup your losses by sowing a replacement lot. You can store spare seeds in a cool, dry place and use them over the next year or two.
Only hardy annuals are suitable for autumn sowing (see our list below). "Annual" means that the plants germinate, flower, set seed and die in the course of one year (a year that starts in autumn and ends the following summer in the case of September-sown annuals). And "hardy" means that they don't need heat to germinate and are not susceptible to frost. Among the more common hardy annuals are cornflower, pot marigold (Calendula) and sweet peas - species that come from temperate climates such as our own.
"Half-hardy annuals" (now that we're handing out definitions) are natives of warmer regions than ours. They include plants such as African marigold (Tagetes), petunia and zinnia. These more vulnerable individuals are killed by frosts in our northern European climate, although, in fact, many of them are perennials in their own countries. But we needn't concern ourselves about these here, because you can't sow them until next year. (Although - and garden centres won't thank me for sharing this - if you have a frost-free greenhouse you can take cuttings of petunias now, and, with a bit of luck, they'll root in the coming weeks.)
But back to the hardies. If you sow them now, you'll be reducing your workload in the spring - the busiest time of the year for a gardener. Autumn sowing is good for the spirits, too. During the dark days of winter the sight of all those brave little seedlings, challenging the chill months, is sure to kindle a warm inner glow.
You can sow seeds of hardy annuals in containers of compost or directly in the ground. The latter approach is easier, although critters could eat the seedlings.
DIRECT SOWING This method is not suitable for heavy clay soils that retain a lot of water in winter. Otherwise, prepare the soil by loosening it with a garden fork and removing all weeds. Be sure to extract the roots of perennial weeds such as dandelion and dock. Annuals exist on a fairly slim diet, but if the soil is very poor fork in some garden compost, some old potting compost or a proprietary soil conditioner. Rake the surface flat and discard any stones or debris. Draw straight, parallel lines in the soil with a bamboo cane or the edge of a hoe, about 15cm apart and 1cm deep. Sow the seed very sparsely in the channels and gently pull the soil back over them. The straight lines allow you to differentiate between your seedlings and newly-sprouting weeds. Everything that germinates outside the lines is a weed. When you thin the seedlings in spring to the distance recommended on the packet, the regimented lines will disappear (and you can make them even less obvious by making the furrows run diagonally across your plot).
SOWING IN CONTAINERS Larger seeds, such as sweet pea, should be sown in small pots of compost. Smaller seeds can be sown in pots, seed trays or plastic modules (available from garden centres), which make seedlings easier to transplant without damaging the roots. Use special seed compost, or make your own by mixing one part horticultural sand with one or two parts multipurpose compost. The mix should feel slightly gritty when you scrunch up a handful. Follow the instructions on the packet for sowing depth and distance. If you want just a handful of plants, don't sow dozens of seeds. Sow about twice your requirements.
WHAT TO SOW
NEED NO PROTECTION Ammi majus (bishop's weed); Briza minor, B. major (quaking grass); Calendula officinalis (pot marigold); Centaurea cyanus (cornflower); Consolida (larkspur); Echium vulgare (viper's bugloss); Limnanthes douglasii (poached-egg plant); Linum grandiflorum (flax); Hordeum jubatum (squirrel tail grass); Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist); Orlaya grandiflora; Papaver rhoes, P. somniferum,
P. commutatum (annual poppies); Scabiosa atropurpurea (scabious).
NEED PROTECTION (Sow in containers and keep in a cold frame, greenhouse or sheltered corner) Cerinthe major 'Purparescens'; Eschscholzia californica (California poppy); Gypsophila elegans (baby's breath); Lathyrus odoratus (sweet pea); Lavatera trimestris (annual mallow).