Grow your own flowers from seed. From Achillea to Zinnias, we have a huge range of flower seeds to choose from.
At Kings Seeds, we aim to offer our customers a wide choice of flower varieties to grow in all aspects of the garden, combining old favourites and the latest breeding. This year, we have included our flower range so look out for the many new varieties. All have been specially selected by our experts for their beauty, and most importantly they have all been tried and tested to ensure they give you outstanding performance.
Whether you're looking to grow annuals, perennials, flowers for cutting, for a cottage garden, for hanging baskets, containers or bedding plants, we're confident you will find varieties of flower seeds you'll love to grow for your dream garden. We are also the biggest producer of Sweet Pea seeds in the UK.
FLOWER SOWING TIPS:
HARDY ANNUALS:
Prepare the soil in the flowering site well in advance by removing any weeds and large stones so the soil is well cultivated and a fine crumbly structure. Mark out irregular shapes in the border and sow the seeds into shallow drills spaced 30-38cm (12-15”) apart or alternatively broadcast over the area and lightly rake into the surface. Once seedlings have germinated and formed their first leaves, thin out any that are overcrowded so plants are 15-30cm (6-12”) apart. Water only when the soil is very dry and keep weeds under control throughout the growing season. These annuals are an easy way to fill borders with summer colour with very little effort. Most varieties can be sown from March to early June, with a few that can be also sown in September and overwintered for an early spring display the following year.
Best direct sown into the border and seedlings thinned to 15-30cm (6-12”) apart when large enough to handle.
HALF HARDY ANNUALS AND PERENNIALS:
These should be sown undercover in a glasshouse or on a windowsill in pots or trays filled with a good quality seed sowing compost and watered with tap water, following the individual packet sowing instructions. Many will require extra warmth so using a heated propagator is beneficial.
As a general rule when sowing seeds; If once sown you can see the seed you should cover it to its own depth with a sprinkling of compost or vermiculite. If once sown you can’t see the seed on the surface of the compost (Like Begonia and Lobelia which are small and dust like) you should not cover these seeds as they require light to germinate. A handy tip is mixing fine seeds with a pinch of dry silver sand which makes sowing the seeds easier as you will see the grains of sand fall on the compost.
Once seedlings germinate, remove them from the propagator and when they are big enough to handle prick out (transplant) into individual pots or cell trays. Grow these plants on in a greenhouse then move them into a cold frame to gradually harden off before planting out into summer displays once all risk of frost has passed. Follow packet instructions for sowing times. For best results from half hardy annual plants should be spaced 23-30cm (9-12”) apart. For best results from perennials, plant in groups of 3 or 5 plants 30-38cm (12-15”) apart to create the fullest displays.
BIENNIALS:
Prepare a nursery bed or part of the vegetable plot as you would for sowing hardy annuals. Mark out rows and sow the seeds into shallow drills spaced 30cm (12”) apart. Once the seeds have germinated and produced their first true leaves, thin out any that are overcrowded to 10-15cm (4-6”) apart. These can grow on until September or October when they can be lifted as bare root plants and transplanted to the garden borders. Water in well after planting until established and they will reward you with a wonderful winter and spring display. Plant into borders as drifts spacing plants 22-30cm (9-12”) apart.
