Hardy Annuals

I’m in Culdaff today. It’s the closest place to my home where I actually feel as though I am on holiday. Mcgrorys have offers on a double room for 49 euro a night which was too tempting to ignore. It's more of a ‘staycation’ than a holiday but relaxing never the less.

Technology is helping me write this week’s article as I am using the phone to type on Google docs. I could get used to this as it frees me up to work anywhere, even on the beach. Tonight though I'm writing/typing sat in McGrory’s cosy bar. The place is softly lit by a large number of soft Edison bulbs highlighting the many framed signed pictures of bands and musicians who have played here over the years. No live music tonight, but the familiar tones of Christy Moore ‘live at the point’ is playing on the sound system. It’s just the place to ponder how things are progressing in the garden.

Annuals in containers have done really well this year, so much so you can’t even see the pots.  Usually I place the young plants in rich potting soil and then just let them get in with it throughout the growing season with maybe just a splash of nettle/comfrey juice once in a while. It's the first time I've actually fed the containers on a regular basis with a liquid plant food and the results have been very favourable. Very little yellowing of the leaves, maybe just a few old leaves that need nipping off but very little else. Pansies, nicotinas, petunais, marigolds, begonias and fuchsias are all doing really well and pulling off the faded flowers before they start producing seeds also helps to lengthen the growing season. By this time of the year most of my containers are looking very sorry for themselves but with the addition of plant feed will probably go on until the first frosts.

I spent my daylight hours on the beaches around Culdaff and was amazed at the diversity of plants just on the coastline. These plants that grow in the wild, constantly being battered by the north winds are looking amazing at this time of year.  Sand loving succulents, rare orchids, tall water reeds and wild carrots are all looking glorious. 

 ally don't mind frost and the chilly winter winds and rain and these go under the heading of “Hardy An

Some of these plants are hardy annuals and only have a short period of time to grow, flower and set seed for next year. 

Hardy Annuals

There are a lot of annual plants we can grow in our own  garden that actu

nuals” We can start annual vegetable s off early, such as broad beans - but this week it’s the flowers I am looking at.

The hardy annual plants differ from the annuals I have in the garden such as petunias which will all be killed off with the cold.

Planting in autumn.

Autumn sowing is suitable for hardy annuals. Some of these annuals can be sown directly in the ground, and will withstand most frosts. Others are not quite so robust – they can be direct sown, but covered with cloches or horticultural fleece when frost is forecast. Alternatively, they can be sown in pots and kept frost-free over winter.

Direct Sowing

The benefit of sowing in autumn, and not spring, is that you'll have a much earlier flowering display. There are three main methods of direct sowing into the soil depending on the seeds and location.

Broadcast- scatter the seeds all over the ground and let nature do the work

Drills – Plant in straight lines in grooves in the soil and lightly cover.

Protected sowing – Planting in the ground and then covering with a cloche or some other transparent protection. Alternatively sow in pots and leave in an unheated greenhouse.

The benefit of sowing in autumn, and not spring, is that you'll have a much earlier flowering display.

This technique is not suitable for half-hardy and tender annuals. Unless you have access to a heated greenhouse, these are best sown in spring.

Types of Hardy Annuals

Hardy annuals requiring no protection

Pot marigold, cornflower, flax, love-in-a-mist, honesty and opium/Shirley poppies are all really hardy and will need no protection from the frosts.

Hardy annuals needing some protection

Californian poppy, baby blue eyes, sweet peas and toadflax all do well but will need a bit of protection in really cold snaps.

There’s no reason for why we can’t extend our growing season and I see no reason why I shouldn’t just relax and extend my stay  at McGrorys….”Excuse me, Barkeeper.”