Hi Lizzie!
I am pretty limited on time and space, and this year I'm hoping to learn lots but I am not equipped for starting indoors at the moment (feeling rushed and too late, our last frost date is in 3 weeks). I'm wondering whether direct sowing success is more dictated by the plant or the growing zone? I'm 8a/8b. I'll also have a relatively small area (one 4x16' and two 2x4 beds) so I am looking for input on narrowing my choices for direct sowing.
Hey Julia! this is a great question. First, I start so many seeds indoors because our season is so short here. With your growing zone, you have a much longer season, and thus way more opportunity to direct sow successfully. So to answer your question, direct sowing success is dictated by both the plant and the growing zone. Some plants are know to direct sow better than others.
You have a lot of space to grow in! But to keep things easy I would try and plant lots of cut and come again flowers; my favorites are zinnias, cosmos and dahlias, all which like to be direct sown. With those three flower varieties you also don't have to worry about planting multiple successions, which is nice if you feel a bit late on things time wise! Poppies also love being direct sown (but probably not Icelandic)
Dahlias and poppies are great focal flowers
zinnias and cosmos are wonderful secondary flowers
oh and calendula! that works well as a direct sow + secondary flower
another bloom that loves direct sowing is Nigella, it has fantastic texture, so it can work as filler. I would succession plant this one, doing a few rows every 3 weeks.
sweet peas you could plant out as a direct sow, those go out roughly a month before the last frost
Larkspur can also be direct sown, but you probably want to leave the seeds in the fridge for about 7-10 days before planting out. this would make a good line flower!
I would focus on 5-7 flowers this year, direct sow them, master them, and then next year add a few more. It's easy to overthink everything, when sometimes just tossing a bunch of zinnia seeds into the earth provides amazing flowers!
If you plant the varieties I've listed above, you will have great flowers the whole season through. I would just narrow down what colors you would like, order the seeds, and plant out in 3 weeks! You've got plenty of time.
Thank you! This is *sow* helpful. I'm classically overthinking. I may well go for the "toss a bunch of seeds in the earth" approach, to be honest! I really love a great wildflower bed.
Do you have any guidance for interspersed planting? For example, would you recommend having a dedicated area for dahlia tubers vs planting them amongst other flowers? (I'm a few weeks behind on videos so if this is answered in depth, no need to repeat yourself.)
And generally speaking... we tend to get some good rain in the spring. How do you mitigate drowning direct sown seeds? Or is that just one of the gambles....
Thank you!
Love the sow helpful line, ha! OOO drowning of direct seeds is tricky, and a gamble for sure. You might find some areas of your yard have less run off, or you could always throw a tarp over the area in a heavy rain. Your questions about interspersed planting, a lot depends on the space you have. In the beginning it can be easier to say, ok 8 dahlias in a row here, etc. But as you learn about your growing space and become more curious you could add a few things to the same bed and see what grows well together. There is another thread on here about interplanting which is a simliar thought. I will say last year I forgot where I planted my dahlias and put zinnias on top, everything worked fine together! I think to start, you could do 2 varieties with different heights in the same spot. And most things can be planted closer than recommended, especially annuals.