Sowing the seeds of love: Part II

A month ago, I sowed some of the RSPB's new garden seedmixes, designed both with wildlife in mind and to look good. This blog showed how it was done.

Hopefully, many of you will have done likewise, so it's time to share how the mixes are likely to be doing.

I sowed two of the mixes, both of annual flowers. First up, Best for Bees.

Here's what mine looks like four weeks after sowing.

This is a mix that will be full of flowers at the blue end of the spectrum, which bees veer towards. The seedlings dominating the bed so far, as evident in the photo above, are Phacelia tanacetifolia, also known as Scorpionweed. They are the plants that rather look like little ferns at this stage.

This is what it will look like in bloom.

However, buried in amongst them are seedlings of Borage. These are the rounded, hairy leaves with prominent veins. 

And this is what they will grow into.

The mix also includes Cornflower, Echium 'Blue Bedder' and Common Poppy, but there's plenty of time for them to reveal themselves among the myriad of other tiny seedlings.

I also sowed the Cornfield Colour Burst mix, which is what would once have been the familiar weed display through cereal crops in times gone by. Here is how it is looking for me after four weeks.

Most prominent in the mix so far are the well-grown seedlings of Corncockle, which form this rather square arrangement of simple, strap-like leaves (below). You can see that something has had a nibble at one of the Corncockle leaves - my money is on a Woodpigeon, and it looks like Corncockle didn't prove that tasty!

This mix should also in due course have Common Poppies, plus Cornflowers, Corn Marigold and Corn Chamomile.

Here is a mix I photographed a few years ago with the Corn Chamomile the daisy-like flowers, the Corncockle in pink, and of course the Common Poppies.

As you can see in my beds, there is a way to go before any colour (beyond green!) begins to show - probably another 4-5 weeds for the Phacelia to start to flower, and maybe 8-10 weeks before the area is awash with colour.

But that's all part of the thrill of growing annuals this way; it's filled with anticipation. Hundreds of plants should ultimately flower from just one pack of seeds and for very little effort.

It is very possible that a couple of species don't make it or only appear in small numbers for whatever reason - maybe they don't like your soil, or the germination conditions, or prove to be very tasty to some little nibbler. But that's fine - that's all part of the pot luck of sowing annuals.

If you haven't sown an annual seed patch, there's still time this spring, but try to do it as soon as possible. Before the end of May is best. They should germinate quickly in the sunshine and warmth and romp away, and hopefully give you - and your garden wildlife - some welcome cheer.