Every time I gaze out of the window at the forlorn damp garden outside, I can’t help thinking about what I’m going to plant next year.
One flower I grew for the first time this year and blew me away was the one I’m trying hard to hide behind in the little picture of me that accompanies the blog (“Try harder next time!” I hear you cry). I’ve yet to fully prove its worth for wildlife, but I’m sure going to give it a good workout next year because it’s so easy to grow and because the flowers are just so glorious. If you don't know it, it is Red or Scarlet Flax Linum grandiflorum var ‘Rubrum’. It comes from Algeria, and grows to about 30-45 cm (12-18 inches) high, with little pointed leaves on spindly stems just like our native flaxes, but topped with a simple flower of the richest scarlet hue.
Growing it is a doddle. It’s a hardy annual, so sow any time from March through to June, or again in the autumn for earlier flowering the next spring. It likes sunshine, and will do best is rather dry and sandy soils. Sow the seed where it is to flower, either in 3mm deep drills to be thinned out later, or just broadcast along with other annuals and lightly raked into the soil.
Here's how I tried it last year, in an annual mix in a pot like a mini 'cornfield' mix with a tropical edge! Flax seed is a great bird food, so I’m eager to see if Red Flax en masse will work too, and I'll be watching whether I'll get any insect visitors too. That's what I love about wildlife gardening - a fair dose of the 'tried and tested' peppered with a bit of experimentation.
Have you got any wildlife gardening plants you're thinking of trying next year? If so, I'd love you to share :-)
I collected the Cerinthe seed and sowed them in seed trays, the mice ate all the seeds left in the garden, perhaps they did the same in yours.
I agree that visually the Honeysuckle it nothing to boast about but on those sunny winter days it is a life line to the odd bee that ventures out.
As for the Solidago, thanks for the warning, I’ll make sure it’s planted where it won’t cause a problem if it self seeds. I’ll let you know hoe it does.
Great tips!
Cerinthe in my experience seems to have a habit of self-seeding for a couple of years and then running out of steam - be interested to hear your experiences.
Winter honeysuckle is quite an unimposing plant visually, but that smell, yes, wonderful
Regarding the Solidago, there are some concerns that the larger Solidago canadensis might be becoming invasive in places. I haven't heard of any problems with Golden Baby, the dwarf cultivar you're trying, but if you are able to keep an eye on it and see how readily it self-seeds, that would be really useful.
I shall be trying Solidago Golden Baby. I saw them earlier in the year at the garden centre, they were covered in bees (no exaggeration) which made them a must for my garden.
I shall also be sowing some Blue Bedder which you mentioned in an earlier blog. The more I thought about them, the more they appealed to me.
Both lots of seeds took some tracking down but the good old internet came up trumps in the end.
My Cerinthe Blue Kiwi have germinated and are doing well, one self seeded plant has even produced a small flower already. I can highly recommend this plant, they not only look good but are absolute bee magnets.
I will be taking cuttings of Lonicera Purpusii (winter flowering honeysuckle) so I can have more around the garden. It is flowering now and will continue into next year and has the most beautiful fragrance. If we get a warm day it’s a much needed source of nectar for the odd bee that’s out and about.