This Year I’m Sowing Flower Seeds

When you’re gardening in a small space, it can be tempting to buy all your colorful annuals at the nursery. After all, you don’t need a huge quantity and the pretty store-bought plants offer instant gratification. I get it! I love shopping for plants and am all for indulging in the occasional nursery splurge if it’s within your means. But this year, I’ve decided to try growing all the annual flowers that will provide spring and summer color on the balcony from seed.

Why am I taking the extra time and effort to do this? First, it is extremely economical. A tube of 25 fancy flower seeds from Plantgem cost me $6, while a single young plant at a nursery could cost $6 or more. And you can find much cheaper seeds at your favorite garden center or even for free through a local seed library.

Second, it’s always better to have too many annuals than too little. From a design standpoint, their repetition and abundance will create rhythm and make a stronger impact. I can give away extras to friends and neighbors or swap them at the Plant Exchange.

Third, sowing flower seeds automatically gives me something to look forward to. As I’ve said before, winter is a struggle for me, but starting this process in February brings the joy of gardening indoors. We’re experiencing a record cold winter in the Bay Area this year (it just snowed in the Berkeley Hills!) but it warms my heart to nurture my little babies in the window, safe and sound and dreaming of spring.

Choosing which flowers to sow

According to the science of color theory, cool colors like blues and purples should be used in small spaces because they recede to the eye. If you like blues and purples, by all means, follow this advice. 

But when it comes to flowers, I have a weakness for warmer hues and have stopped fighting it. Give me peaches, oranges, pinks, and creamy whites over blues and purples any day. I will make exceptions for lavender and mauve.

So my seed choices this year were largely driven by the warmth of my color scheme and of the conditions on my south-facing balcony. Here is the plan:

Sowing indoors in February for spring and summer color:

• Cupcakes and Saucers Cosmos (pink and white, for full sun planters, extremely hardy, will bloom spring through fall if I keep dead-heading)
• Tip Top Alaska Salmon Nasturtium (the best nasturtium- I grew these from seed last year too. Variegated foliage, peaches and cream flowers, great companion plants for shadier pots)
• Spun Orange Marigolds (Classic orange pom-pom flowers that I fell in love with when we visited Mexico City in November; known pest repellents)
• I’m also sowing some peppers, but my seeds were rather old and I’m still crossing my fingers that they will germinate within the next few days. That will be the extent of my vegetable gardening this year and I will create a dedicated post about growing peppers if they work out.

Direct sowing outdoors:

• I attempted to direct sow Thai Silk Apricot Chiffon California Poppies throughout my pots successively in October, December, and January, without much success so far. A few tiny seedlings are holding on and we’ll see if they develop.
• As a backup, I bought a packet of classic orange California poppies and will direct sow them in March if the weather behaves.

Sowing indoors in April for summer and fall color:

• More marigolds (great for fall)
• More nasturtiums (in case the spring ones start looking tired)
• Tower Chamois Apricot Aster (I grew these from seed last year too; they are my favorite color and will keep the party going well into October if I’m lucky)

How to sow flower seeds indoors

Picture the vivid green vegetation that suddenly carpets the countryside early in the springtime. Where did it come from? After a period of cool, wet weather, the seeds buried in the soil were awakened by lengthening days and warming temperatures. 

When you start seeds inside your house, whether they’re flowers or vegetables or herbs or something else, you’re essentially recreating the conditions under which those seeds would germinate in nature using a combination of water, warmth, and light.

To accomplish this, you will need the following supplies:

• Shallow, 2-3” deep containers. This year I’m using plastic nursery plugs and a bunch of compostable seedling pots I got for free from the annual Plant Exchange. Whatever you use, make sure it has holes in the bottom for drainage.
• Growing medium. You can use regular potting mix if that’s what you have lying around, or you can purchase special seed-starting mix, which is formulated with finer particles and lower nutrients. Fun fact: seeds contain enough nutrients within themselves to sustain the plant for the first few weeks. 
• Heat and light sources. I use shelves installed in my sunny, south-facing kitchen window during the day and place my seed pots on the kitchen counter at night until they are growing strongly. I also cover the pots with plastic produce bags until germination to create a greenhouse effect.
• A dispenser that lets you water the seeds gently without disturbing the medium too much, such as a spray bottle or small measuring cup.

Once you have the above sorted, you may proceed with planting your seeds. A few tips:

• The instructions on the packet or tube of seeds will provide the planting depth, days to germination, and other suggestions unique to each plant. Follow these directions!
• Make sure to label each container so you don’t forget what it is!
• Plant at least two seeds per pot, or twice as many as you think you will need. This provides insurance in case any seeds fail to germinate.
• Moisten the soil before planting or gently water immediately after planting.

That’s it! Congratulations, you’re the proud parent of a bunch of baby plants. 

Patience and diligence

Avoid planning any trips in the weeks after sowing seeds. Until germination happens, you must diligently maintain moist and warm conditions, and then make sure they get the water and light they need to grow big and strong.

Be patient when waiting for seeds to germinate. Inevitably, some will sprout almost right away (my cosmos all popped up within 5 days), while others may take a while (I’m still waiting on those peppers). In the past, I’ve all but given up on seeds, only to have them miraculously sprout after three weeks or longer!

Once the seedlings have appeared, I stop covering them with a plastic bag to avoid mold-related problems. This means I have to be extra diligent about watering to ensure the hot sun coming through my window doesn’t zap them.

I thin them out before the roots get too strong, a week or so after germination. In the pots where both seeds sprouted, I gently remove and discard the weaker or smaller seedling, giving the remaining seedling more space to grow and flourish. It’s hard, but I try not to be too sentimental about it.

The seedling’s initial leaves are like baby teeth. Their first set of “true” leaves will appear after a week or two, and should resemble mini-versions of their grown up selves. Once the seedlings are 2-3” high with at least one set of true leaves, you can start feeding them. If they’re growing in something really small like an egg carton, you should transplant them to larger pots. I’ll cover these steps in a later post when my seedlings are further along.

A note on poppies and direct sowing

Some plants strongly dislike root disturbance and prefer to be sown directly into the ground or pot where they are destined to live. The California poppy (eschscholzia californica) is one such plant. 

As I mentioned, most of the poppy seeds I sowed throughout the fall and winter haven’t made it, though a few tiny seedlings are hanging in there. I’m seeing blooming poppies all over road medians around town, so it’s a little discouraging. It might be that the Thai Silk cultivar I purchased isn’t as hardy as the more common varieties, or that I didn’t water them regularly enough.

I’ll try again with the traditional orange seeds and hopefully they are less fussy. They were definitely less expensive!

Looking forward

So far, my cosmos, marigolds, and adorable baby nasturtiums have all sprouted. I’m aiming for six healthy plants of each species. I check on their progress and attend to their needs first thing every morning and before bed every night. I can’t wait to watch them grow and hopefully brighten the balcony with bursts of orange, pink, and peachy blooms. 

What are you sowing for your garden this year? Please share in the comments!