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Photo credits, clockwise from sunflower: Allison Breiner Potter, frank wouters, Allison Breiner Potter, Bureau Land management, Wiki public domain, Joaquim Alves Gaspar.•
is clear of mulch, has been amended with
compost and is raked level,” Glen said. “A
general rule of thumb is to bury seeds two
times their diameter.”
The hardest part about seed starting is
keeping the soil just wet enough for the
seeds to germinate. Whether starting seeds
in flats or in the garden, they must stay wet
or they won’t germinate.
“Germination is the trickiest time,” Glen
says. “Generally, if you can get them to
come up, you’re good.”
Best Varieties
There are many annual and herb seeds
that do fairly well in the Southeast when
sown directly into the garden.
Cleome, cosmos, zinnia, marigolds, basil,
balsam, celosia and gomphrena and the
prolific re-seeding melampodium, just to
name a few, Glen says, are all popular local
favorites that can add good color, good flavor
and lots of great pollinators to the garden.
Glen recommends moon vine, cypress
vine and hyacinth bean by seed for arbors
and fences that beg for a little spark.
Most annuals, Deener says, will need to
be consistently pinched back in order for
them to bush out and bloom well.
There are a few tried and true perennials
that can be seeded directly and are perfect
for the loosely structured cottage garden.
Purple coneflower, rudbeckia (R. fulgida,
R. triloba), varieties of coreopsis, verbena
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WBM april 2011
bonariensis, gaillardia, French hollyhock
(Malva sylvestris) and four o’clocks, are all
great additions to the perennial garden.
Deener recommends direct seeding
bachelor buttons in the fall or in early
spring along with larkspur. Some of her
other directly-seeded favorites are dianthus,
agrostemma (corncockle) and ornamental
grasses and grains.
Parsley does best when seeds are soaked
for about 10 days before being planted.
Herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro, chives
and dill add lush, tasty greenery to a bold
bed of flowers.
Alistair Glen, Charlotte Glen’s husband,
is owner and operator of Growing Wild
Nursery and specializes in the cultivation of
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Clockwise from right:
Sunflower, verbena bonariensis,
crab shells and other organic soil
amendments, cleome, hyacinth
bean and Malva sylvestris.