Cottage Garden Annuals Meadow Mix

This is a mix of easy to grow colourful annuals, both Cottage Garden favourites and Naturalised Wildflowers which will give you a riot of colour throughout the summer.

These flowers have been chosen for their benefit to wildlife and will attract Butterflies, Bees, other insects and possibly birds and small mammals.

It can be used either to create a flower meadow or simply sown into a flower bed.

Flower seed only, contains no grass.

If you don't have room for a meadow, these seeds are great for sprinkling in your flower beds or even pots and tubs.

Further details and sowing instructions:

Growing instructions:

( A copy of these instructions will be sent with any purchase of these seeds)

Preparation:

This mix will produce best in soil that hasn't been heavily fertilised previously and is low in nutrients.

Clear all existing plants from the area to be sown.

Lightly dig/fork the area over to loosen the soil and create a fine tilth and then rake until level.

Tread over the bed to firm it so that it is possible to stand on the soil and not leave deep footprints.

Sowing:

These seeds can be sown in spring, roughly March to May, or Autumn, September or October.

If it is a cold, wet spring, delay sowing until things warm up.

The seeds should be sown at a rate of 3g per square metre.

It's a good idea to weigh out 3g to give you a rough idea of the correct quantity. The seed also be mixed with dry sharp sand, or some other inert substance, which makes it easier to get an even distribution.

Broadcast the seed by scattering by hand or by using a handheld or wheeled seed spreader.

As the seeds vary in size, they will separate so regularly mix the seed during sowing.

When you have sown the seeds, it's important to make sure the seeds are in contact with the soil.

Do this by raking very lightly, (only to a depth of 0.5 cm as the seed must not be buried deeper than 0.7cm), rolling the area or lightly walking over it.

Looking after your flower meadow:

This mix contains annual species which will flower and set seed in one year.

You can either gather the seed when it is ripe, dry and store and re-sow the following year or leave the plants to die down and set-seed naturally.

Leaving the dead stems over winter provides shelter for over-wintering insects.

The stems can be cut down either in autumn, in which case leave the plants on the ground for a week or so to dry and drop their seeds onto the soil, or in spring.

*weeds – We dislike using this word but to keep putting "wildflowers that are growing where you don’t want them to" is a bit cumbersome ☺

Cottage Garden Annuals Meadow Mix