Alternative Ideas for Annual Plants From Seed

As the title says really - ideas for less common annuals that we can grow from seed. The sort of thing that you probably need to make a little extra effort to find seed for than just popping down to the local garden centre. Better still if they have an extra bit of height about them but not essential.

A few of mine follow;
1] Despite all the above my first is Nicotiana sylvestris...............


Seeds for this are quite easy to get and quite a few GC's are selling plants now (at three or four quid a plant though!) but still it is not that common. Very easy from seed and by mid August it will be about 1.5 to 2 metres tall with masses of highly fragrant flowers opening daily. Its huge leaves help to give it a real exotic look.

2] Nicotiana langsdorfii................


This is a vastly superior alternative to the bedding Nicotiana (which to my eyes suffer from indifferent colours and tend to look weak) that you buy in packs of six from your local GC. The lime green flowers are a little smaller but borne on stout stems typically at a height of 1 to 1.2 metres. Usually starts blooming for the rest of the summer round about mid June time.

3] Cleome hassleriana..................


Seeds for this used to be everywhere a few years ago but now I hardly see them. This is a good multi-branched species that grows strongly up to 1.2 to 1.5 metres and blooms from July on.

4] Salvia urica..................


A fairly tall (1.5 metres plus) plant which is ideal for dotting in amongst other tall plants. Blooms from mid August onwards.

5] Salvia splendens (true species forms).................


Instead of the usual bedding forms why not seek out seed for the true species? The plant pictured was about 2 metres tall but apparently in a good summer they can grow even taller. Comes into bloom mid July'ish.

6] Salvia coccineae...............




A real gem for the front of the border! Growing to a height of just 0.5 to 0.8 metres and multi-branched this will come into bloom just six to eight weeks after germination.

7] Amaranthus.................






Many forms, different heights and spread, always eyecatching!

8] Caiophora hibiscifolia.............


You'll have to work hard to find seed for this rare climber but if you can find it give it a go. To be honest it needs a better summer than we've had the last couple of years but let's live in hope.

So what are your suggestions? As always, piccies please!

 

Two that I like are
Tithonia Torch

Osteospermum hyseroides

I regularly grow Tithonia, but have found it hard to find seed of the Osteospermum in recent years, both require similar treatment. I sow seeds early May and plant out in June. They do not like a check growth but in a good summer flower well into the autumn.
I also grow Achimenes and keep them from year to year for house plants; surplus tubercles get planted in a seed tray and when big enough stuck into the boarders or hanging baskets.

 

Seed suppliers suggest they're suitable for cut flowers, are they any good for that? And do they still release their fragrance of an evening when indoors in a vase? (Wondering what triggers it).

 

One of my favorites is Leonotis nepetifolia above. Its an annual that can grow up to 6 or 8 feet tall without any need for support. Its a curious see through plant, that consists of just a single stalk, but with these flowers at intervals up it.

 

Now that is a beauty!!

 

Where do you get the seed from? I find getting viable Gesneriad seed difficult.

They probably are but you would need a large area to grow enough in for cutting. The leaves are 30cm upwards and you would only get a handful of stems from each plant at a single time.
I've no idea regarding the fragrance I'm afraid.

A timely reminder. I still have some of the seed left that you sent me a few years ago. I also have seed for Leonotis leonorus.................

 

@longk The Achimenes I grow from the surplus tubercles saved from the previous year.
I have grown Streptocarpus from seed some years ago. Germinated well but prone to damping off or drying out. That seed came from Chiltern Seeds and was very small.

 

LongK - your picture gives a better idea of Leonotis nepetifolia than my picture.

I assume your shot isn't leonorus - which I think is much shorter and bushier. Although leonorus is a perennial I never found it flowered well for me.

 

About 250 of the seeds I've sown have germinated, so I should be able to plant a nice big clump of them.

 

You'll need a field as N.sylvestris get large!

 

My best weed ...Ricinus self sows everywhere.

And Phacelia tanacetifolia. Grown as a green manure here but how could you bear to turn it in before it flowers?

 

super

 

@noisette47
I use Phacelia tanacetifolia as a green manure and quite often have self seeded plants around. Well worth leaving to flower as the insects love it. I think it is a bit big and floppy to grow in a border, but I love the colour and the scent.

 

My plots total 0.6 of an acre so I would have room for all of them, but some will be donated to charity plant sales.

At what sort of centres should they be planted if growing in blocks and wanting to suppress any weeds between them? (and advise others how much room they need)

And are they easy to save seed from?

 

At least half a metre, ideally a metre. These were a little pinched............