Flower Seeds: Cornflower, Nasturtium and Wildflower Mixes

A strip of bare soil along a fence, one free Saturday in April, and no clue what goes in it: that's the job most of this shelf does. Named single species, seven flower mixes and eight Buddy Packs.

Blue in spring, red in June: what to sow when

Direct sowing outdoors

April does most of the heavy lifting. The Flower Seed Mix for Bees, the Summer Flowers Mixture and Japanese Flower Carpet go straight into beds or rows then, seed barely covered and pressed onto raked soil. Corn Poppy 'Single Red' (Papaver rhoeas) goes in late spring, and the Climbing Flowers Seed Mix wants thin rows, mid to late spring. Seedlings show after 10-14 days; thin to 8-10cm apart.

Starting indoors and hardening off

Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) goes in early April under glass and gets transplanted roughly 5-6 weeks later, so harden it off in a sheltered spot for a few days first. The Edible Flower Mix starts earlier, in early March. Everything else here is happier sown where it will flower.

Single species classics

Forget-me-not 'Indigo Blue' (Myosotis alpestris) breaks the pattern: sow in open ground in July, in shade, soil kept moist, aimed at next spring rather than this summer. 'Blue Ball' (Centaurea cyanus) is one clean blue for a front edge, while Cornflower 'Mixed' scatters purple, blue, pink and white. Cerastium (Cerastium biebersteinii) is the perennial here, a mat of silvery grey leaves, and Nasturtium 'Single Flowered' (Tropaeolum majus) climbs a wall in red, orange and yellow.

Cornflower and corn poppy are annuals and the classic volunteers: leave the seedheads standing, don't dig the bed over in autumn, and the patch refills itself. Deadheading pulls the other way, so snip spent heads while you want more flowers, then stop in late summer and let the last ones ripen. Forget-me-not does the same on a slower cycle. Leftover packets keep best folded shut in a tin, cool, dry and dark.

Which packet we'd tip out first

Mixes are the easy win on bare soil, but the seed inside comes in wildly different sizes, some of it nearly dust. Tip it straight out and you get clumps in one spot, bald ground in the next. Stir it into dry sand, scatter half one way, then the rest at right angles.

Wildflower and summer mixes

Wildflowers Seed Mixture is the broadest net here, more than 60 species including Centaurea cyanus, Papaver rhoeas, Myosotis alpestris, marigold and chamomile. Summer Flowers Mixture and Japanese Flower Carpet are the flat-out colour options, sown in April, little upkeep. Scented Garden Flower Mix takes another angle, 15 varieties chosen for smell.

Pollinator mixes

Flower Seed Mix for Bees is where we'd start on a bare strip: nectar-heavy species, sown in April, flowering all summer. Butterfly Flower Seed Mix runs 29 species, including phacelia, Lavandula angustifolia, Trifolium pratense and Tropaeolum majus. Stuck between them? The Flower Seed Pack from Zammi's Farm holds one of each of the seven mixes.

Flowers that feed bees and butterflies

Honeybees, bumblebees and hoverflies work alyssum, borage (Borago officinalis) and the clovers (Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense) hardest; butterflies come to the lavender and nasturtium in the butterfly blend. Aim for something in flower from spring into late summer, and keep sprays off the patch.

• Edible Flower Mix: borage, viola, hollyhock and Aztec marigold, the one packet here grown for garnishing plates.
• Climbing Flowers Seed Mix: for a trellis or a bare fence panel.

The eight Buddy Packs are sachets sown beside a crop rather than as a display: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), Marigold, Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), White Clover, Red Clover, Lavender, Borage and Cerastium. That side is companion planting and aphid trap cropping: sunflowers draw aphids away from prized plants, alfalfa sits next to species that repel aphids, army worms and alfalfa weevil, and draws in ladybugs. Cerastium doubles as a living mulch, shading soil and slowing evaporation, but gets greedy for room, so cut into it when it crowds neighbours. Sunflower and Cerastium also come bundled in the Buddy Mix Pack DEFENDER and NUTRIENT sets. For a first bed, we'd sow the bee mix across the middle in April and edge the front with 'Blue Ball'.