Now we are in Early Autumn, you may notice that as the nights cool and the daytime hours shorten, the garden will slow as it prepares for winter hibernation. As the seedheads begin to out number the flowers, it is a signal to you to begin sowing for your Spring garden using Hardy Annuals.

While an autumn sowing is not necessary, it is a sensible way to get a jump on the Spring growing season. With an autumn sowing of cold hardy seeds you will grow healthier, bigger and more flowers come Spring. The flowers will also bloom earlier than a traditional late winter sowing.

In this article I will outline which flower seeds you can start now along with some insights on how to plan a Spring cutting garden plus I have created a FREE Autumn seed sowing planner for download.

It’s all in the planning

When you are in the process of planning what to grow in your Spring garden - I'd like to emphasise that it is so important to think about how everything will work together. In my first year of growing a cutting garden for fun, I just grew lots of flowers I loved or thought were interesting, not thinking about the whole picture.

When it came to harvesting and creating bunches of flowers for the kitchen table or to gift to friends, I felt like they looked awkward and didn't work together. This was very frustrating and I spent a lot of time thinking I was just bad at arranging.

Aquilegia seedlings ready to transplant into garden in Autumn.

Executing a Floral Recipe

After experiencing these struggles, I decided in my second year of growing to become a lot more targeted in my approach. I thought about growing a palette or a floral recipe of tried and true workhorses that when grown in combination would create stunning bouquets.

I will share with you this 'floral recipe' which I grow in my garden that guarantees I can cut and create gift bouquets + design wedding flowers from my garden. My floral recipe reflects the style that I love; wild, whimsical and garden-inspired - your floral recipe will look different depending on your style.

Colour

Firstly sticking to a colour palette is one of the easiest ways to create consistent bunches of flowers that work in combination with each other. In my Spring cutting garden, my palette is soft pastels - this included soft pink, peach, yellow, lilac and blue. I try to avoid growing hot tones like oranges or reds which would clash with my overall scheme.

Flower Shapes

The next thing is the flower shapes that are required to create a visually dynamic arrangement. For my Spring bunches, I like to use the following flower ingredients:

Focal (tulips, ranunculus or anemone)

Flat topped filler (sweet william, achillea, statice)

Seedheads / Foliage (nigella or persian cress)

Spikes (larkspur, stock, foxglove or snapdragons)

Daisy Accents (agrostemma, cornflower, calendula, poppies)

Umbel Accents (orlaya or ammi majus)

Scent (sweet peas, apple mint)

Note: the above list includes varieties of flowers that bloom in Spring. There are some Early Summer flowers not included in this list above that should also be started in Autumn.

Quantity

The next thing to understand is that you will need multiple plants of the same flower to harvest from if you want to create consistent bunches. One plant isn't going to be enough for most things, it would be my recommendation to have at least 6 plants of the same colour/variety to ensure you have enough of a selection of good quality blooms in pick.

For home gardeners, space is usually an issue. Like in my garden, I am cutting from only a few beds so I prioritise having multiple plants in the same colour which means less variety overall. This makes it harder when it comes to flower selection to narrow it down but overall makes my space more productive with less wastage.

Hardy Annual seedlings hardening off ready for transplant into garden in Late Autumn

Flower Selection

Consider flowers that have a long flowering periods or flowers that can be used in all stages. This is especially important to maximise productivity if your space is small.

Flowers like Nigella may be seen as boring or old-fashioned but I promise you it is so useful in the cutting garden because it can be cut at all stages from it's ferny foliage through to flower to seed head. Other Spring flowers I grow like this are: Orlaya and Poppies ~ (flower and seed head) or Sweet Peas and Apple Mint ~ (Flower and foliage)

Autumn seed sowing

Once you have created your Floral Recipe and narrowed down your flower selection based on your colour palette and flower shapes, it is time to start sowing. Now, if you are beginner you may find it unusual to start seeds in autumn for spring flowers however this a normal seed sowing window for 'hardy annuals'.

These type of cool-loving flowers prefer to germinate in the warmth of autumn and then grow slowly over the winter time. During this period, it may not look like much is happening above ground however under the soil their root structures are growing bigger and stronger. Come Spring, once the weather warms again, the plant will jump into action and you will be rewarded with masses of blooms much earlier than if you started your seeds in late winter / early Spring.

It can be confusing at first, but only 'hardy annuals' should be started in Autumn as they are frost-hardy, able to withstand harsh winter conditions.

Hardy annual seedlings in tubs prior to transplant to garden

To make things easier, I have created a FREE Autumn Seed Sowing Calendar which you can download below.

When to sow your Hardy Annuals will depend on your climate and region. For me, I am located in 9a - over the years I have found we may have one or two early frosts in April or May but it doesn’t get consistently cold with frequent frosts until Late Winter. This is the reality of our changing climates - Autumns are getting longer and longer.

In the past, I have rushed to get everything planted before the first frost in April, only for the weather to warm up again. This does not apply to any gardeners that live South of Christchurch, or in any alpine climate. You will definitely need to get things transplanted earlier rather than later as it is likely your ground will harden and it will be more difficult for seedlings to acclimatise.

However, in my region, I find beginning to sow Hardy Annuals from March onwards works well for me as I plan to transplant around May however, sometimes this doesn’t always work out. I’ve transplant in June before and guess what — I still had beautiful, big, healthy plants come Spring. Therefore, the whole object is not to stress too much about the exact dates and just use my advice as a guideline. The only way for you to know what works in your exact garden’s microclimate is through experimentation.

The aim for this calendar is to provide you you with a good starting point, outlining that sow dates that I use for my own small scale cut flower farm along with the number of weeks from seed to transplant making it easy to adjust to your zone.

I hope you have all enjoyed a long summer, blessed with bucket loads of blooms. While we are nearing the end of our growing season, work in the garden doesn't stop throughout the winter. There is still much to plan and prepare before Spring reemerges again.

If you have any questions at all about planning your Spring Garden or Autumn Seed Sowing, do not hesitate to reach out to me via Instagram - I love to chat and if you’re interested in learning or reading more about my seasonal flower Bloom Buckets and what floristry services I offer then check out these relevant articles:

Seasonal Bloom Guide

What to Expect in your Bloom Buckets

What to Sow in Autumn for your Cut Flower Garden