Just one week past the spring equinox and everything is on the up. Outdoors, self-sown seedlings are beginning to peep out in beds and borders, but the greenhouse is heaving with life. At Glebe Cottage, we are making difficult decisions, moving out anything deemed tough enough to rough it in a cold frame to make room for newcomers.
No matter how often you sow seeds, the magic felt as the first shoots start to show is wondrous. Seeing one or two tiny leaves turn into little thickets of green is a miracle. It seems extraordinary that this most elemental form of making more plants is surrounded by such mystique. The process is simple. Providing it has been stored in a cool, dry place and out of bright sunlight, most seed is raring to go. Any pot or recycled container will do for your sowing as long as it has drainage holes (imperative) and a reasonable depth (at least 5cm).
What are we sowing? Lots of veg. Fill containers liberally with peat-free seed compost and firm gently to produce a level surface just below the rim of pot or tray. My husband, Neil, made me a small presser board from plywood with a chunk of split broom-handle probably 25 years ago. It fits exactly into the half-seed trays which are in continuous use. They were bought new but each one must have been reused scores of times. Sprinkle small seeds on the surface of the compost by pinching with thumb and forefinger or tapping from your palm; it doesn't matter how you do it as long as the seed is sown finely. The biggest cause of death in seedlings is from damping off, a fungal disease that makes them collapse. And the main reason for damping off is sowing too thickly. If you have more seed than you need, swap some rather than sowing too many too thickly.
We cover seed only with a layer of sharp grit, emulating what would happen in nature. The grit helps stop the seed being washed away, yet retains moisture underneath and provides drainage around the shoots. If seedlings are there for any length of time, grit also deters weeds and liverwort from taking hold. Bigger seed is sown individually and pushed down to its own depth.
Our broad beans sown last month are up and raring to go, as are some of the flowers that will accompany them in companion planting schemes to deter pests without resorting to chemicals. Tagetes, French marigolds and African marigolds have a pungent aroma that will vanquish all but the most determined aphid. The open chalice-shaped flowers of Limnanthes douglasii, the poached egg flower, have great pulling power when it comes to attracting beneficial insects.
Seed sown last autumn is ready to be pricked out. We are now ready to knock chunks of seedlings out of their trays, carefully separating one from another and each one dangled into a compartment in a modular tray. Eryngium, digitalis and dierama are ready, and Geranium wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety' are so far on, they are treated to a place of honour in a specially constructed tray using cardboard to create separate sections.
Back outside, the upsurge in growth gathers momentum day by day. Among the emerging foliage of colchicums, the shoots of Fritillaria persica thrust urgently upward, intent on giving their flowers a flying start. For now the flowers are invisible, encased in leaves that are almost as exquisite as the black bells that will burst from them during the coming month. These pregnant shoots on their strong stems are pristine and perfect, with a bloom that sends a shiver down your spine.
Fill a bed with flowers
RHS horticultural adviser Jenny Bowden writes: You can avoid the time-consuming tasks of filling seed trays and pricking seedlings by sowing hardy annual seeds directly into the garden. A little cold weather will not bother them, and with a bit of soil preparation, you can create a cottage-style garden border or a wildflower meadow that's blooming by midsummer: try Pictorial Meadows (pictorialmeadows.co.uk) or Nicky's Nursery (nickys-nursery.co.uk) for hardy annual seed mixes.
Choose a weed-free area that gets as much sun as possible and has well-drained soil, cultivated to a fine texture at a depth of 10-20cm. If you can, add some well-rotted garden compost or if the soil is very poor, add 50g per sq m of a general purpose fertiliser. Scatter the seeds over the area, lightly rake them in and cover with a 0.5-1.5cm layer of sieved garden soil. Alternatively, mark the areas by scratching out a design with a cane or making outlines from sand where you want each variety to grow. Sow in drills, according to the instructions on the packet. Keep the area well watered and thin the seedlings out as necessary.
These seeds can be sown straight into the garden:
Bee and butterfly attractors
Poached egg plant (Limanthes douglasii).
Scorpion weed (Phacelia tanacetifolia).
Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis).
Corn cockle (Agrostemma githago).
Poppy (Papaver rhoeas).
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus).
Sunflower (Helianthus annus).
Classic performers
Baby blue eyes (Nemophila).
Bells of Ireland (Moluccella laevis).