They’ll grow best in bright, direct sunlight for most of the day. They’ll also cope well in dappled shade too.
Keep the soil well watered to help the seeds grow. Check pots daily in very hot weather.
To get a head start on your seeds, start sowing them indoors by a sunny window before transferring them to your garden.
Botanical names
Calendula officinalis
Centaurea cyanus
Tropaeolum majus
Nicknames
Calendula
Cornflower
Nasturtium
Seed quantity (approx)
Calendula – 50
Cornflower - 200
Nasturtium – 20
Sowing seeds is a rewarding way to fill your outdoor space with flowers. These edible flowers are easy to grow and give you bright, delicious flowers that you can add to salads, cakes and cocktails.
To grow your plants, sow the seeds about 5cm apart in potting trays and put them somewhere warm and bright. Keep the soil moist. When sprouts appear, transfer the plants to 8cm pots and wait for them to grow. It should take about 10-14 days for sprouts to appear, then you’ll have mature plants within 90 days.
You can pick the mature flowers whenever you like, cutting them at the base of the stem. Cutting off mature flowers will encourage new ones to replace them. When preparing them to eat, remember that you can eat the leaves, stems and flowers of nasturtiums, the leaves and flowers of calendulas, and just the flowers of cornflowers.
As a bonus, these flowers are all very attractive to bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
