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Plug those gaps with cheerful annuals

(Filed: 23/06/2001)

If you have bare patches in your borders, it's not too late to sow directly into the ground, says Sarah Raven

Top 10 annuals for colour and foliage

ARE there gaps in your garden? Holes where you can't make up your mind what to plant? Patches where you've cleared out something you didn't like? Or corners that, until recently, looked wonderful covered with a swathe of huge-headed Oriental poppies but are now just a tangle of brown, scraggy leaves?

You know what you want to put in, but it's not the right time of year to plant. So what to do?

Well, don't rush to spend a fortune at the garden centre on things already in flower. In a shop up the road from me, they're doing a roaring trade in white foxgloves and sweet Williams. They look lovely at the moment, but they'll be over in a trice - and, in the case of the foxgloves, they'll die.

Instead, why not grow something annual from seed, sowing it straight into the patch of ground where you want it to flower? It may just be a temporary filler - a stopgap, until you decide what to plant in the autumn - but, besides costing a fraction of the price of a good block of plants, it will be much more exciting and rewarding to grow.

It's not too late to sow from seed. There are plenty of things that can be sown now which will flower in six to eight weeks. And even before the flowers come, there will be luscious, burgeoning leaves instead of a blank space.

There are plenty of hardy annuals that will be happy sown straight into the garden, and you can also add some of the more robust half-hardies. The frosts are over, and many of these plants do well from direct sowing - they just flower later than those sown indoors.

It's all a question of confidence. Sowing is easy. An ideal slot is about a yard wide and a couple of yards long, which will give a good block of colour that will last three or four months - but almost any space, larger or smaller, looks fine.

Mark out a series of lines a foot apart. Ideally, place the lines at an angle, rather than parallel with the path, or draw out a noughts-and-crosses grid. Either way, the pattern will merge into a block within a few weeks, and the straight lines will not show.

There are a few things to bear in mind before you decide what to sow. Don't mix too many different plants in one space. It's better to choose just two plants and intersow them - in a checkerboard pattern, say - but make sure the plants are of a similar height, so one doesn't overshadow the other.

Go for single-colour packets of seed rather than a mixed jamboree. In quite small spaces, mixed colours look fussy and loose their impact. Much better to have one bold zap of colour.

Finally, try to choose plants that develop quickly, moving from seed to flower within a few weeks. For this reason, avoid slow-growing annuals such as scabious and antirrhinums, as well as perennials and biennials.

Top 10 annuals for colour and foliage

Amaranthus 'Intense Purple' and 'Hopi Red Dye'

Sumptuous plants. Both have large, crimson-black leaves with matching plumes like crimson candles that seem to froth. One of the boldest foliage plants I know and wonderful for flower-arranging. 'Intense Purple' is 6ft tall, 'Hopi Red Dye' 4ft. Half-hardy annual.

Calendula 'Indian Prince'

My favourite English marigold, in deep orange. The petals have a crimson back that matches the flower's centre. The easiest and quickest plant to grow from seed to flower. 18in. Hardy annual.

Centaurea 'Black Ball'

A crimson-black cornflower which is much more interesting and long-lasting than the blue. The flowers do not bleach out as they age, they get darker. 2-3ft. Hardy annual.

Cosmos 'Purity'

The easiest half-hardy annual to grow from seed, it has large, white, daisy-like flowers on mounds of bright apple green, fine filigree foliage. The flowers and foliage fit together perfectly, so go for a big bedding swathe. 3ft.

Helianthus 'Valentine'

A lemon-yellow sunflower with rich, chocolate-brown flower centres. It is easy to grow, but will need a stake - even without pinching out, it will grow into a flower-studded bush about 3ft wide and 4ft high. Hardy annual.

Malope trifida 'Vulcan'

A spectacular hardy annual. Few grow it, but more should. It's robust and easy, with large plants covered in magenta lavatera-like flowers that have a satin sheen to their petals. These contrast with a vivid green eye at the centre of the flower. 3ft high and wide.

Moluccella laevis

One of the best foliage plants, "bells of Ireland" has spires of bright apple green, with large bells hanging all the way up the stem. It's one for mixing with other plants, such as marigolds or cornflowers. It does well sown direct into the ground at this late stage in the sowing year, but put the pack in the freezer for three or four days before sowing to speed up germination. 2ft. Half-hardy annual.

Nigella damascena 'Double Deep Blue'or 'Double White'

We all know our nigellas, but the doubles are fairly new to me. They have bigger, showier flowers than the single ones, and go on to form those lovely, green, cheesy-football seed cases, which are also bigger than the usual. 18in. Hardy annual.

Salvia viridis 'Blue'

If you have an area beside a path which needs filling, go for this deep purple-blue flowered salvia. It's hardy and easy to grow and looks better for longer than lavender beside my paths. 18in. Hardy annual.

Zinnia 'Envy' and 'Cactus Deep Red'

Any of the single-coloured zinnias are superb fillers, but my favourites are the green 'Envy' and the deep red. They flower quickly from sowing and keep on pumping out the flowers for four months. Be careful, when sowing straight into the ground, not to over water - they like dry, freely drained soil. Protect against slugs and snails. 2-3ft. Half-hardy annual.

Aftercare

If there is no rain, water seeds twice a week. Really wet the ground to a depth of several inches. This encourages the roots to follow the water, so the plants form deep, strong roots.

Most seeds will start to show within seven to 10 days. When the seedlings are about 1in tall and have a pair of leaves that look like tiny versions of what you would expect to see on the parent plant, get brutal. Thin them out, leaving one good plant every 4in. People find it hard because it seems so wasteful, but for any of the seedlings to succeed, you must remove the competition from near neighbours.

When the remaining seedlings have filled out, and the small plants almost merge into each other in the line, thin again to about 12in (check the back of the seed packet for instructions).

If you dig up the roots with a trowel rather than pull them out of the soil, you can transplant the seedlings into another row.

All seeds are available from Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden, Perch Hill Farm, Brightling, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5HP (01424 838181, email seeds@thecuttinggarden.com). Illustrations of all these plants can be seen at www.thecuttinggarden.com. Next weekend, Sarah Raven is speaking at The Daily Telegraph House & Garden Fair at the National and Grand Halls, Olympia, London (Thursday June 28 to Sunday July 1). Find her at the Daily Telegraph stand (K56) at 3.15-4.15pm on Saturday June 30 and at 11.15am-12.25pm on Sunday July 1. Tickets for the Fair (normally £14) are £9 in advance for Gardening readers. Ticket hotline: 0870 121 2525, www.houseandgardenfair.co.uk).

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001