Annual Suggestions???

I've got some space in my garden that needs filling and since i'm on a bit of a tight budget are there any annual seeds i could sow that would give a show this summer? is it too late?

lil

Lilith

you have to work on the timing it takes aplant to germinate and grow old enough to flower.

as far as I can remember it takes an everage of 6 weeks for an annual to get to the flowering stage. a seed planted now wont flower until the middle of August. what will slow down the whole process at this time of year is the lack of moisture in the soil.

the plants you need to look for are the South African daisies which are geared towards rapid growth when the rains come. you need to look for seeds of dimorphothecas.

mark

I have just sown nasturtiums, love in a mist and poppies (these seeds are currently being given away free with Nestle cereal packets and I expect to get flowers before the frosts. I am in the north east too.
Carol

I've a feeling that Virginian stock comes up fairly quickly. It's used for repeat sowings. They're fairly small but pretty. I think night-scented stcoks are also fairly quick. My night-scented stock is flowering now from my spring sowing and my spring sowing was late in some beds because of poorish weather. The contentional stock (Brompton stock I think it's called) takes about ten weeks. At this time of the year look for nurseries selling plants at reduced prices just to clear them off the shelves. A pack or two of bedding plants will give you some instanteous colour, I've just put in some bedding asters. I normally grow quite a few hardy annuals - nasturtiums, poppies, calendula, stock, love-in-a-mist and so on but they're poorer this year. I've one bed I want to substantially replant in the autumn - the rest have gaps that need filling but are coming along. I think I'll be making a few more trips to the market...

Thanks for all your suggestions..

i think ill get some nasturtiums and love-in-a-mist and maybe some stock, with night scented stock too. Hopefully ill have some gaps filled pretty soon!

lil