THE BEST BIENNIALS TO GROW FROM SEED

Each year I grow a range of more than 20 biennials, their contribution to the spring and early summer garden is considerable, and I would not want to garden without them. By far the best way to grow them is from seed. There is something very satisfying about raising your own plants, the effect is not immediate, but the rewards are immensely satisfying.

Whereas annuals complete their life cycle in a single season, biennials require a period of cold, called vernalisation, to initiate their flowering. From a summer sowing, biennials will produce a basal rosette of leaves, with the plant flowering, setting seed and dying in the following year.

The principles of sowing are exactly the same as for annual seed, but the after-care and timing is different. Whereas most annuals are sown from January through to April, biennials are sown in early summer, planted into nursery rows