It’s easy to grow your own flowers from seed. Here’s beautiful flowers, growing information & seed collections for gifts.
COUNTRY GARDEN SEED SHOP
Chelsea Blue Seeds Mix
Chelsea Blue Seeds Mix
Three packets of seeds to give your garden the Chelsea look. Anchusa, Bronze Fennel and Cerinthe are a winning combination of early flowering plants. They are all beautiful in garden borders and containers and they are all excellent for wildlife.
Anchusa Dropmore is one of the best early flowering perennials of all. If you've ever been to Chelsea Flower Show or seen it on the TV you'll have seen Anchusa in many of the show gardens as it's so stunning and flowers from May onwards. This lovely plant produces masses of upright stems with vibrant blue flowers from May to July or August if you're lucky. The intense blue tubular flowers of Anchusa Dropmore each have five petals and are full of nectar which bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects love. It's brilliant a splash of early colour and for wildlife gardens too.
Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' is an early flowering hardy annual with glaucous foliage and deep purple bell-like flowers. Cerinthe seeds are large and are very easy to grow. Cerinthe is good in the garden and excellent for cutting providing both flowers and foliage. Commonly known as Honeywort, butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects love Cerinthe!
Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum' is commonly known as Bronze Fennel and is loved by gardeners and insects too. In the garden this hardy perennial is grown mainly for the beautiful mounds of hazy foliage which are distinctly purple and bronze. Tall stems up to 5 or 6 feet produce flat heads of attractive tiny yellow flowers in summer which are followed by aromatic seeds. Bronze Fennel seed heads last long into winter and are particularly lovely on a frosty morning.
| Genus | Three packets of seeds to grow Anchusa italica 'Dropmore', Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum' and Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens. |
| Common names | Italian Bugloss, Bronze Fennel and Honeywort. |
| Plant Type | Hardy Perennials & Hardy Annual. Good for Containers and Cut Flowers. If you are growing flowers for cutting you may prefer to grow them as Biennials sowing this August/September for flowering next spring. |
| Height & Spread | 60cm-1.8m tall (2-6 feet) x 45-60cm spread (18-24 inches) |
| Sow Seeds | Sow indoors from February to July in modules at 16-20°C. Sow direct from May onwards when the soil is warm. To treat as a biennial sow in summer for early flowering the following spring. |
| Thin/Plant Out | Grow on in 9cm pots then plant out when the soil has warmed up. Allow a minimum space of 45cm per plant. |
| Conditions Required | Once established these plants prefer very well drained soil. They also grow best in full sun. |
| Flower Production | Blooms are usually produced for a good three months from May/June until August/September. |
| Picking | Cut flowers regularly and dead-head to make sure that your plants continue to produce new blooms. When cutting place the cut flowers into a tall bucket of clean water. Allow to rest overnight before arranging. Lasts 7-10 days as cut flowers if the stems are seared for 20 seconds. |
| Planting Combinations | If you have the space I suggest you grow plenty of these attractive plants. Lovely with with Iris, Geum, Orlaya, Geranium and Grasses. |