If what you really want in flowers, you should succession-sow for a longer season of bloom. If sunflower seeds are your goal, plant your entire crop early, so they can mature seeds before fall. (not more, yet.) When the little plants are a foot high, you can put more mulch if needed to control weeds and keep the soil moist. Or plant 1/2" deep and put down an inch of mulch. Then plant your seeds about an inch deep and water well. (The main reason for transplants is to evade birds and slugs that can decimate outdoor plantings.) They are big plants with a big appetite, so work in a lot of compost or manure before planting. You can start them indoors or out, direct-sown or transplanted. Sunflowers are more forgiving they will still give you flowers from a July planting-just not so many. If you plant too late, the seeds will just sit there until fall, and sprout when the fall rains come. Calendula and mache, may not sprout at all in warm soil. Others are echinacea, calendula, mache, love-in-a-mist, milkweed, poppies, and cilantro. Quinoa is another summer crop that likes to start in cool spring soil and should be planted during April. After that, frost will kill them-and usually does at the end of the summer. Strangely enough, sunflower seedlings lose their frost-hardiness when they are about a foot high.
They are bushier and more vigorous when the seeds can sprout and root in cold soil, about a month before the last frost date. They are native to North America, not to the tropics like other summer flowers. Sunflowers are summer flowers that like spring planting. Zinnias, marigolds, and other summer flowers are usually planted indoors, or direct-sown after the last frost. Those plants that need warm soil for their seeds and warm air for their tender leaves don't belong in the garden until night temperatures are in the 50's and frost is over. April's combination of warming temperatures and more daylight stimulates growth.īut spring isn't summer. For gardeners, putting seeds or plants into fresh soil is the very image of hope. The wildflowers, the longer days, the pleasant temperatures for working outside-it never lasts long enough.