About this box
As winter fades and the days lengthen, the urge to get growing becomes irresistible. Ten gorgeous varieties perfect for spring sowing — a complete garden in a box that blooms from midsummer right through to the first frosts, filling borders and vases with armfuls of flowers at a fraction of the cost of buying plants.
Cosmos 'Lemonade' brings soft lemon-and-cream flowers, Zinnia 'Queeny' antique shades of coral and peach, and Rudbeckia 'Cherokee Sunset' warm double blooms in gold, bronze and mahogany. Strawflower 'Bright Rose' gives papery pink everlastings for cutting and drying, Didiscus adds lacy sky-blue umbels and Corncockle 'Bianca' pure white. For the front of the border there are the starry pink mounds of Laurentia and the dusky-rose Californian Poppy 'Thai Rose Chiffon', while two perennials — Salvia 'Purple Fairy Tale' and Knautia 'Melton Pastels' — flower in their first summer from a spring sowing and come back year after year.
Sowing Guide
Hardy annuals — Corncockle and Californian Poppy — can be sown directly into the soil outdoors from March or April; they are tough enough to handle cool spring nights. Half-hardy annuals — Cosmos, Zinnia, Rudbeckia, Strawflower, Didiscus and Laurentia — love warmth; start them on a windowsill in March or April (zinnias from April) and plant out in late May or June once the frosts have passed. Sow Salvia and Knautia under cover in early spring for flowers the same summer. Full instructions are printed on every packet.
Packed by hand in our Norfolk workshop — arrives looking like a special gift, ready to kickstart the gardening year.
