About this box
Embrace the chill. This collection is curated specifically for the winter sowing method — a low-effort, high-reward technique where you sow during the coldest months and let nature do the rest.
These seeds actually love the cold. Many need a period of cold and damp to wake them up — by sowing now you mimic their natural life cycle, resulting in tougher, healthier plants that flower weeks earlier than anything sown in spring. No heated propagator needed.
What's Inside
Ten varieties chosen for a winter start. Aquilegia 'Nora Barlow', Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' and the climbing Cobaea scandens can all be sown from January, and Sweet Pea 'Old Spice Starry Night' makes deep roots and sturdy plants from a winter sowing, with a heavily scented mix of heritage colours. Larkspur 'Giant Imperial' germinates best after a cold spell, so it can be sown right through the winter. In February follow on with Gaura 'The Bride', Agastache 'Liquorice Blue', Salvia 'Victoria Blue', Bells of Ireland and the bright, banded Chrysanthemum Painted Daisies.
A mix of annuals for colour and cutting the first summer, and perennials — Gaura, Agastache, Aquilegia and Coreopsis — that come back year after year, in white, blue, purple, pink, yellow and green.
How to Winter Sow — Two Methods
No heated propagator required. Use a cold frame or unheated greenhouse — sow into trays of compost, cover to keep mice out, and leave until germination appears in early spring. Or try the milk jug method: cut a plastic bottle in half, fill the base with compost, sow seeds, tape the top back on leaving the cap off for rain and air, and place outside. The bottle acts as a mini-greenhouse — protecting seedlings from hard frost while allowing the cold exposure they need. Full instructions are printed on every packet.
Arrives in signature eco-friendly packaging — the perfect gift for the impatient gardener who cannot wait for spring.
