Sowing Flower Seeds for the Cottage Garden 

What seed companies do you recommend?

Nasturtium, Marigold, Poached Egg, Sunflower, Morning Glory, Allisium, Calendula, Borage, Cosmos, Comfrey.

OMG Brian!! I love how organised you are makes is so much easier and pleasurable to do it. I am going to try my best to do that this weekend when I start my seeds.

Zone 8b - Marigolds, Nasturtiums, Crocus, Cosmos, Alyssum, Sunflowers, Sweet Pea, Zinnia, Echinacea. Yours are quite lovely, and can’t wait to see your cottage garden all in bloom!!!!❤❤❤❤

Ami, Dara, Buplerum, calendula.black eye Susan’s, fever few(3 varieties), ageratum, baby’s breath, true hyssop, anise hyssop, bee balm, snap dragons (6 varieties) Salvia, Celosias (10 varieties), all the amaranths I could find, sunflowers 🌻 branching and pro cuts, straw flowers, statice, yarrow and zinnias ( Benarys giant and queeny) perennials Sea holly, Dahlias, liatris, Veronica….. Note: My fall sown 10/22 to 12/22, snaps, statice, foxgloves, Billy’s ball, orlya, are starting to flower along with my ranunculus. This is so fun, I’m sure I forgot to mention some. I’m growing in zone 9b Sacramento Ca

I garden in Israel. The wether here is quite similar to yours (another reason why I enjoy your channel). I sow Foxglaves, Hollyhock, Ammy and Nicotiana in the fall up to December. By March, April, it will be too late. Actually most of these flowers self seed for me at the beginning of the winter.

I have used the seed wicking trays and they work great! I keep a wooden plant steak on hand to dip down to check the water level (flat end not pointed one, lol) so I don't have to lift up and disturb anything. Easy to see the water level on the dry wood. Popcicle stick would probably work ok also.

BRIAN, I AM SO THANKFUL THAT YOU EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO US. WE ARE LEARNING SO MUCH. FATHER GOD BLESS YOU BRIAN AND YOUR FAMILY IN JESUS NAME 🙏 ❤ 🙌 WE LOVE YALL ❤

In my potager garden, I'm growing lots of Queen Lime mix zinnias, Cupcake cosmos (petals look pleated like cupcake papers), and CA poppies as annuals. Plus lots of roses, calla lilies, tiger lilies, shasta daisies, watsonia, montbretia, etc. You might think about spanish bluebell bulbs! You can't kill them, gophers don't eat them, they naturalize, and they're a delicate lavender-blue that come back every year. Oh, and I use boiling water to moisten the seed starting mix and let it cool before planting. No bleach needed!

I’ve also been using the seed starting trays from Gardeners Supply for a few years and love them. I am growing my usual petunias, marigolds, zinnias, snapdragons, and more. This year for the first time I am trying geraniums from seeds (along with my cuttings from last year) they are doing really well. My other new seed try is lisianthus. My oh my, those are a real challenge! I got them to germinate but they are sooooo tiny. I know they are suppose to be slow and stay small but I have my doubts on these.

I have learned so much from this video, from making your labels before you get your hands dirty to using horticultural vermiculite. Also I learned a lot from you demonstration of the self watering seed trays. Your selection of flowers is beautiful, I can’t wait to see them in the garden

I am growing; Echinacea, English lavender, Calendula, and marigolds.

I have started alyssum, strawflower, Strawberry fields, poppies, Batchelor buttons in the greenhouse so far. Have calendula and nasturtiums volunteers in the garden up already. Planning to start stock, zinnias, cosmos soon. And figuring out what else I want. Love your list of flowers.

I am planting Matsumoto Formula Mixed Aster( a free gift from Baker Creek), Tall Double Mix Strawflower, Cosmos Candyfloss red, Hollyhock Creme de Cassis, and Pink Senorita Zinnia. Best luck to everyone growing your treasures. :)

Bergamot, nasturtium, sweet pea, lavender so far

It’s my first season using the self watering trays and I love them! Side note anyone in Canada you can get them from Veseys Seeds since gardener supply does not ship here :)

Brian, you are amazing. The cottage is gorgeous and the garden will look lovely in full bloom. Don’t worry about purple larkspur in amongst the soft color palette they will be lovely and when the morning sun shines through them they will look absolutely magical amongst the pastels. I can’t wait to see the entire picture.💕

Nasturtium, Eccinace , Wildflowers, Roses, Lavender to Sunflowers, Marygold, Zinnia,

Yarrow, echinacea, Monarda, calendula, poppies, bachelor button, alyssum, nasturtium, marigold, sunflower. Zone 7a.

Salvia, Bee Balms, Hyssops, Milkweed, Mints, Lavenders, Petunias, Mums. Whatever. Anything that grows. Borage, fennel.

7a new zone this year Alyssum, Calendula, Cosmos, Hollyhock, Milkweed, Rudbekia, Sunflower, Zinnia

So far...Foxglove, dianthus, lacy phcelia, yarrow, delphinium, bachelor button, rose campion, agastache , lavender, nicotiana, baptisia, valerian, feverfew, lupine, snapdragon, poppy, chocolate flower, milkweed. Calendula, cardinal flower, columbine

Floxglove, Poppies, Canterbury Bells, Cosmo, bachelor buttons, malva, Asters, cupid's dart, Columbine, amaranth. But I am sowing outside.

Zinnia giant and dwarf,marigold,snapdragon,alyssum,sunflowers,cosmos just apperearedin my garden😊

In upstate NY we are growing Bee balm, Purple and White Coneflower, Astible, Black Eyed Susan, Snap Dragon, and Day Lilies.

Nice fflowers. I buy plants. I got away, from making seedlings. Lpts of work. I always have lots of vegetables, flowers, and fruits. I don't make seedlings anymore.

Zinnias, dianthus, cosmos, marigold, echinacea, nasturtium, calendula, chamomile, Jasmine from 2 years ago, muns from last year and lavender

These are some of the perennials I grow, more than one variety of most of them. Except for daylilies I don’t grow any of them from seed. Aster, Agastache, Aquilegia, Astilbe, Brunnera, Dianthus, Daylily, Dicentra, Echinacea, Epimedium, Gaillardia, Geranium, Hardy Hibiscus, Hellebore, Heuchera, Hosta, Iris, Leucanthemum, Nepeta, Peony, Penstemon, Primula, Salvia and Scabiosa. I have a small garden and consider myself more a collector than a gardener. Two standout performers for length of bloom time are Gaillardia and Scabiosa.

Love your choices of flowers. Beautiful plants. I heard many of your videos it was raining. Doesn’t the song claim that it never rains in California? 😂

Delphinium, painted daisy, black-eyed Susan, sunflowers (several kinds), puppy's, lavender, cosmos, echinacea, bee balm, marigolds (my least favorite flower EVER, but it's a good companion) yarrow, sweet alysum. These are all going into the vegetable garden as I work to draw more pollinators.

I have a cottage garden here in Melbourne Australia. I grow cosmos, Queen Anne lace, Dara, Larkspur, Delphiniums, Foxgloves, cornflowers, poppies, sweet William, Nigella, Gyp,zinnias,sweet peas and many Roses. I grow all my annuals from seed and I wash all my trays and pots in water with bleach. I bottom water all my seedlings. I don’t have to start foxgloves each year they self seed in my brick path and I just pull them up and place them in the garden

First year I'm doing flowers from seed for my tomato companions (well, that and my mother in-law 😂)... nasturtium, marigold, bergamot, morning glory, canterbury bells

I'm growing foxglove, mullein, hollyhocks, salvia, echinacea, phlox, scabiosa, cosmos, alyssum, penstemon. I think that's it. I have a lot of perennials too like lavender and delphiniums so there's not a lot of space left : )

I'll be growing nasturtium and calendula (seed) and coreopsis (nursery plants).

Wish I watched this before I put my Zinnias seedlings outside yesterday. I put a plastic bottle over them to keep the squirrels away and hopefully keeping warm. It was 37 overnight. Ugh I will buy marigolds because the seeds from the previous year never sprout for me.

I am planting some foxglove I got some already growing and some pelletier seeds. Coneflower tomatoes squash cucumber. Trying dahlia the first time this year because I saw your video the other day. Thanks

Alas, I had back surgery 2 weeks ago and won't be able to work in my garden for four more weeks, God willing. Maybe I can direct sow my seeds...I'm in Georgia, so they should be fine.

A couple of first year blooming hollyhock if started early, are Indian Spring and Creme de Cassis, both from Baker Creek.

One thing I learned. Hollyhocks do not like the deep south. They will get a fungus impossible to remove. They will grow and bloom but get covered in ugly black spots. I will experiment on different flowers this year I finally got lavender to grow from seed. I kind of get over excited when a seedling pops up. Thanx for the video I now have more seeds to buy.🙃🙃

Dallas, Texas, where everything is toast by July no matter how much water, marigolds and zinnias are about the only survivors.

This was a fantastic video. Well paced and even though most of us know how to sow seeds, it's always great to see other methods. Those trays are awesome I'm gonna check them out! I wanted to do foxgloves this year too. Gonna have to seed shop... Again 😆

My garden flowers this year (the ones in the actual veggie garden) are sunflower, alyssum, borage, marigold, a few others. And sweet peas!

I always kinda crack up when I hear people growing Fox Gloves or see them for sale because where I live they’re everywhere and they’re considered invasive. 😂

EXCELLENT video !!!! So helpful - thank you !!!!

I've heard from other gardeners or you tubers that they soak there potting mix in boiling water to minimize gnats and diseases., but i havent heard of bleach. so I started doing that but I still got gnats anyway. Darn It! I got some bits so I'll see how that works. Nancy from nebraska

I have found a small white ceramic dipping bowl works great for small seeds to pick up.

I was going to play fox gloves or fox tails plants which I do have FoxTails but I hear they are poisonous to cats and dogs and my cat just started to go over to my Foxfern tail plants and smell them

Marigolds, forget me nots, zinnias, yarrow, from seeds. Zone 9b

Can you grow dalmatian peach digitalis in your area? We're 9b deep south and they are listed as zone 8.

Sun flowers, dark burgundy geraniums, coleus

When I plant my tomato seedlings in May I'm going to add fish heads. Can I use whole sardines as effectively as say a salmon head.

The link isn’t working for the self watering seed trays. Could you share it again please?

Trying flower seeds this year, fab vlog thanks Brian 🥰

Hey Brian...im growing Shasta Daisy, and silvia here in TX

Oops, forgot. I also left the whole thing on my heat mat and it did great. Seems like the heat mat kept the constant water reservoir warm therefore warming the soul as it is drawn up

If I don't get to them emediatly I'll put a splash of bleach in a gallon bucket.

I want to make a greenhouse of flowers pls tell me more information about flowers seeds thanks

What would you suggest for grubs in the vegetable garden?

I always grow nasturtiums and marigolds to keep the pests away

How is it that english lavender needs more water? That might be the perfect lavender for me lmao

Poppy, marigolds, nasturtium, snapdragons

I have zinnias 2 kinds Bee balm, so far

Man are you giving me ideas for next year!

Has anyone done well growing poppies in SoCal? Brian - what about Laceflower (Dancus), Cress (Lepidium), or Freesia?

Hi Brian, I ordered those double hollyhocks from a well known bulb company and the set came with 5 different colors and only one survived. Next time I will order the single hollyhocks but I am having trouble finding them. Have you tried Delphinium , Daisies or Gladiolus? I planted a bunch of Gladiolus that I love, but in my area( North East) I have to lift them in fall, so this year I am trying a kind that don't need to be lifted or staked. I plant my families " Birth Month" flower in my garden and flowers that have significance to me personally . ( Daughter/ August= Gladiolus- Son/May= Lilly of the Valley- Husband/ Dec.= Amarylis( for house plant)🌺 and me/ Daffodils)

Wild flowers are blooming in a raised bed, also nasturtiums, sun flowers, ganzia, petunias, rosella, carpacopia, mist flower, red salvia, marigold, chamomile. These are all planted and blooming. Zinnias have not bloomed yet, not my lavender vinca. Overwintered angel trumpet and dark purple vinca. Borage and comfrey both now blooming. Also blooming now are my Dutch iris, freesias and day lilies. Blue hyssop not blooming yet, frog fruit blooming now.

I’ve started holly hocks and lupine this year. They look amazing. I’ve repotted them both and they still look fabulous. Wish me luck.

Very hot in Arkansas. Sormy this morning, or it was supposed to. Now its sunny and windy and hot. I have pink echincea and also found some white echinacea. I planted a lilac bush also. I have some of that furry fertilizer plant. I started some mexican sunflowers. They are popping up. I have a bunch of zinnias I havent planted yet . My bee balm is up and filling up my kiddie pool. A bonus,,,a bunny planted her babies in my kiddie pool full of thyme. Dont you just love nature. All my winter sowing milk jugs are filling up with lettuce, chard, chijimisai, chinese brocolli and early cabbage. I need to start some tomatoes and okra today i hope. Hope you all are having a blessed day and a blessed garden jouney.

I live in Queensland, Australia 🇦🇺 and we are in Autumn at the moment... I have planted Sweet Pea seeds for the first time ever and they are starting to sprout now.......really looking forward to their beautiful flowers 🌺💐🌺 I am bad for over watering seeds so those self watering seed trays might be just the ticket.

Germinating: Sunflowers, hollyhock, marigolds, borage, echinacea, and lupine. Lavender if it makes it. I have some iris seeds I may germinate, though my yard is full of irises.

I have started monarda, two kinds of zinnias, foxglove, salvia, hyssop, cosmos, and lavender. They started well but are kind of stalling out because ( I think) they need potting on and I simply have no room until the weather warms up.

I decided to start a cut flower garden this year so I’m planting several flowers. I’m testing out the winter sowing method using milk jugs. Zone 3 can be challenging but if you have any suggestions on what I should try growing, please message me. I am growing, Foxglove, Lupins (3 varieties), sunflowers (5 varieties), Echinacea, snapdragons (3 varieties) , Liatris, daisies, Zinnias (4 varieties), Batchelor Buttons, Yarrow, Salvia, Easter Eggs, Baby’s Breath, cosmos, petunias (8 varieties), strawflowers, geraniums, delphiniums, hollyhocks (2 varieties), poppies, morning glories (2 varieties), sweet peas (2 varieties) marigolds, calla lilies, pumpkin on a stick, ground cherries, striped corn, painted dessert, twinkle mix, phlox, and Alyssum.

You said you expect 2 weeks until germination under the domes, but you only mist/water them this one time until they’re ready for the self-watering tray? Thanks for clarifying!

Just planted out some Four O’Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) seedlings, never tried them but had 100% germination and they seem to be extremely hardy and pest resistant.

Just a tip for everyone: you can do the water wicking without buying special stuff; use a hole-less tray, overturn shallow deli-type containers or baking dishes, etc in the tray, lay microfiber cloths cut to fit with edges draped over..set cups, etc on top of cloths, add water. I did this while on vacay..it worked fabulous!

I just sowed some parsley, dill and fennel today and covered them with vermiculite, I'll be finding little glints of it shining on my carpet for weeks, it doesn't matter how careful you are... there willl be vermiculite somewhere, I promise.

Marigold, nasturtium, zinnias, sunflowers, amaranth, Columbine, coneflower. That's all I can remember off the top of my head... I am also growing comfrey this year for the first time...which I realize isn't necessarily a flower flower, but really looking forward to it added in my garden/yard.

Thanks for sharing your tips and processes for sowing seeds. I actually set up my very first indoor system this year. I have zonal geraniums, marie chabaud dianthus and lisianthus germinated and growing. I also planted tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe and broccoli...all growing well enough to pot up. I bought a different wicking tray system that I'm not sure works as well as GS...or I'm just not using it quite right. All in all, I'm excited to see how well this all works out. Looking forward to your zinnia segment!

I’ve sowed, marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, seashells, and just starting my sunflowers this weekend. Living in Oregon zone 6B we’re still having pretty rough cold weather right now.

I might plant some fruit trees and shrubs this weekend! I don't want to get my hopes high but cautiously excited 😅. Great video Brian ❤🤗

I've been slowly starting a pollinator garden. so far we have several colors of hyacinth, day lillies (that were already growing in the area), swamp milkweed, anemone, Tiger Lillies. Allium, Adding phlox, sea holly, echinacia. always have marigolds. and adding Lily of the Valley under the pine trees. OH, can't forget the catnip. grows wild. I kept 2 plants for the cat of course😊

Thank you for this video. New at starting my own seed. Excited about the new seed trays. Can’t wait to try those. QUESTION. Is it ok to have your seed growing station by a window? Blessings ❤️🌺

I’ve cleaned my plant trays with peroxide, also bleach water and recently I’ve just sprayed them pretty clean with H2O. I didn’t see any difference in germination or disease! I love the varieties of flowers you’ve chosen for your cottage and Mediterranean gardens.

A pretty addition to your English garden would be abutilon (flowering maple). The blossoms look like crepe paper.

I have bags of marigold seeds from our daughter. I also have cosmos, which are blooming now. My California poppies are opening up, and I have a front yard FULL of sunflowers!

I'm trying Dahlias for the first time this year. I ordered the tubers online from a catalog. A few of them are already a foot tall. I hope they make a lot of flowers. I bought several different varieties. Got my fingers crossed.

Sounds like you’re getting a good dose of what it’s like to garden in the south. Always crazy.

Thank you for the flower starting inspiration. I want to work some more flowers into my yard, so it's nice to see what you are doing to get some ideas. I used a self-watering seed starting tray similar to the one you show but not from Gardeners Supply. I liked it. But I found that by the second year, the wicking mat was growing algae. I didn't know how to clean it since mine seemed to be a paper product. This may very well be the result of seed starting outside in the sun and exposed to everything blowing around in the air.

We have had the self watering system from Gardeners Supply and we have been very pleased with them. Most all of their products have been great and they also have excellent service!

Hi Brian, I am growing zinnias and nasturtium, and dahlias and sweet peas and stock.

I planted Zenias for the first time last year and I loved them. I am doing it again. I need to plant some flowers in a shaded area but it is usually very hot in Pasadena.

hello friend it took me a while to subscribe to your channel not sure why but i do like your very useful information keep it up my friend

Love flowers of all kinds! Im not able to use heating mats. Don't have the extra money for them. I still grow a lot from seed which not everything does not germinate.

Thanks Brian. 🌷💚🙃

You are a wealth of information and so easy to understand thankyou so much for sharing with us !

Zinnias are the best. I grow them from seed for long stem cutting.

Thanks for the info , hope to be growing several different flowers

Do love your videos and your information. Thank you for all you do and share

You have a very honest face and a pleasant manner. Your videos are great.

Thank you for all of the work do God Bless you and your family