10 Flowers to Sow Early in the Season

While it may be cold outside, the time to plant seeds is almost here! A lot of flowers do better when it's cooler, so they can be planted in the winter or brought inside before it gets too hot outside.  

1. ‘Oriental Nights’ Sweet Alyssum

Plant seeds outdoors one to two weeks before your final frost date or indoors four to six weeks. Sweet alyssum self-seeds, making winter sowing possible. Zones 5–9 allow perennial growth.  

2. Tall Maximum Blend Snapdragon 

Do you know snapdragons bloom more in cold weather? This gorgeous blend of pink, vivid yellow, crimson, and purple stems blooms early. Bees are fed and will add spring colour. Deer-resistant and edible.  

3. Zeolights Calendula

This lovely calendula has multi-layered bronze petals that change colour with maturity, like a miniature dahlia. ‘Zeolights’ is unusual with its peach pink petals and rich crimson centre. Place this versatile beauty in a cottage, pollinator, or cutting garden. 

4. Diablo Cosmos

The first cosmo flower blooms signal spring. I leave a small area of cosmos to self-seed each autumn to appreciate their growth after the snow melts. They'll look beautiful till the first frost with little care other than staking.   

5. Feverfew

A tiny, chamomile-like daisy-like flower on tiny stems with prickly foliage, feverfew has traditionally been used to cure headaches, fevers, bug bites, and general aches and pains. The short-lived perennial commonly grows unplanted.  

6. Johnny Jump-Up Violas

Violas are abundant, easy-to-grow flowers that adapt to various climates. They're easygoing and can be found in pots at rest stops and rock gardens. As expected, our Botanical Interests community loves them! Johnny Jump-Ups has infinite potential. Edible, cute, deer-resistant, and container-friendly.  

7. Shades of Blue Larkspur 

If you like making bouquets with yard-grown flowers, add ‘Shades of Blue’ larkspur spikes. Their colours are white, pale, sky, and dark violet-blue. They produce beautiful five-petaled flowers when grown in abundance. Stems may need staking at four feet.  

8. Storybrook Blend Canterbury Bells 

‘Storybrook Blend’ Canterbury bells make a backyard garden elegant. Tall, strong stems hold white, pink, purple, and blue bell-shaped flowers. Place these babies in a colonial or cottage garden or with shrubs for support. In warm climates, they like afternoon shade.   

9. Sweet Alyssum 

Allyssum can be grown in hanging baskets, as a groundcover behind annual crops, or as a garden border. It looks great spilling over retaining walls, in a fairy garden, or filling rock wall and patio step crevices. Summer salads and sweets might feature edible flowers.   

10. Swiss Giants Blend Pansy

This 1933 AAS-winning heirloom is still sown and appreciated. Cheese boards, summer salads, and garden borders feature it. They produce well and are easy to maintain for. In cold climates, sow pansies immediately outside four to six weeks before final frost.   

Floral Separator

Also see

How to Start a Flower Garden From Scratch: 7 Expert Tips