Back in February, I carefully opened my first packet of seeds for 2020 and sowed some Nicotiana ‘Evening Fragrance’ followed by Nicotiana langsdorffii. The tiny seeds were sown into pots filled with a mix of seed compost and vermiculite and left to germinate in a heated propagator in the greenhouse.

Nicotiana ‘Evening Fragrance’

At the first sign of germination, the pots were taken out from the propagator and the seedlings left to grow on until large enough to handle and planted up individually in pots. Eventually, sometime in May, the plants were hardened off outside then planted up in my garden and have been flowering away for weeks. ‘Evening Fragrance’ is a mix of deep and pale pinks and lime white flowers that emit a spicy fragrance on warm evenings. Nicotiana langsdorffii has dainty lime green flowers that are tubular and dangle downwards. Both types look like they’ll flower for sometime yet. Just as well after all that effort!

Here’s a suggestion for an easier growing option. In my neighbour’s garden, the brown seed heads of ‘Love-in-a-mist’ (Nigella) are already ripe and about to scatter their seed into a narrow sunny patch of soil next to her garage. They flower there each year, left totally to their own devices and are a less intense option for growing annuals. They are the classic pale blue type, Nigella ‘Miss Jekyll’ but, on my allotment, I tried out a different one for a change – Nigella ‘African Bride’. It’s white with purple stamens and the promise of attractive, deep red seed pods to come. Mine haven’t set seed yet as I only sowed them in the spring and my neighbour’s plants are self sown and sprinkling their seeds now. They are hardier than Nicotiana so will sit in the ground quite happily over the winter.

Nigella ‘African Bride’

Other plants that will respond well to an autumn sowing are cornflower, pot marigolds and Californian poppy, to name a few. Next month I’m going to try Ammi majus, a dainty white form of Queen Anne’s lace currently very popular and not one I’ve grown before. A couple of friends who have tried growing it report that spring sown plants aren’t very successful. As Monty Don grows masses of it and sows in the autumn, then that’s what I’m going to be doing. Despite what it says on the packet, it’s always helpful to hear about other people’s successes and failures.

Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Torch’

Like Monty Don, I am a big fan of Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Torch’, the Mexican sunflower. It’s currently adding a bit of orange zest in amongst my dahlias and I just love it. It has a soft furry stem that makes deadheading strangely pleasurable. I don’t usually stroke plants! Not everyone likes orange flowers, but they work with my burgundy and red dahlias and they are a particularly pure shade of orange.

If the thought of orange is too much for you, then white Cosmos ‘Purity’ might be more to your taste. You get plenty of plants from a seed packet and I’ve been able to share them with a neighbour who has made full use of their height by planting them in tall ‘long tom’ pots creating a lovely display.

One of the ultimate annuals of summer has to be the sunflower. I always try to find a space for them on the allotment. I pick them to bring home to display in my largest vase and eventually leave the last flowers to develop seed heads as food for the birds.This year I’ve grown the selection called ‘Claret’ in shades of chocolate brown.

There are so many annuals to choose from and they are useful for adding something different to an existing border, whether it’s colour, form or both. Give them a try next spring… or even now for a head start.