Seeds to Buy Now for Spring Planting

This past summer, I had the best time growing both sunflower and zinnia flowers from seeds. I had one patch of sunflowers, and I filled multiple planters on my patio with zinnia seeds. I find planting seeds for summer blooms to be incredibly rewarding—with just a packet of them (which I can sometimes get for as little as $5) I can get the most beautiful flowers! And as it turns out, fall is a great time to purchase seeds, and you can often get them at a discount.

Sunflowers

I really love sunflowers—even though I don’t always have the best luck with them. Even though I put hardware cloth over my seeds, I only got about 8 sunflowers this summer; the squirrels always seem to get to them. (If you have any pointers, let me know.) I love them sunflowers so much!

I usually plant mammoth sunflower seeds, but they take about two months to bloom. I already purchased a pack of these homegrown heirloom seeds for next summer, but I also got a variety pack from Eden Brothers (on sale) that includes some quicker-blooming varieties—so I hope I will be able to enjoy my sunflowers longer.

Zinnias

I had lots of zinnias this year, and often made bouquets of them for my home office, family room, and kitchen. I love my “cut and come again” zinnias—cutting them for DIY arrangements actually encourages them to create new blooms—perfect! I got a lot of tall zinnias from my one packet of California Giants seeds this summer.

Summer-Blooming Annuals to Plant from Seed

Bachelor Buttons

I have never grown bachelor buttons before, but I think one naturally seeded itself on the outskirts of my patio this summer. It’s blue flowers are quite pretty. I already bought some seeds to grow them next year, but am disappointed to learn that this flower is considered to be invasive. (I thought it was a native plant.) I guess that’s why one sprouted by my patio! They are said to be very good cut flowers, lasting as long as two weeks in a vase. But even though they are classified as invasive, I’ve read that they provide great support for pollinators, like bees and butterflies, who love them. They can be direct-seeded in late spring.

Comos

I bought a packet of Cosmos seeds to grow next summer—they are said easy to grow and can produce daisy-like blooms in various colors on stems up to 6-feet tall. I think their dainty foliage is very pretty.

They can be grown in either planting beds or containers, and make great cut flowers. It’s recommended to direct-seed them in the ground outdoors after the danger of frost has passed, which in my area in New Jersey falls around Mother’s Day. It may take about 7 weeks for them to bloom; deadheading spent blooms should help produce new flowers. For flowers planted in a gardening bed (not a container), leaving the spent flowers on the stems can encourage them to self-sow so they may even come back the following year!

African Marigolds

I adore large marigolds, the type that can grow as much as 3 feet high with huge blooms — not the much smaller type I’ve planted in the past. I recently purchased a packet of African marigolds, which despite their name, is native to the Americas and features flowers in deep shades of yellow and orange. They can be planted in late spring and should bloom all summer long—I hope so!

Shasta Daisies

I also hope to grow Shasta daisies next fall from seed. I was surprised to discover that they are a perennial, so they should return every year. I would love that! I think daisies are such sweet and beautiful flowers. Shasta daisies can be grown in zones 5-9 and are drought tolerant, too.

Planting Beds

I have three raised planting beds in my backyard currently. One of them, a nice, inexpensive, galvanized metal planter box I got from Amazon holds some hostas, but they performed poorly this year since we had to take down the tree that once shaded them. I plan to move the hostas to containers on my patio and then use the raised bed they’re in for flowers, since the bed is quite sunny now.

What are you hoping to plant next spring and summer? Please share in the comments!

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