Annuals have beautiful blooms to attract pollinators, like this lovely mix of poppy and cornflower.
Know Your Plant Types – Annual, Biennial, Perennial
Plants have three main growth types – annual, biennial and perennial. In a simplified way one could look at it like this:
Annual = 1 year
Biennial = 2 years
Perennial = Forever
These plant types let us know when they will have flowers. Some plants will have flowers in their first season and some plants will only have blooms in their second. Some plants will flower and keep coming back bigger and better year upon year!
Annual Plants
An annual plant completes its life in one cycle – ie: grows, flowers, sets-seed and dies.
The common poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is an annual, it will germinate, grow, bloom, get pollinated, set seed and then fade away, all in one lifecycle or season. This means it will flower in the first natural summer after it has germinated from the seed.
Pretty native annual wildflowers, such as Poppies, Chamomile, Cornflower, Corn marigold, and Night-flowering catchfly, can all be found in the Seedball Annual Mix. These annuals will bloom in their first season and are ideal for attracting pollinators and are beneficial to lots of other types of garden wildlife such as birds and beetles.
SHOP
Annuals Mix (100)
A gorgeous mix of colourful native wildflower annuals – Poppy, Chamomile, Cornflower, Corn marigold, and Night-flowering catchfly. All will flower in their first Spring / Summer season and are ideal for attracting pollinators and other garden wildlife. Each bag of Annuals Mix contains 100 seed balls, enough to cover 5 metre square in a garden bed or 15-25 medium sized pots (leave at least 10cm between each ball).
Biennial Plants
A biennial is a plant that takes two cycles, or growing seasons, to complete its life.
In the first year a biennial will produce only leaves, usually in a rosette at ground-level while it is busy establishing roots underneath. Biennial plants will often not flower in the first summer after germination. In the second year biennial plants send up a flower stalk and bloom, enticing bees or butterflies to visit. Like other plants, once they have done their job of getting their flower pollinated they will set seed and the lifecycle is completed.
Examples of biennial wildflowers include: the stately pink spires of Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), the bee-magnet Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) and the pretty little blue Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis). Most biennials will self-seed happily so that they have alternate plants opening their flowers for pollination every year.
SHOP
BUTTERFLY MIX
A mix of native wildflowers that are perfect for butterflies! This lovely collection of mostly purple, pink and blue flowers is designed to attract butterflies to our gardens, balconies and window boxes and uses only flowers recommended by Butterfly Conservation. Each seed ball contains approximately 30 seeds from a mix of Purple Loosestrife, Forget-me-not, Musk mallow, Red campion and Yarrow, plus a sprinkling of pollinator-friendly annuals Chamomile, Cornflower, Corn marigold, and Night-flowering catchfly. See Full Listing.
BEE MIX
A mix of native wildflowers that bees will just love! This carefully selected mix is designed specifically to attract solitary bees, honey bees and bumblebees. Each seed ball contains approximately 30 seeds from a mix of Birdsfoot Trefoil, Foxglove, Red Clover, Viper’s Bugloss and Wild Marjoram – all recommended as bee-friendly plants by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. We’ve also added a sprinkling of pollinator-friendly annuals Chamomile, Cornflower, Corn marigold, and Night-flowering catchfly. See Full Listing.
PLANTLIFE MIX
The ideal mix for garden flower beds! Curated by wildflower conservation organisation Plantlife, this mix includes five native wildflowers that are most likely to thrive in the nutrient rich soils commonly found in our gardens. Proceeds from the sale of every tin go directly to supporting Plantlife’s new nature reserve – Greena Moor in Cornwall. Do pop across to our conservation pages for more information on our work with Plantlife. See Full Listing.
Perennial Plants
A perennial is a plant that continues living after setting seed but has a dormant stage throughout winter. Don’t be fooled, in the cold months when it dies back, it may look dead but it is only sleeping! Perennial plants come back to life as soon as the weather begins to warm up. Look out for little green shoots appearing underneath the dead stems and leaves. Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare ,is a perennial plant and will flower every year once established. Much larger plants such as trees are also a type of perennial.
Other examples of wildflower perennials include Common knapweed (Centaurea Nigra), Field scabious (Knautia arvensis and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).
SHOP
Oxeye Daisy (50)
Simply Oxeye Daisy seeds, so beautiful! These are one of the quickest growing wildflowers, whose open flower heads attract bees, butterflies and hoverflies. Also one of the the most resilient wildflowers, these are often seen on road verges and in spots with more limited sunshine, and are included in our Urban Meadow Mix, Plantlife Mix and Shade Mix.
