Planting Advice ·Feb 21, 2022

A List Of Flower Seeds To Sow In Autumn In Australia

As summer draws to an end you might be starting to think about what you may want to plant in autumn.

Although it's always sad to say goodbye to those favourite summer flowers, I do get so excited for the change in season to sow and grow old favourites or something new.

My Autumn Favourite Flowers

For autumn I have sourced and grown out for seed some new and exciting flower varieties. Some of these include the hard to find Poppy colibri all the way from their home town in Italy. These bloom in huge soft peachy, salmon, lemon and dusky rose papery flowers.
I have extended our ranunculus seed collection, these much sort after blooms and are more known from growing from corms. Growing from seed will take a little longer and a bit more patience but well worth the way come early spring. We currently have quite the range including marshmellow, salmon, cream, pastel, wine, purple jean, porcelaine and chamallow.
I have been growing some very special sweet peas for seed which will be available very soon for autumn sowing, including - Almost Black, Bix, Piggy Sue, King's Ransom, MM, David Tostevin, Juliet and more! It has been an absolute labour of love and I'm very excited to share soon. I am currently around mid harvest and will aim to have them available at the end of March.
Another autumn cool season favourite are stock flowers. The cinnamon scent of stock in my option is matched with the heavenly scent of sweet pea.
This autumn I have sown the rainbow of strawflowers, from frosted sulpher to deep purple red. When sowing the seeds don't forget they need light to germinate, so surface sow with a layer of vermiculite on top.
Whimsical larkspur is a must for the cooler seasons. When starting them from seed pre-chill the seeds at 2°C for 7 days to improve germination and do not germinate well when soil temperatures are above 13°C. Cover lightly with soil as darkness is required for germination.
I'll be sowing corncockle in white and blush again, because I just loved it so much last time!
We have new delphiniums that I will be trialing at our plot this season, including magic fountain cherry blossom, cliveden beauty and pink butterfly. A range of sky blue, soft lilac and blush.

With all the flowers that I grow from seed, I raise them as seedlings in the greenhouse rather than direct sowing, where so much can go wrong... birds digging/ scratching away the seeds, rain washing them away etc etc.

Below is a list of flower varieties that are best sown now and into autumn or have a look at our seed sowing chart so you can see what is best to sow in your climate in Australia.

Aquilegia