Our plant of the month for September is the delicious and prolific flowering mix, wallflower ‘Sunset Tutti Frutti’. This fabulous mix has been put together to offer the garden fiery shades of red, purple, orange and yellow with a rich, sweet honey like scent at a time when most other plants are still dormant.
Wallflowers are loved by gardeners for their huge range of vibrantly coloured flowers and vigorous, strong flowering power that goes on for months and months. The ‘Sunset’ is a biennial mix which means they will flower the spring after they have been planted and as a hybrid, they will have an even longer flowering season than most wallflowers, even in poor soil conditions. It’s no wonder they are a favourite and made it to plant of the month! Due to their love of poor conditions, they can often be seen growing out of stone walls in cottage gardens – it’s from this they were given the common name of wallflowers.
The spectacular spring-coloured flowers act as a valuable source of early nectar for bees and butterflies.
Growing to just a foot tall, this gorgeous mix looks just spectacular when mass planted in containers to create a block of colour or planted through borders in drifts for a stunning colour contrast with other spring flowers.
Have you thought about wall flowers as a cut flower? They are long lasting once cut and will fill your home with fragrance.
Supplied as 10 garden ready plants, ready to be planted out, reaching a height, and spread of 30 cm (1 ft) –
Top tips
- Wallflowers need a planted position in full sun.
- When planting your garden ready wallflowers, mulch around them with a thin layer of mushroom or garden compost to help retain moisture in the soil and suppress weeds.
- Deadhead and remove any seed pods to prolong flowering.
- For planting tips, please see here.
Caring for your wallflower mix
Give your garden ready plants a little attention on arrival – unpack them immediately, and either mist them or stand them in water for an hour – they may be slightly dry or yellow after being in a dark box in the post, but they’ll quickly recover. If you can’t do this, they can sit in Mini Greenhouses for a week if upright and not too wet.
We recommend that you leave them to settle for a day somewhere warm, light, and airy such as a windowsill or greenhouse.
If planting directly into flower beds, prepare the ground well, removing weeds and digging in some compost or well-rotted manure if your soil is not already rich.
Plant approx. 30 cm (1 ft) apart to allow them room to grow.
Feed using a high-potash feed such as Blooming Fast Superior Soluble Fertiliser for Flowers & Fruits, to encourage flowering.
