As most experienced gardeners would appreciate, timing is very important when sowing and growing in the garden. But, as a complete novice this is not my strongest point and I would end up planting sweet peas in the summer. As some of you may know, sweet pea plants aren’t particularly heat tolerant, something I have come to learn. To stop you from making the same mistake and wasting those hard earned pennies, we have collated some of our tips so you know what you can sow and grow in July.
What flowers to sow and grow in July
Now is an ideal time to sow the seed of spring-flowering perennial plants in seed trays of good quality compost. Try aquilegia, bellis, delphinium and lupin . Aquilegia is pollinator friendly and an attractive free-flowering plant. A long spurred mixture in a wide range of vibrant coloured blooms on strong stems which makes it ideal for cutting.
Sow plants that bridge the gap between spring and summer. Try growing biennials such as forget-me-not, foxgloves, sweet William and wallflowers for flowering next year. Wallflowers are versatile and undemanding, they are short lived perennials but tends to be grown as a biennial, and is tough enough to cope in even the poorest of soils
Sow winter-flowering pansies in the greenhouse now to prepare for your winter containers. Sow summer-flowering perennials such as scabiosa, achillea, echinacea and hardy geraniums. Our Geranium ‘Rozanne’ flowers repeatedly throughout the summer and won’t self-seed like other Geraniums. This hardy perennial makes excellent ground cover through the front of informal borders or spilling from containers
What fruit and veg to sow and grow in July
Sow gherkins indoors by early July, for transplanting outside later. Pick the fruits when small. Expect to start harvesting in late summer. Our Gherkin ‘Diamant’ is an early ripening and prolific cropping gherkin, producing short, firm fleshed, tasty fruits ideal for pickling, or used in salads. Has both downy and powdery mildew tolerance so the healthy plants produce fruits over a long season.
Direct sow salad leaves regularly throughout the summer. Pick the leaves when small and remove any spent plants. Expect to start harvesting in three weeks. Our Salad Leaves ‘Fancy Summer Mix’ is an exciting blend of salad leaves that adds a range of colour, tastes and textures to your salads.
Sow fast-growing herbs such as coriander, dill, and parsley directly into the ground or into containers. Why not try our Parsley ‘Plain Leaved 2’? This hardy biennial is one of the most popular herbs for culinary use as a garnish, flavouring sauces and pastry, and associating particularly well with fish. With a stronger flavour than curled varieties, this ‘Flat-leaved’ or ‘Italian’ Parsley makes a useful, low maintenance addition to herb gardens, or grow parsley indoors on a bright kitchen windowsill.
We have plenty more information on what to sow and grow in July which you can view here and also a general what to do in the garden in July guide. Don’t forget if you have any questions about what you can do in the garden you can post your comment below and we will do our best to answer your gardening query.
Terri works in the e-commerce marketing department assisting the busy web team. Terri manages our blog and social media pages here at Thompson & Morgan and is dedicated to providing useful advice to our gardeners. Terri is new to gardening and keen to develop her horticultural knowledge.
Recent Comments