Why Grow Nigella Seeds?
As well as producing beautiful flowers throughout the summer months, Love in a Mist is also popular as dried flowers and even its attractive seed pods are used in vases, mixed with cut flower. Suttons have some stunning varieties of Nigella with ‘Ebony and Ivory’ being a great example with its white and purple flowers. ‘Black pod’ is something a little bit different with white flowers, deep purple and black pods. ‘Miss Jekyll’ with its straw-like light blue flowers warrants a mention.
Growing Nigella Plants From Seed
Nigella is a hardy annual, which means you can sow it straight outdoors where it is to grow from March to April flowering July to end of August. Alternatively, the seeds can be sown in September to bloom between May and June the following year.
- Make sure your seedbed is forked and raked with a nice fine tilth for easy germination.
- Mix compost, organic matter into the planting area prior to preparing the seedbed.
- Drill sow your Nigella seeds in straight short lines at recommended depth
- Sow thickly then remove extra Nigella seedlings until each plant has sufficient space to grow
- Love in a Mist has a reasonably short flowering period so multiple sowings throughout spring will make sure you create a longer flowering period
- Water well when plants are young or during dry periods. A liquid feed with a balanced fertiliser and dead-head for continual flowering
Nigella Seed Germination
Nigella seeds normally germinate within 14 to 30 days. As the seedlings develop thin them in stages to achieve the final spacing of 20cm apart. Any spare plant use to fill spaces but be careful not to disturb the young plants.
Nigella is a cottage garden favourite and is really worth the effort to grow. Good for a diverse mixed planting, filling gaps or planted together in numbers for dramatic effect. Clip off pods for the flower vase tying with twine and hanging upside down to dry in a shed or cupboard to dry.
