Self-sowing flowers a good choice for organic gardeners

Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) (MCT) - Garden volunteers are more than just nice surprises _ they are budget-wise gardening. The late-summer issue of Organic Gardening magazine tells how to plant, grow and manage self-sowing flowers. Editor Scott Meyer provides these tips: Some self-sowing flowers good for organic gardeners include: larkspur, California poppy, cleome, catchfly, amaranth, sweet alyssum, moonflower, tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis), love-in-a-mist, calendula, bells of Ireland, celosias and cosmos.

TIPS

Early spring: Wait to mulch, lest you smother the volunteers. If you're even thinking of mulching in March, consider this: Old-fashioned favorites like larkspur and bells of Ireland are rare in modern gardens because many people mulch when they have the time, not when the time is right.

Mid-spring: When love-in-a-mist, calendula, and other abundant seedlings appear, thin and neaten them up about the edges for a self-sown display, or lift clumps and pop them into other spots in the garden, even the vegetable garden.

Late spring: Share plants. Make friends. Larkspur and California poppy seedlings enable you to be a generous gardener. Take a trowel and lift up a whole clump. Put it gently in a pot without disturbing the roots at all.

Summer: Observe. Knowing which plants self-sow allows you to be vigilant for seed-collecting opportunities. Each self-sower has its own timetable. Note locations and talk to gardeners about coming back for seed.

Visit the magazine online at www.OrganicGardening.com.

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© 2008, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).