Flower Seeds by Type

Some important considerations when growing flower seeds is how long you want them to last and how well they’ll stand up against frost and cold temperatures. Annuals are plants that last one year, performing their entire life cycle from seed to flower to seed within a single growing season with all roots, stems and leaves of the plant dying annually. Hardy annual flower seeds will stand up to the cold, meaning they can be sown outdoors straight into the site where you want them to flower. Half hardy annuals must be sown indoors, for example in a greenhouse, and planted out later in the year when the risk of frost has passed. Biennial flower seeds last for two years, tending to develop a small rosette of leaves in the first year before flowering and producing seeds in the second year. Perennials are plants that survive for many growing seasons. Most perennials are herbaceous, meaning their top growth dies back to the ground each winter but their roots survive and will burst back into life again in the spring. Some plants may behave as an annual or a perennial depending on the local climate and growing conditions.