I moved home at the end of February and the back garden here was just concrete, grass and weeds. We are still deciding what to do with it in terms of design, and so I didn't want to spend time, money and effort improving the very rocky heavy clay until we know what we want to do in each area. I did want to get some colour/life into the garden quickly though so decided to scatter some cheap as chips wild flower seeds in a bare patch of soil that I didn't touch at all other than to clear weeds and see what happened. There is also a small bed in the patio area, most of which is in constant shade with a small portion getting a little sun. I initially wasn't going to bother trying to grow the wildflowers there because I thought it would be too shady, but as I had so many seeds I decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, and cleared the weeds and scattered some seeds. I sowed California poppy, cornflowers and corncockle. In a very sunny border out front, I sowed white corncockle.
The results were as follows: None of the white corncockle out front made it. They didn't seem to even germinate, but if they did, they were quickly eaten/outcompeted by weeds. In the back garden sunny patch, it's mostly poppies and cornflowers that have flourished, but the section closest to the wall (so shadiest) is all corncockle. In the shady bed, I have not a single poppy or cornflower, but an abundance of corncockle! So despite also reading everywhere that corncockle like full sun, my experience is that they seem to be happier in shade. As a novice gardener it was a good learning experience, and I'll be willing to try other things that "shouldn't" work - though granted, probably won't spend more than the cost of a packet of seed trying.
I moved home at the end of February and the back garden here was just concrete, grass and weeds. We are still deciding what to do with it in terms of design, and so I didn't want to spend time, money and effort improving the very rocky heavy clay until we know what we want to do in each area. I did want to get some colour/life into the garden quickly though so decided to scatter some cheap as chips wild flower seeds in a bare patch of soil that I didn't touch at all other than to clear weeds and see what happened. There is also a small bed in the patio area, most of which is in constant shade with a small portion getting a little sun. I initially wasn't going to bother trying to grow the wildflowers there because I thought it would be too shady, but as I had so many seeds I decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, and cleared the weeds and scattered some seeds. I sowed California poppy, cornflowers and corncockle. In a very sunny border out front, I sowed white corncockle.
The results were as follows: None of the white corncockle out front made it. They didn't seem to even germinate, but if they did, they were quickly eaten/outcompeted by weeds. In the back garden sunny patch, it's mostly poppies and cornflowers that have flourished, but the section closest to the wall (so shadiest) is all corncockle. In the shady bed, I have not a single poppy or cornflower, but an abundance of corncockle! So despite also reading everywhere that corncockle like full sun, my experience is that they seem to be happier in shade. As a novice gardener it was a good learning experience, and I'll be willing to try other things that "shouldn't" work - though granted, probably won't spend more than the cost of a packet of seed trying.
We have a garden that is completely unpredictable. If I sow seeds, virtually nothing germinates at all. But the corncockle, in the shade under a tree in the corner are thriving! I'm with you - we have to try things out and sometimes there are nice surprises!
PeterJarvis
Posts: 113
Posts
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I moved home at the end of February and the back garden here was just concrete, grass and weeds. We are still deciding what to do with it in terms of design, and so I didn't want to spend time, money and effort improving the very rocky heavy clay until we know what we want to do in each area. I did want to get some colour/life into the garden quickly though so decided to scatter some cheap as chips wild flower seeds in a bare patch of soil that I didn't touch at all other than to clear weeds and see what happened. There is also a small bed in the patio area, most of which is in constant shade with a small portion getting a little sun. I initially wasn't going to bother trying to grow the wildflowers there because I thought it would be too shady, but as I had so many seeds I decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, and cleared the weeds and scattered some seeds. I sowed California poppy, cornflowers and corncockle. In a very sunny border out front, I sowed white corncockle.
The results were as follows:
None of the white corncockle out front made it. They didn't seem to even germinate, but if they did, they were quickly eaten/outcompeted by weeds. In the back garden sunny patch, it's mostly poppies and cornflowers that have flourished, but the section closest to the wall (so shadiest) is all corncockle. In the shady bed, I have not a single poppy or cornflower, but an abundance of corncockle! So despite also reading everywhere that corncockle like full sun, my experience is that they seem to be happier in shade. As a novice gardener it was a good learning experience, and I'll be willing to try other things that "shouldn't" work - though granted, probably won't spend more than the cost of a packet of seed trying.