Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Planting for autumn  I know, I know … it’s still summer. But now is the time to think of autumn onwards. It’s the perfect time to sow a heap of wild-flowers. Honestly, it’s always brilliant to get that major flush of colour when days are getting shorter and temperatures make you reach for the firewood in the wood shed. There are many suppliers of wildflower mixes in NZ: Wildflower World (Tauranga), Kings Seeds (Katikati), Yates, Egmont, Mr Fothergills. Take your pick! They tend contain a wide range of really pretty flower species: Calendula, larkspur, cornflower, eschscholtzia, nigella, poppy, anagalis, cynoglossum, stock, reseda, gypsophila, and cosmos. Some will flower in autumn, some might pop up in early spring. Soil temps of 15 degrees or more are ideal for germination. Wildflower sowing is optimal when you would re-sow lawns – they have similar requirements. Make sure the patch is weed-free as much as possible: then the wildflowers take over and shade the weeds out. Some light cultivation (especially on