How to Grow Wallflowers

If you ask us, there are plenty of perks to growing wallflowers. Despite their name, there’s simply no overlooking these gorgeous biennial flower plants with their vibrant colours. Making the perfect companion plant for spring bulbs like tulip bulbs and daffodil bulbs, wallflowers make an excellent addition to your colourful garden displays.

If you’re wondering how to grow wallflowers or even when to plant wallflowers, Fothergill’s has plenty of expert advice that can help you out. So, look forward to curating stunning springtime displays in your family garden with a little help and direction from our guide.

Preparing your soil is the perfect way to ensure that your flowers have the perfect growing environment to thrive and reach their full potential. They enjoy moist soil that is well-draining and prefer to grow in either full sun or partial shade.

If you’re growing wallflowers from seed, sow them indoors in late spring. Make use of containers, pots and trays to grow your seedlings and water well after sowing. As they grow, they will require transplanting into a larger container or pot. We’d also recommend leaving your trays or containers on a warm windowsill to give your plants the best chance of growing. 

As biennial flowers, wallflowers require a little patience. After sowing them indoors, you’re probably wondering when to plant wallflowers. Well, we tend to suggest planting your seedlings out during autumn alongside the bulbs we mentioned earlier. After relocating your plants, be sure to water them in well, ensuring their soil is kept moist but not waterlogged. 

Now that you’ve got your plants in the ground, the next step in growing wallflowers from seed is to give them the love and attention that they deserve! There are a number of ways that you can keep on top of the well-being of your wallflowers, so let’s go into a little more detail, shall we?

Watering

When it comes to watering your wallflowers, bear in mind that they thrive in moist soils but will struggle in a waterlogged environment. During warmer, dry periods, keep on top of watering to keep your wallflowers nice and hydrated.

Fertlising

Whilst wallflowers don’t exactly need extra feeding, you can offer them mulch in order to help retain moisture within the soil and ward off weeds.

Staking

Wallflowers can grow pretty tall, so offer them some support by staking your plants. This keeps them upright and prevents possible damage that heavy winds could have. Not only does staking benefit their health, but it also maintains the appearance of your gorgeous floral displays.

Deadheading

Another great way to maintain both the health and appearance of your wallflowers is to regularly deadhead them. Deadheading can lengthen the flowering period of your wallflowers and prevent them from setting seed.

Cutting

A welcome addition to any cut flower garden, wallflowers look stunning displayed in vases around the home - particularly with other spring flowering plants like daffodils.