The Fast-Growing Flower You'll Want To Plant In Early Spring For Continuous Color

Spring flower gardens can often get off to a bit of a slow start, as your perennials may still be dormant and you have to wait until after your last frost date to plant your tender annuals. Fortunately, there are also hardy annuals which are unbothered by frost and can start growing as soon as the ground has begun to thaw. These plants are the key to having a colorful garden all spring. One of the best and lowest maintenance hardy annual flowers you can grow is the beautiful love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena). 

Love-in-a-mist thrives in cool weather, and because it is so fast growing, it's perfect for making sure your spring flower garden hits the ground running. There's no need to waste any of your valuable indoor seed starting space on love-in-a-mist, as it actually grows better when direct sown. There's no need to wait to plant it, either. You can even sow your love-in-a-mist seeds in autumn or winter if you live in an overall mild climate, and they'll germinate without problem in spring.

Regardless of whether you sow your love-in-a-mist seeds in late fall or in early spring, it's important to sow them in the right spot. Love-in-a-mist thrives in full sun, and while it grows best in fertile soil, it can tolerate a variety of soil types as long as they are well-draining. Make sure your seeds aren't planted too deep. They shouldn't be covered with more than ⅛ of an inch of soil, as light is important for helping them germinate. If your springs are especially rainy, you may not need to provide your love-in-a-mist flowers with much additional water, as they are relatively drought tolerant.

One thing to keep in mind with love-in-a-mist is that it only flowers for a few weeks before forming seed pods. These seed pods add a unique element to gardens, but if you want to keep the flowers coming, then you'll need to sow more love-in-a-mist seeds every few weeks. It doesn't love heat  either, so you may need to replace your love-in-a-mist with a more heat-tolerant flowering annual for the hottest of the summer months.

As love-in-a-mist only has a height of around 2 feet, it's perfect for filling out the middle section of gardens while you wait for your herbaceous perennials to grow back for the season. Planting it behind shorter blooming bulbs like crocuses and miniature daffodils like the 'Tête-à-Tête' cultivar provides those flowers with a romantic backdrop of soft frilly foliage and elegant blue, white, and purple flowers.

Love-in-a-mist's frilly leaves and delicate flowers make it a must have for the perfect cottage garden. It's also a great option for spring cutting gardens, as both the flowers and the seed pods are stunning additions to bouquets. Don't forget to save some of the seeds to sow for next spring as well. While not invasive, love-in-a-mist self-sows easily, and in some cases can even start to take over gardens a bit. So don't be afraid to thin your love-in-a-mist out if you need to make space for other flowers.