We are familiar with cultivated Flax or Linum usitatissimum, a plant grown for its fibres used in textiles, its seeds or oil. The flax flower is also edible and can be used to decorate your salads. But flax is also a lovely flower, precious for creating floral cushions in our gardens. Let's see how to sow our flax seeds!

successful flax sowing, sowing flax seeds

Flax flowers are delightful, offering lightness and a light blue hue to flower beds and meadows

Required Materials

For direct sowing in the ground:

For sowing in trays:

Sowing Flax Seeds

Directly in the ground:

Sow flax seeds in full sun, directly in place from March in regions with a mild climate and until May for colder regions. Flowering will occur from June to September.

  • Sow thinly in furrows 3 mm deep in well-loosened soil;
  • Cover with a thin layer of compost;
  • Firm down by hand or with the back of your hand hoe;
  • Water generously after sowing and keep the soil moist until germination (around 20 days);
  • Thin out to 15-30 cm apart.

successful flax sowing, sowing flax seeds

Indoors:

Sow flax seeds in trays or containers, indoors at a temperature of 18-23°C, from August to September for flowering the following summer.

  • Sow flax seeds on the surface of good sowing compost;
  • Keep warm between 18 and 23°C;
  • Lightly cover the seeds with compost and keep in the light;
  • Water regularly with a fine spray until germination (around 20 days);
  • At the 2-3 leaf stage, you can transplant the young seedlings into buckets;
  • Keep them sheltered during winter in a frost-free, airy and bright space;
  • Transplant them the following spring into the ground, pots or planters after the last frosts.

To go further

→ Discover our full range of flax seeds

→ As well as Linum perenne or perennial flax in our perennial collection.