Easy Cutting flower recommendations

[pippy]

I am just pondering seed catalogues with a bit of birthday money and would like to choose some flower seeds/plants to  grow for cutting next year.

I've been pleased with sweet peas this year, and the plot already has a patch of about 20 lupins that my step-daughter plated 2 years ago.  Can anyone recommend anything to complement these?  Ideally I'd like one perennial and one annual so there is something for next year and something to establish.  I'm considering Echinacea purpurea but I understand these are quite hard to grow from seed?  It need to be something I can periodically neglect if I am honest !  ;D ;D

Can anyone recommend anything?

[pippy]

[valmarg]

Dahlias are a bit like sweet peas insofar as the more you cut the more flowers you get.  They are easy to grow from seed, and if you like a particular plant you can overwinter it, ie they are non hardy perennials.

Moles seeds do a hardy border carnation, which I've grown for the first time this year.  Yet to see what the flowers are like, mainly because the plants have been rather badly neglected. ;D

They are two suggestions.

valmarg

[Tee Gee]

Penstemons are quite easy!

[pippy]

Thanks for that Tee Gee and Valmarg.  I like the suggestion re: selecting ones you like to overwinter.  Hadn't thought of that! 

The carnations sound good too - they are a great classic aren't they.  I also like old fashioned pinks - the ones with a spicy scent, cloves or nutmeg or something?  Are they similar to carnations?  I seem to remember you used to be able to buy bunches of them and break off side shoots to root as plants?  Does it ring a bell with anyone?  If I ever see any I want to try it!

Is it dahlias that you dig up the root, bulb, thingy and store it in the shed overwinter?  I'm sorry - I'm a bit of a learner!

[Suzanne]

Gladioli are dead easy.

[Ishard]

Pippy that is exactly how you do take cuttings from pinks or carnations.  ;D

I have dahlias all over my plot because they are easy to grow, I can cut them for home and I leave them in the ground over winter for bigger plants next year.

I cover the planting spot with a good couple of inches of straw to protect them from frost.

OR if I find a really unusual one I dig it up, cut off the stalks to about 4 inches then dry the plant and wrap it in newspaper in the unheated green house then in spring I plant it 1/3 deep in damp sand and spray the dried plant and tubers with warm water to encourage new shoots which I remove and dip in rooting hormone and pot on separately in sandy compost.

[pippy]

Thanks suzanne and Ishard.  It sounds like I will just have to try some dahlias! 

I've looked them up in the catalogues I have and was intrigued to find some of them refer to them as HHA (half hardy annual) and some as HHP (half hardy perennial).  And sometimes it's the same varieties!  How confusing!

[hopalong]

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Dahlias rule OK.  There is such a huge variety and they overwinter well these days, certainly in the southern parts of England.  These are a few examples from my own garden.

[Bean_Queen]

I grow Scabious on my plot - the bees love it, and it's good for cutting too.
Ditto Buddleja, but keep it pruned back.
Sweet William & Wallflowers are excellent in early spring (sow them in July or buy plants now)

For Autumn flowers, I have Jerusalem Artichokes (small sunflowers) and Dahlias (I don't bother digging them up, they come back lovely with just a bit of mulch for protection)

[GrannieAnnie]

I've never grown dahlias but found this site which talks about groowing them in pots for earlier bloom as well as mobility and soil control to avoid clay and "critter control". They sound like too much work compared to other plants as far as I'm concerned BUT they surely are beautiful! http://www.dahlia.org/seasonal.guides/dahlias%20in%20Pots.html

On the other hand, I vote for Cone Flowers which seed themselves in our area, are pest free, smell wonderful, attract butterflies, are drought tolerant, give a big punch of color, and then the little finches eat the seed heads toward Fall. You might try seeding them indoors with some bottom heat (like a medical heat pad which worked well for me this year on everything I seeded) just until they germinate. I've never had to do that with cone flowers because they've reseeded themselves outside. Even had the birds seed some white coneflowers this year as a bonus!

[hopalong]

They sound like too much work compared to other plants as far as I'm concerned BUT they surely are beautiful!

Dahlias are not much work. If you can leave them to overwinter in the ground, they will bloom year after year. You need to dead head regularly to ensure a supply of blooms throughout the summer, but that is true of many flowers.

[flowerofshona2007]

I love annual chrysanthimums, a mixed packet will give you a nice range of varietys. I also grow helichrysum and stactis as you can dry them for the winter !
Nothing beats a vase of stunning blue cornflowers !! they look great with so many other flowers to.
How about a gypsophillia as a perennial again they are great with all flowers and fantastic with sweetpeas !
Wish i could get Freesia's to grow for me i love them !!

[pippy]

Thanks for everyones posts - I'd love to grow them all!  If I only had time and space ... :-X 

As it is, I'm doing what I do with the veg - only try two or three new things at a time, otherwise I just end up with tins of old seeds and a sense of dissatisfaction!  I think I'm going to try coneflower (echinaceas) from seeds because I just adored seeing them at Kew gardens this year.  I know they are hard from seed so I will be messing around putting them in the fridge etc. 

I'm also determined to try dahlias now and see if I can overwinter them up here in the Midlands (NW Notts).  There are lots of varieties but I think I'll choose some of the bigger ones rather than the dwarfs.  IF they only last one season then so be it! 

I still love old fashioned pinks and have spotted a collection of 6 young plants in the new Marshalls catalogue so I'm tempted to splash out a bit for those next year.

I have lupins, lavendar and chives on the plot already and grow Cosmos and Marigolds from saved seed.  I also seak in a few nasturtiums and sunflowers amongst the veg so the plot is quite cheerful.  I tried cornflowers and helichrysms last year and got nothing so I guess the slugs ate them - now I start everything off in seed trays at home, another reason to limit them!

Once again, thanks everyone, I'll let you all know how I get on with my seeds!

[PurpleHeather]

I have started to grow asters for cutting, they are cheap to buy as seeds easy to grow and not intrusive.

Pretty, mix happily with other flowers and last a while when cut.

Sadly, they do not like rain on the blooms.

[robbo]

I bought some 'Dianthus Tropical Butterfly' plants from T & M in July, a perennial to14". They started flowering last week and are an absolutely amazing colour. The fragrance is astounding, strong sweet and very heady. They would make a lovely cut flower and I am so impressed with them that next year I will have a full bed of these plants. I will try and put a link on here later.

  Robbo.

P.S. I bought some pinks at the same time. If you like them for their scent you will love these.

[saddad]

Cutting sunflowers?  :-\