Cut flower gardening

[Suzanne]

I have decided to have a proper go at a cut flower garden this year. Last year was successful when I just had a few things (Lillies, sweet williams, statice etc.) For this year I have taken Sarah Ravens cut flower recommendations from her Telegraph column and spent my christmas vouchers on seeds. With a bit if canny shopping and swapping with friends has cost me around £20.#

These were the recommendations - it looks good but has anyone else tried this?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/3348522/Gardening-The-best-flowers-for-cutting.html

[Suzanne]

[grawrc]

Thanks for that link Suzanne. It's something I've been meaning to do for ages but not got round to. your post will spur me into action. I'm now going to sit down with my big RHS bible and check out all those flowers.

One thing i wasn't too clear about - I night have misread it - she talks about a bed 23 ft by 6 ft then describes the planting for 5 different beds?? ??? ???

[Suzanne]

I think she has one long border that she has divided into sections with a central sweet pea wigwam.

I can adapt this as I have long beds at the allotment - roughly 20 ft by 4 ft. So going to plant one of these up and then I have an odd corner about 10 ft by 5ft where I will put the rest. With the odd other plant dotted around should be okay. As my grandad gave me the Christmas money (he's 96 this year) I am going to keep a photo diary, and if it all works out I should be able to keep him supplied with the odd bouquet as well........hopefully.

[sunloving]

Hello
I always grow flowers for the house and form my desk at work and sarah ravens ideas are great i have a few tips though.

cerinthe takes an age to germinate so start them early or leave them somewehre where you wont get impatient and throw out the compost.

Zinnias hate distrubance and are really not hardy at all so dont be tempted to sow them until say three weeks before your last frost inside and consider sowing them in biodegrabale pots (toilet rolls, peat pots) the lidl zinnias have great germination and include the giants for 29p is it.

Ditto with the cobae climber it takes a long time to flower the first year and is not hardy therefore you need to start it off early in the warm and be able to grow it on somewhere frost free but again you get good germination with them so dont sow the whole packet save some as insurance. and be prepared for it to grow like a rocket when you put it out!

I can really recomend her sweet pea blue cornflower bunches they are gorgeous however you only need one or two cornflower plants so dont grow a whole packet and save the seed for next year as its very reliable.
one last thing she often recomends a dahlia called jescot julie which is hard to find but i got mine from station house nursery in the wirral. For a dahlia its a poor grower so plant it in a pot until youve got a really strong plant and since it doesnt make a good tuber dig it up and bring it inside in a pot in the winter.

Its so brilliant having a house full of flowers go for it and best of luck.

Did you find the euphorbia she recomends ive never come accorss it at the nursery? where did you get it from

best wishes
x sunloving

[Deb P]

I'm planning a 'nectar boarder' on my 'new' half plot which is right next door to my current one. There are low railings between the two plots and until now only couch and dandelions have made it through the gaps, so I've been painstakingly digging a 3' wide strip out along the length of the plot and plan to use a mixture of wigwams and cutting flowers and herbs. I'll see how much I can cram in! I haven't grown some of the suggested flowers before, Zinnias were a revelation to me a couple of years ago, made a great late flowersing bed that lasted for ages, and I grew a lot of dahlias in my garden at home for the first time last year which also did very well, so I'm hoping to move/propagate a few of them to the plot this year.

Sarah Raven also recommends Calendula 'Indian Prince' which has a dark centre and underpetals, has anyone else grown it/got any tips?

[campanula]

ha ha, cobaea on a wigwam - it will cover a church in 2 weeks! try rudbeckia cherry brandy, agrostemma gracilis white pearl, scabious atropurpurea, cornflowers, gaillardia, tagetes - tall ones, glads (espially the smaller nanus and primulinus) annual chrysanthemum (coronaria, carinatum, segetum), verbascum - flower first year from seed especially phoenician hybrids) dianthus, nicotiana.

[simon404]

Well worth doing especially if you have a greenhouse and coldframes to get them off to an early start. I've grown lots over the years - carnations, cosmos, dahlias, rudbeckia, snapdragons etc,  see the labels on my blog.  :)

[Tee Gee]

I'm afraid I am not too specific how I lay my herbaceous border out.

My border is roughly 30 ft long and about 6-7ft wide (I've never ever measured it)

I also have a herbaceous bed of around 20ft by 10 ft.

Usually all I do think about id the height of the plants I put in as I don't want tall ones screening short ones.

Sometimes I get this wrong and oddly enough it doesn't seem to detract from the overall look if I do.

I put this down to not planting in rows as such I tend to do drifts of something so if I do get the heights wrong it is a patch that is out of sync not the whole bed.

Here are a few pictures of my beds in 2009 ( a typical year);

January;



February;





March;





April;





May;



June;





July;







August;





September;









October;





November;





December;

[betula]

Lovely as always  :)

[sunloving]

I forgot my absolute favorate cut flower and that is helichrysum bracteum or straw flower,

Lovely bright colours which the bees love, it smells like hops when fresh and make absolutely fabulous dried bunches for dark winter days when its hard to find a fresh bunch.
They are very nearly hardy and so can be started of early and last through to dec most years.
They are tough plants and dont need any cosseting just plant out april and tie if you live in a windy plot. they get tall so its the back of a bed for them. but so worth it
Theyve got the seeds at lidls for 29p give them a go!
x sunloving

[GrannieAnnie]

TeeGee- it is so great seeing your garden this time of year- awe inspiring!

And I was interested to hear bees love straw flowers since it always seems they are so dry that no insect would like 'em!  I'll have to try them this year.

One of my favorite cut flowers is the perennial Japanese Iris- the cobalt blue color goes so well in arrangements.
If you plant some in full sun and some in part shade it extends the bloom time through a whole month.

[sunloving]

It is a bit counter intuative isnt it, but the petals only attact the insects ibut its the nectar and pollen in the middle that they actually feed on.

I love them they are so cheerful.
x sunloving

[Jitterbug]

I too want to do a cutting garden this year and with the money I got from my birthday I managed to buy SR's two flower books second hand on amazon (for next to nothing) they are absolutely beautiful.  I  also bought some of her flower seed for the cutting garden.

Thanks for the tips on the Cobea scandence and cerinthe as I have not had very good results sowing normal time.  I also heard that you should soak the cobea seeds first. 

I managed to only get on euphorbia variety from her site and am also looking for the others. If you want send me your pm and I'll see how many seeds are in the packet and send you some.  I will definitely go to Lidls and get the zinnia seeds as SR's were a bit pricey.  Lets keep each other updated on our progress?


Regards

Jitterbug

[Jitterbug]

Hi Sunloving

Thanks for your pm.  I have opened the Euphorbia Oblongata that I bought from SR and found about 20 seeds in all.  I will split the packet and send you half.  Good luck.  I also have some Euphobias Characias ex Humpty Dumpty and Euphobia ssp wulfenii which I managed to get in a CGS seed swap but unfortunatley I only got 5 seeds of each.  So I will grow them this year (fingers crossed) and let you have some seed next year.

I do have lots of Atriplex Hortensis and Rubra and Lunaria var alvaflora ex Alba; Allium "Purple Sensation"; Lunaria Annua (Honesty - white) if you want some.  - I will keep the envelope back until I hear from you.

I am looking for Cobea Scandens - blue (I have one alba seed!); Honesty Blue - got white; Tithonia; Arichusa; Cleome - any; Rudbeckia, Zinnia Alata - lime green; Burpleurum rotundifolium "Griffithii".


Regards

Jitterbug

[sunloving]

Hi Jitterbug
I have pmed you about your lovely offer.

Just in case anyone is after rudbeckia rustic dwarfs ive saved a load of seed from last year that there s no way ill get through so if you fancy a go with it send me your address. I saved the reddest of the mix.
x sunloving

[Suzanne]

Sweet Peas are through in pots in the cold frame and I have started sowingthe rest of the March/April flowers.

Weeding the lily bed i put in last year I noticed that they are starting to poke thorugh - and the plants which overwintered from last year - hollyhocks, fox gloves, sweet williams etc. all doing okay now.

Looking at TeeGee's pictures though is an inspiration - athough I am only doing a small patch if is as half as colourful as his I will be well pleased.

Will soak my cobaea seeds as tipped!