creating a cutting garden

[SMP1704]

I have a taken on a small plot 11.5 x 6ft and want to create a cutting garden.  Here are my ideas for flowers

Hybrid tea roses
Dahlias
Crysanthemums
Cosmos
Hollyhock
Lavatera
Gladiolus
Daffs and Tulips (in pots aka Carol Klien)


I'm going to treat the flowers as crops, so will grow in lines rather than groups.  Can I fit in anything else and what about foliage?

Less familiar with cutting flowers than veggies, so would welcome your ideas.

Thanks ;D

[SMP1704]

[sunloving]

I always have a bunch a week of sweet peas mixed with blue cornflowers.
Easy annuals to grow and not to late, easy to squeeze in you sweet peas along the boundary and you only need one or two cornflowers to last the season (cut them back after the first flush)

Also i can really recomend rudbekia great for late colour and long lasting in vase

x sunloving

[Deb P]

Take a look at the Sarah Raven catalogue/website for cutting garden ideas, I read them just for the insiration! Zinneas are very colourful and can be sown for late colour, i also love Indian Prince Calendula for cutting.

[Morris]

I loove cutting flowers and aim to have some on the table every day of the year if I can.

Other possibilities for you to think about - you will have to narrow down!

I'd add in something for winter: Hellebores (hellebores need their stems seared and work best as a floating flower or short-lived in a vase), snowdrops, viburnum bodnatense, lonicera purpusii (latter doesn't look much but a couple of sprigs can scent a room).
Sweet peas - surely essential??
Zinnias - giant dahlia mixed is lovely for cutting
Rudbeckias (half-hardy annual types or perennials)
Scabiosa atropurpurea - need staking as they grow a bit wild, last ages in water, and can keep on flowering through to Christmas. Need to sow early though.
Sunflowers are amazing cut-flowers, look for types that are branching, and sterile so you don't get a load of pollen on your table. Claret and Italian white are my favourites.
Think about shrubs for foliage - maybe a coppicing eucalyptus, pittosporum, rhamnus variegata.
Ornamental grasses, either annual or perennial (for seedheads)
Alliums are fantastic for drying
Sweet williams

Your list is good except I might not bother with the lavatera, unless perhaps you get a dwarf one like baby barnsley. They don't last that long in water and imo look a bit messy.

Roses are lovely -personally I'd go for the David Austin types, his website lists ones that are recommended for cutting.

If you haven't seen Sarah Raven's site have a look.

http://www.sarahraven.com

It is daftly expensive she has great ideas you can source elsewhere. I used to buy seeds from her when she just sent out a typed list of annuals for cutting which were good value and unusual. Her business has come a long way since then! Anyway, I digress...

Sarah Raven also has a nice book on cutting flowers:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grow-Your-Own-Cut-Flowers/dp/0563534656/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306838591&sr=8-2

PS Haha Dep P overlapped posts with same advice!  ;)

[JohnnyKP]

I have pretty much my entire allotment dedicated to cut flowers and Sarah Raven forms the basis of my plants as well.  She does a collection of 20 different cut flower seeds that I would recommend.  It's priced at thirty quid which, is a lot but for 20 packet's of seeds, is pretty good especially as you can make one collection stretch for 2 years.

Here's a link:  http://www.sarahraven.com/shop/sarah-s-cutting-patch-collection.html

Apart from that, I'd agree with pretty much everything mentioned and add in loads of Tulips and Wall Flowers for spring and I'd also add a Dan Pearson recommendation of Leucanthemum.  These daisy's are perennials and are really easy to divide as any part that's got a decent amount of green and root will survive. So, if you're buying one, get one that you can chop into a few bits and get some free plants.