Allotments 4 All

I am setting aside a patch of my allotment this year for cut flowers.  Has anyone got any ideas of which ones are easy to grow and quite hardy as we get quite bad weather up in the North East.

Claire :)

i am planning a L shaped raised bed for 2 apple trees and a rose bush and plan to pack it full of floweing plants as its in a wind shaded area and i am hoping that by popping it into a raised bed that it will help control soggy soil.

I think its a matter of trial and error to see what works

My gran lived in Newcastle and managed the bad weather by shading less hardy plants with grasses and willow fencing. She grew dahlias, sweet peas, daffs, roses, tons of stuff. Check out RHS & bbc gardening website for further tips. Good luck! :)

I am also planning to do the same at my lotti, set aside a long border right along the edge of the plot.

Sweet peas are a definate, along with gladioli... grew tonnes of each last year my mum was so pleased with her supply of fresh flowers.

How about some type of sunflowers there are many different sizes and varieties and they are easy to grow from seeds and reasonable priced.

Current edition of gardeners world magazine has a section which I think is being continued over a few issues about growing cut flowers by sarah rayburn.

good luck

trina

Hi Claire, I live in Whitley Bay and I am putting aside part of what used to be our veggie patch (used  before I had a lottie)in our home garden this year to grow cut flowers too.  I got a great book at Christmas by Sarah Raven, Called "Grow your own Cut Flowers", it sounds as though it would be perfect for you too.  She advises you to grow "cut and come" again flowers  as one of your options, like sweet peas, snap dragons, nicotianas, rudbeckias and cosmos as the flowers which will keep on coming the more you pick them.  She goes on to advise you of other options and even gives some advice on how to keep them fresh etc.  So I think it is a book worth having.  busy_lizzie   

You might get a few ideas on this page;

http://tinyurl.com/ylmj3z

and heres something from my allotment to be going on with;

For flowers to cut you could do well with ball type dahlias, they will give blooms from August until the frosts come around Oct.. We have been growing about 200 plants to sell the flowers at boot-fairs they go like hot cakes.

Yes agree with that Laurie.  We grow dahlias at the allotment and they are amazing. They lasted right up until Christmas at our plot.  When I dug them up they have loads of corms too, so lots more for next year too.  :) busy_lizzie

Thanks everyone for your advice, just need the weather to brighten up so i can get started.

Claire

Claireylou,

Planning on something similar for our new house which is why I bought GW.  The Sarah Raven bit in this months GW wasn't that useful beyond a short list of things she might plant.   If you have not already got it then I will post her suggestions later.

I bought quite a few different sunflower seeds so they will be going in, plus sweet peas.  After that it is unknown territory for me - never planted annual flowers before.  We are on fairly acid soil, no greenhouse (yet) and we are not sure yet on frost pockets, etc so waiting for a good one.  Lots and lots of Penstemon so may have a go at propogation and put some of those in. 

The things I grew specifically as cut flowers last year were dahlias, gladioli, sweet peas, tulips, zinnias, chrysanthemums and various dianthus (pinks/carnations/sweet williams). All easy to grow, long-lasting in vases and nice to look at/sniff.

A few other things we cut regularly are self-sown eg californian poppy, nigella (love-in-a-mist) & lunaris biennis (honesty). There's a lot of stuff that isn't grown specifically for cutting, but often ends up in a vase anyway, like alchemilla mollis. We have a friend who is a florist and she often raids the garden for stuff that I would probably have composted.

A  couple of annuals i find really brilliant for cutting are cornflowers which will go great with your sweet peas in a vase, and helicrysums (strawflowers) they are really vibrant colours smell of lovely hops and you can dry them really well if you hang them upside down as soon as youve cut them.  :)

On Moneysavingexpert.com there is a link for a free copy of Gardeners World, when you ring they offer you a 3 for £1 deal - then you get the cutting flowers mags covered.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=364318

HTH

cornflowers, cosmos, chrysanthemums (hardy) pyrethrum, sweet peas, ursinia, lupins, arctotis, scabious, nasturtiums, gladioli, alliums, lilies, sweet williams, pinks, campanulas, foxgloves, layia, cosmidium, platystemon, penstemons and eustoma.

Seems great minds are certainly thinking alike this year.  I am planning a big flower boarder in front of the veg patch in the garden.  I am attempting to grow most of the flowers from seed & have been amazed at how tiny so many of them are.  Ant .. antir.... s*d it ....snap dragons & lobelia being absolutely minute.   

Lovely flowers Tee Gee.

I too am doing cut flowers this year to brighten up the allotment and have fresh flowers in the house.

last year I grew alot of incurved chry



All kinds of lilies

beautiful flowers, yuet..brightened up a dreary day, thanks  :)

they are beautiful - really inspired me.  :)

Quire agree, really are beautiful
Lorna