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GARDENING

Bel GriersonGarden Designer & Plantswoman

GROWING YOUR OWN CUT FLOWERS

At this time of year the shiny gardening catalogues start to drop through the

letterbox to my delight and the local stores have colourful stands of seeds to tempt us, reminding us that spring is not far away.

Having a beautifully garden is a joy, but being able to bring some of the colour inside is a real treat too. Whether it’s a few Sunflowers, a bunch of fragrant sweet peas or a cottage garden style posy, a little living colour on the kitchen table or mantle piece can keep you in touch with nature when you don’t have the time or inclination to be outside.

We all have a few bare patches in a border or veg plot, space for a grow bag or two and a few pots knocking about which we could utilise for growing cut flowers, it’s a very satisfying and it’s easy to do too.For a quick result seeds, bulbs & tubers are the answer. They are also cheap and easy to find. Flowers are key for any arrangement but I also like to add a bit of foliage and structure if I can. Sowing the seeds is really simple, follow the instructions on the packet ensuring that you’ve a window sill or greenhouse available to start them off and protect them from frost at first. Don’t start too soon and watch that they are watered just enough for their needs. I use seed trays and cell trays to get mine going and then plant them out later but they can be sown directly into pots or growbags.

Hardy Annuals You can’t go wrong with Sunflowers, Sweet peas, Larkspur and Corn flowers; these are all hardy and can be started off quite early as they can cope with cold temperatures. Sown in March they’ll flower well in the summer and will give plenty of blooms as long as they are deadheaded to stop them going to seed.

For foliage try a patch of annual ornamental grasses, herbs like Dill or Euphorbia for a limey zing. I also snip foliage from the herbs and perennial grasses in my garden to add to bunches.

Half-hardy annualsTo add a bit more glamour to a posy, try some Half-hardy annuals. As the name suggests these aren’t fully hardy so they must be protected from frost. Sowing them later in the spring helps with this. I like Zinnias, Cosmos and Rudbeckia for their bright & bold blooms. BiennialsBiennials take an extra 12 months to get to flowering stage. Sown in the summer of one year they will flower in the spring-summer of the next, examples are Sweet Williams, Stocks, Wall flowers, Honesty and Foxgloves. These are best in the ground in a spare patch or mixed in to the border. Helpfully bunches of young wall flower plants can be bought from local markets in the autumn and popped in any gaps in the garden to save the hassle of growing your own.

Bulbs & tubersDahlias are a must for late summer-autumn colour. Take your pick from a mass of colours and forms and keep them frost free for a reliable abundance of flowers to grace your home. Lilies, Alliums and Gladioli are worth a try too although they generally only give one flower spike per bulb. Be sure to buy good quality firm bulbs to get good results.

Most cut flowers will need staking or some support to keep them upright and they will need to be deadheaded regularly to keep them flowering well throughout the summer. It’s really rewarding to see a lovely bunch of flowers all from you own efforts so I urge you to have a go this year.

My herb bed is due an overhaul so next month I’ll be looking at how to split, trim and propagate herbs and I’ll be adding new plants to the bed to give a year-round supply for the kitchen.

Whether you need help creating your own cut flower garden, your planting needs a revamp, or you’re faced with a blank canvas, I offer a tailor made service from consultations to full garden rejuvenation projects. Give me a call to discuss your requirements or check out my website for more details. Tel. 07506 750250 www.belgrierson.co.uk

Dahlias & Grasses

Rudbeckia & Snap Dragons

Zinnias, Dahlias & Nigella

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