Advice for growing cut flowers

[Blueskytoday]

Just started growing cut flowers this year, absolutely love it.
So nice being able to go in garden and have some nice flowers for the house.
Has anyone got any suggestions re websites, books etc for advice for beginner?

Also, has anyone attended any courses/ workshops and were they worthwhile?

I'm in Lancashire, a lot of the courses I've seen are in the south.

Annual Lavatera flowers can be grown from seed and make lovely cut flowers.
Don't know of any courses, sorry.

Bluesky those look fab. I love flowers in the house and spend a fortune trying to recreate that look.. Where did you start? Were they seed or bedding plant? I am a complete novice as you can probably tell.. What time of year did you plant in? Xx

Flowering shrubs such as Forsythia, Kerria japonica and flowering quince also look great in vases.

Sarah Raven did a book I think from gardeners world.

Wow , those look gorgeous Charlie .
How did you start the seeds off?
Have you a greenhouse ?
I've a conservatory , that's got a few seed trays in with bi annuals and some hardy annuals for next year.
Didn't realise how addictive it is, so amazing that a tiny seed can turn into such gorgeousness!

Doctor, I've only started this year so am novice too,
Sarah Raven website has loads of info and inspiration,
The best book I've seen is by Louise curley , the cut flower patch.
It has really detailed info about seeds which I found helpful.

The ones that needed a certain temp to germinate I started in the kitchen, and then I moved them all out into my greenhouse and summerhouse. It did take up a lot of room, but normally it wouldn't be necessary to have quite so many plants. I'm definitely going to do it again but on a smaller scale, it's been lovely having flowers to bring into the house all summer. I would second the Sarah Raven recommendation, great for advice and a wide range of seeds and plants.

Thanks Charlie, that's helpful.
Do you find the greenhouse really essential?
I've not got one or even a cold frame at present.

How lovely to do the wedding flowers for your Dd.
I would love to do that, she's only 15 , so hopefully won't be for a while!

I think for raising seedlings you do need a greenhouse otherwise they get leggy if you keep them in the kitchen or somewhere indoors. The ones I raised in the greenhouse were better than the ones in the summerhouse because they got top light as well. I also used heaters as it was a cold spring. DS does quite well with his chilli plants in one of those small polythene ones though.

I have been enjoying growing cut flowers this year too.

I have grown zinnias, cosmos, dahlias and sweetpeas, though not getting as many blooms as Blue and Charlie.

I would really like to try stocks next year