Easy cut flowers in the greenhouse?

[Catslovepies]

Please could someone advise me on some easy flowers I could grow in my greenhouse starting now in order to get some cut flowers in the next few months? I bought some dahlia seeds but the instructions seem quite complicated in terms of temperatures to keep them at, etc. I would like something as easy as possible please, that I can basically plant up and forget apart from watering. Either seeds or bulbs would be fine. Thank you!

Gladioli you would just need to support.

Dahlias aren't that complicated they just can't get cold. It is a little more faffy growing anything from seed though

Monty don on gardeners world last night was growing dahlias from seed. Basically put them on a light windowsill above a radiator and they’ll pop up.

Or you could buy dahlia tubers, probably reduced at the moment...

Gladiolus are lovely, I usually grow them in the border outside but they’d probably be ok in a greenhouse.

Sarah Raven website has great advice for cutting patches. I like cornflowers,

Thank you. I got the idea for dahlias from Monty Don but then when the seeds arrived it seemed like they needed to be kept between a narrow range of temperatures. If it's just a case of not letting them get too cold that's fine. I was going to plant them in seed trays in the greenhouse then transplant into a bigger pot also in the greenhouse when they pop up. But can I just sow the seeds directly into the big pot instead do you think?

I don't really understand the need for transplanting seedlings, it seems like extra faff for nothing but I could well be missing something.

Loads of annuals - Strawflowers (Helichrysum monstrosum) work brilliantly - they self seed in my polytunnel and make a lovely cut flower. Dwarf sunflowers, Music Box is a lovely variety but any multiheading short variety. Lots of cottage garden annuals will grow well in a tunnel so I can't see why they'd object to a greenhouse - nigella, snapdragons, a pretty cutting variety of calendula, - lots of pretty cutting varieties and again you can leave to self seed.

Transplanting seedlings is mostly about maximising space usage (they only need tiny amounts of space when little). You are also likely to get fungal diseases with small plants in big pots which could kill the seedlings

Thanks, I will look into some of the other flower varieties. And good to know the reasons behind transplanting - I thought it might be because some seedlings don't like too much space around their roots or something.

Cosmos can be beautiful cut flowers. They are very easy to grow. Same with snapdragons.

I bought some cosmos seeds in Sainsbury's and they all grew. Probably have a few too many now! I also have some baby's breath seeds (monarch white) after someone mentioned it on here. You can sow the baby's breath directly outside from March to May. My little seedlings have survived the recent frosts but I think the growth is probably slower than normal.

I've also had lots of success with just about any bulbs I've bought from Wilkos over the years.

Cosmos are gorgeous and mine have all come up, still little , I spread them out in large tray so will leave them growing in that until I put them in the pits I want for outside (in may prob)

Sweet peas are stunning too.

I planted some zinnias 2 weeks ago on the window sill and the 2nd set of leaves are just coming through today. I read they're supposed to be easy to grow.

I second the zinnia suggestion. Mine were fab last year and they last ages. I grew them from seed and was really pleased with them. I’m growing lots more this year!