Cut flower patch

[mynamechangemyrules]

Hi, I am a shit gardener surrounded by wildly good and committed gardeners in my family. I have done nothing to the small, narrow garden of my house since we moved in nearly 2 years ago except remove the greenhouse which was a death trap with thin glass falling on the kids 😬

I tried growing tomatoes and strawberries there last year and it was fairly successful but the annoying rescue dog kept snuffling and pooing and spoiling our efforts…

This year I was thinking about just a load of flowers from which I could possibly cut some from time to time for vases inside.

Stupid idea? Doable? Any plant suggestions?

Sarah Raven is the cut flower gardener. Have a look for her stuff.

Yes! I am leaning towards cut flowers this year as it is generally lower maintenance than veg. Cosmos always do well, as do dahlias (currently heavily on sale at farmergracey). I also love zinnias, which can be a bit tricky to get going, but once they do then perform very well for me.. sweet peas are also a must every year. Other than that I tend to mix it up a bit based on free seeds and what catches my eye -often with mixed success.

it depends a bit on whether you want perennial that will keep coming back year after year vs. Annuals where you can cater to whims and change it up every year. I have a bit of both - perennials for the main garden, but then have a patch where I plant all y annuals specifically for cutting.

Definitely cosmos, but don't feed them or they won't flower so well.

Calendula, lots of different varieties, Nigella, Cornflowers and Scabious are all very simple to grow.

Higgledy Garden is a great place to get seeds, and they have good growing guides too

Higgledy

I think I’m happy to do whichever flowers this year as an experiment and then decide if it’s something I want to build on with plants which flower every year (is that perennials or annuals..?!)

I’ll look at the higgledy garden guide, but do I need to plant them in little pots inside first? Or can you plant them straight in the ground? I got cosmos/ nigella/ something else which escapes me on 3 for 2 at my garden centre, so far.

thank you

Totally do able & second higgledy garden - love them!

if you are on Facebook follow/join the floral project (you can be on the group without the paid membership) loads of tips & support there.

I always start my flowers in seed trays on my window. Once they germinate they go outside in a zippy greenhouse/plastic box. then into pots once they have at least 2 true leaves. I have no luck directly sowing into the ground.

cosmos don’t like the frost so you will need to protect them in some way until frosts have passed or they will die. (It’s too cold to start them in the ground yet ) you’ll get flowers in about 90 days.

nigella are hardy & will need less protection.

you can do this!! Enjoy your it!!

Nice to see Higgledy seeds recommended. I use Sarah Raven as a guide and also Georgie on YT Common Farm Flowers. She runs a cut flower business in Somerset. If you go through her back catalogue, she has lots of videos on sowing and planting out. I find it easier to watch a quick video as a reminder, also all my Sarah R books are in boxes as we are mid move to France! One of the reasons I’m not doing any veg this year, only annual flowers, is because we are currently in uk rental waiting for French house to complete.

I would also suggest cut and come again salads in pots in a little shelf (out of dogs reach). Last year these were prolific for me and I eat a lot of salad! I’ve just sown some this week inside, they will go into my little zip up greenhouse outside.

You could put in some roses too. They are dead easy to look after and will flower all summer and go on year after year, they just need pruning right back in
ate spring.

The rose sellers websites will tell you which ones are best for cutting.

I would suggest checking out Zoewoodwardgardening on Instagram. She will teach you all you need to know about growing cut flowers. It's very much a learning curve but try to just enjoy it, it'll take a few years to get right

I like forget me nots, cornflowers , marigolds and nigella,because they self seed and come back every year, followed by asters and dahlias . I also grow Briza(quaking oats), an incredibly pretty grass that looks great in a vase and selfseeds. It’s not too late to plant some summer bulbs, anenomes and alliums are lovely. Roses are also pretty easy and produce lots of blooms if you choose the right rose.

I follow on Facebook all the flower growers mentioned.....Higgledy garden, Zoe Woodward and the Floral Project, they have so much knowledge between them.

I have a cut flower patch in my garden and also on my allotment. Flowers I like to grow-
Scabiosa
Cornflower
Sweet williams
Sweet Rocket
Nigella
Lavatera
Musk Mallow
Phacelia
Cosmos
Snap dragons
Aster
Rudbeckia
Echinacea
Echinops
Different mints for foliage
Orlaya
Honesty
Gomphrena
Different ornamental grasses, Briza, Panicum elegans 'sprinkle'.
Sea Holly
Sweetpea
Verbena bonariensis

I am sure there are many more but can't think of them at the moment.