The Cutting Garden: Growing and Arranging Garden Flowers

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Cosmos bipinnatus There’s a huge and ever-growing selection of these late-summer stars. Deadhead them in the vase to encourage buds to open Most cut flowers are sun-lovers, but a few tolerant tolerate shade (e.g. Solomon's seal, Acanthus spinosus and heuchera). If growing flowers for business or for an event, you should make sure that you have a wide range of contrasting flower forms and some fillers that compliment larger single feature blooms, such as Achillea or Gypsophila.

Make sure the area is weed-free. Although this garden doesn’t have to look pretty, you still don’t want your plants to have to compete with weeds for nutrients and water.I came away feeling really inspired to grow more myself. I have always loved spending time pottering in my garden but struggle to take the snippers to flowers when they look so beautiful in the flower bed. It feels like vandalism somehow. But I do love to fill the house with simple jugs and jars of seasonal blooms and foliage. It got me thinking about doing more with a forgotten and overgrown area of my garden. I made up my mind to create a dedicated sustainable flower cutting garden.

You may want to grow for scent —there is no sweeter smell than that of a freshy-cut flower that you have grown yourself! Even the most fragrant flowers start to lose their scent once cut. Freshness is key to a highly fragrant bouquet, and growing your own is the best way to ensure they’re as fresh as possible.Antirrhinum Highly recommended is the double-flowered Madame Butterfly range. The Potomac Series copes well with heat. Buy plugs, as seed is unreliable With Autumn upon us and the nights drawing in, now is the perfect time to plan ahead for next year’s cutting garden, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned gardener. Though it can be a little disheartening that most of this year’s summer flowers have bloomed, by looking through seed catalogues – the perfect way to unwind after a busy day, there is plenty to look forward to. An important consideration is also how much time you intend to make available to care for your cutting patch. Don’t take on a large space if you may not have time to maintain it during the growing season. Some plants may require staking, regular deadheading/cutting, potting up and growing on, frost protection or winter storage. There will also be weeding and watering to make time for during the summer months. Professional flower grower Bek Bibby of Blooming Green in Linton (where you can buy glorious cut flowers and also attend one of their courses on arranging or growing flowers at home), offers some advice. Chandos Beauty– I often refer to it as The Perfect Child as it is all round such a great rose. A beautiful hybrid tea with gorgeous peachy/ apricot very scented blooms, it is very healthy and needs no spraying and it rewards you with flowers all summer.