Cut Flower Beds, the plans for 2010…

I sat down this morning to plan my cutting beds for 2010, can’t help but realise as I type this that I had planned to change one of the cutting beds (of which I have 4) to a vegetable bed as I grow quite a few of the ‘cutting flowers’ in my main beds and don’t have as much room as I would like for vegetables, oh well, too late now!

I started the same was as I always do, with mini prints of the planned flowers.  I will confess to being a bit bored of my cutting selection, so much so that I made very little effort last year but having done a bit of research over winter, I find that the plants I grow (mainly recommended by Sarah Raven) really are the best for cut flowers and I can’t possibly throw any seed away so I am making a point of planning early and using up my existing seeds.  The mini prints allow me to lay them out on the table and move them about until I have a good combination.  I try to keep taller flowers together, so to they can be supported at the same height, I also try to keep Hardy Annuals at the top of the bed and the Half Hardies at the front so they aren’t overshadowed as they go into the beds later in the year and the sun comes mainly from the front.

So, here they are my lists.

Bed 1

• Euphorbia Oblongata (HA) x 4
• Cerinth Major Purpurascens (HA) 2 Rows x 5 each

Bed 2

• Salvia Viridis – Blue Clary (HA) x 5
• Bupleurum (HA) x 5
• Zinnia – Elegans, Sprite Mix (HHA) 2 Rows x 5 each
• Nicotiana Alata – Lime Green (HHA) 2 Rows x 5 each
• Salvia Paterns (HHA) x 5
• Anthirrhinum – Crimson Classic (HHA) x 5

Bed 3

• Calendula Officialis – Indian Prince (HA) x 4
• Nigella Damascena – Deep Blue (HA) x 5
• Nigella Hispanica (HA) x 5
• Zinnia – Deep Red (HHA) x 5
• Bupleurum (HA) x 5
• Zinnia – Giant Dahlia Mix (HHA) x 5
• Amaranthus Caudatus – Viridis (HHA) 2 Rows x 4 each

Bed 4

• Helianthus Annus – Chianti (HA) 2 Rows x 4 each
• Ammi Majus (HA) x 4
• Centaurea Cyanus – Blue Boy (HA) x 4
• Malope Trifida Vulcan (HA) x 3
• Cosmos – Purity (HHA) x 3
• Scabiosa – Black Cat (HA) x 3
• Cosmos – Dazzler (HHA) x 3

So that’s it, my planned lists for 2010.  There are some self seeded Hardy Annuals already growing which I shall move into place (a good reason for keeping some of the flowers in the same beds) and I started a few in the greenhouse last Autumn, some of which didn’t make the Winter but I’ll update on this another time.  There are also only a handful of plants planned for Bed 1 as it contains my bulbs in between the rows and in the last 2 years I have found that the bulb foliage overshadows any new seedlings trying to grow.

Buttoning down the hatches…and it’s true, never work with children!

As I wrote in my last post, I have started to tidy through the garden.  I intend to do small bits every day in the hope of getting through the work, I find otherwise there are lots of things I would prefer to do, I am a fair weather gardener it seems!  A while back the two Kales that were growing in the greenhouse were munched entirely by caterpillars, but I left their remains in hope that there would maybe be a recovery, I also planted seeds direct in my huge containers (free after lifting the Squash).  The container ones are growing, slowly, but the greenhouse grown ones have made a good recovery so today I planted them out (one Cavalo Nero and Red Bor).

I then decided to cover them in the largest of my cloches, to make sure they settle in OK .

The cloches have been very useful since I bought them two years ago to protect emerging plants from the rabbits.  Sadly I only have 3 left as the boys spent last summer using them as Buzz Lightyear helmets.  I had to wash and disinfect them as even though they had been stored clean, they were a bit green looking.  I also put one of the longer cloches over some of my tender Salvia’s after cutting them back to ground and applying a mulch, they are not supposed to survive the winter, but with a little help I find they do.

As I had the warm soapy water out, I made myself wash half the glass in the greehouse.  There is very little in there this year, but we are having one of our coldest days today and I suddenly realised if I don’t get some of my pots (such as the verbena sissinghurst pink as above) inside they wont last much longer.  The Broad Bean (Super Aquadulche) as planted in early Autumn are growing well, I usually put them outdoors at this point but this year as the greenhouse is so empty I am going to leave them inside.

The only other things in there are my sweet peas and a handful of Hardy Annuals for the cutting patch.

As part of the greenhouse clear out I brought the Amaryllis indoors and gave them a soak so they can ‘hopefully’ start growing.  This will be their third year so I am not entirely sure I will get new flowers, they have been in the greenhouse over summer with regular feeds and in about August I left them to dry out.  I usually then move them into the dark after cutting the dead leaves back, but this year they remained outside, I had also intended to remove them and re-pot in new soil before starting their growing cycle but I also forgot this, oops.  Hopefully with a bit of TLC and some plant food they might do OK.  The three bulbs together are Hippeastrum papillo, which has a number of smaller flowers on shorter stems.  The larger one is a regular white Amaryllis, sadly I can’t remember the name but it always looks suitably fabulous as in this shot from my work space last February.

Lastly, as referenced in the title, Charlie ‘helped’ me in the garden by pretty much sitting in the bucket of water so I had to abandon my work to get  him indoors and dry.  I left him for a moment whilst I turned off the water and closed the greenhouse door only to hear him running outside looking like this.

He had helped himself to the gloves I was using and was running around being a scary monster.  Oh well, it was a good excuse to abandon work and come inside to write this post!

 

 

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain…

Well, thank goodness for that, some rain at last and after the builders had roofed our old extension so perfect timing.  What a difference it makes, the garden has sprung into life and turned a rather spritely green which is a nice change from brittle yellow.  Last week I planted out the final seeds for the flower garden, which were the sweet peas.  I have used toilet rolls as I figure they act as a sort of root trainer, I did this last year and felt rather smug with my invention only to find it wasn’t very original and everyone does it.  Anyhow they are in, two per roll pushed about 1 inch down, a mix of Midnight, Painted Lady and the seeds I saved from this years Matucana.

Also starting in the greenhouse are the flowers Antirrhinum/Snapdragon (Crimson Classic, I think), Centaurea Cyanus/Cornflower (Blue Boy) and Scabiosa (Black Cat) all of which will stay there for the Winter after which I will plant them out, under cloches as early as I dare next Spring so they get a good head start.

The 3 buckets with Broad Bean (Super Aquadulche) are on their way. I still have to decide whether to put them outside for the Winter or leave them in the greenhouse.  They did OK last year outside in a sheltered spot but they were a big scraggy and wind worn by Spring.

As mentioned in my last post, here are The Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Red Arrow x 2, Rudolph x 2 & Late Purple x 2) looking rather splendid, oops, some weeding required around the bottom; on which note, here is what happens when you go overboard scattering seed heads

just a few extra nigella seedlings to remove then!

Last, and by no means least is a photo of the wonderful book ‘Vegetable Growing Month by Month’ by John Harrison.  John contacted me asking to use one of my photos a while back and in return he sent me a copy of his book and some seeds, I know who got the better deal!  Great book, it’s get every detail you need to grow veg month by month (does what is says on the tin) and I am very pleased he sent 100s and 1000s Tomato seeds as I have been looking for these mini tomatoes to add to my seed collection.  I should also mention John has a super fantastic site Allotment Vegetable Growing which is well worth a visit and has every piece of advice, including recipes you could possible need.

Hope the rain keeps up for a while!

September Flowers…

OK, so I know it’s technically October, but I photographed this vase a week or so ago.

Not very elegantly displayed I’m afraid, they are rather dumped in a vase but they perfectly sum up what’s going on in the flower garden.  We have:

• Helianthus Annus/Sunflower – Red Sun
• Tithonia Rotundiflora – Torch (bright orange)
• Dahlia – No idea to be honest, they are from a dark collection I bought from Sarah Raven
• Cosmos – Dazzler (the green leaves only ussed as foliage)
• Cotinus Coggygria/Smoke Bush (Leaves used as foliage)

It’s typical of the orange and dark reds of my late summer garden.

In the cutting patch we also have Cosmos Purity and Dazzler still very much doing their thing, even now in October.

I am loving the white ‘Purity’ on my kitchen window (sorry about the rather dark photo), where I am pathetically trying to disguise this

not sure how clear this is but the window has a permanent splatter from our building work on the back of the house.

Despite my lack attention to the garden a lot of the regulars have self seeded even with the total lack of rain we have had, here in Kent.  Honeywort has self-seeded as have the Salvias (Varidis, Blue Clary and Pink) and the grass Briza.  In fact the Briza goes rather crazy and self seeds all over the place so I spend a lot of time pulling it out but I do love it with it’s pretty bobbing heads and it makes a great foliage for cut flowers both fresh and dried. There is also evidence of some Spring flowers coming through such as the Cornonas (Mr Fokker and Sylphide), I will give these a mulch to make sure they survive the winter, not that it usually gets very cold here.

Ok, more posts on the way, I am rather focusing on the house at the moment but the garden is still getting some attention.

Sowing Hardy Annuals…

A Hardy Annual pretty much lives up to it’s name, it can withstand cold weather, as opposed to a Half-Hardy Annual, which MAY survive the cold (some of mine do if I mulch them but more about that another time) and it grows, flowers and sets seed all in one year, unlike a Biennial which grows foliage one year and flowers the next or a Perennial which comes back year after year.

As Autumn has arrived, it’s time to sow hardy annuals (HA) so they can form a small plant before the weather gets too cold.  You can sow them in Spring but they will not flower as early, Autumn sowing gives them a head start and in my experience works well for my cutting patch, you can then sow replacements in Spring in the greenhouse that take over after the Autumn sown plants are past their best.  I used to start mine in small pots in the greenhouse but I mostly sow direct now, it saves a lot of energy and keeps the greenhouse free for other things.  You can just scatter your seeds in your chosen spot but it’s hard to tell what is a weed and what  is a plant as they sprout so it’s better to sow in lines/drills, the seed packets should have the ideal depth and distance for each final plant, you will probably have to thin them out a few times as they grow.  I wont go into too much detail, as to be honest there are so many good tutorials on the internet on how to grow HA and they are much better written then I could ever manage!

I find that I grow a lot of the same plants each year and most of my HA self seed, so I just transplant the seedlings to the desired spot once they are established.  My worst problem is not watering the seedlings enough, or thinning them too keenly too early and having the slugs take out the rest leaving me to begin again next Spring.  I am late planning my cutting beds but I know I will grow the following HA:

1. Bupleurum rotundifolium – Griffithii
2. Salvia Viridis/Sage – Blue Clary
3. Euphorbia Oblongata
4. Centaurea Cyanus/Cornflower – Blue Boy
5. Calendula Officinalis/Marigold – Indian Prince
6. Nigella Hispanica/Love-in-the-mist
7. Nigella Damascena – Deep Blue
8. Helianthus Annus/Sunflower – Red Sun
9. Cerinth Major Purpurascens/Honeywort
10. Malope Trifida Vulcan
11. Ammi Majus/Bishop’s Flower
12. Scabiosa Atropurpurea

I sow the Helianthus/Sunflower in Spring in the greenhouse but everything else is started in September, I give a few seeds a helping hand by shaking the seed heads in the spot where I want my new plants, cover them lightly with fine soil, water and then leave them too it.  I still rather neglecting the garden, we have new school for Felix and builders working on part of the house so there is enough going on but I am worried about getting behind, I had better stop writing and get digging or I will regret it next Spring!

June Flowers in the Cutting Patch…

I have been a bit useless with the cutting garden this year.  Pretty much none of the Zinnias have survived (there should be Red, Elegans Sprite Mix and Giant Dahlia Mix) and I never got the Scabiosa in so there are a few gaps.  I also only netted one bed so a lot of the stems have grown all over the place instead of nice and straight for cutting, I have managed some nice vases of flowers though such as:

Flowers from Early June

This is a typical informal vase and contains some of my favourite flowers:

• Alcamella Mollis/Ladies Mantle
• Calendula Officialis/French Marigold – Indian Prince
• Salvia Viridis/Sage – Blue Clary
• Anthirrhinum/Snapdragon – Classic Scarlet
• Sweet Pea – Matucana

Also going strong in the cutting garden at the moment are:

• Anthirrhinum/Snapdragon – Liberty Bronze
• Centaurea Cyanus/Cornflower – Blue Boy
• Salvia/Sage – Patens
• Anthirrhinum/Snapdragon – Crimson Classic
• Nigella/Love-in-the-mist –  Hispanica
• Ammi Majus/Posh Cow Parsley

There are still a few things to flower but the easiest way to record what should be growing in the cutting patch I think is to photograph my plans and the actual so here they are:

Ok so the missing thing here are the Zinnia (Giant Dahlia Mix).

Bed 2 is complete with all it’s planned flowers.  The Bupleurum hasn’t taken off yet and the Cosmos are still waiting to flower.  The Moluccella are also waiting for their big moment later in the season but my big success was keeping last years Anthirrhinum and Salvia Patens alive as both usually die with the frost.  I mulched them and in very cold weather covered with a cloche, it has paid off as both have come back.

Oh the shame…when I look at this photo I feel bad as it isn’t up to scratch.  Ok, so it did look better whilst the Calendula/Marigolds were in flower but on return from our holiday this weekend they had mostly gone over and had powdery mildew so I pulled them out (I have plenty of the same in the borders to use for cut flowers).  Also the Nigella Damascena (Spring planted) are still very small and are being rather shaded by the Autumn planted Nigella Hispanica (which are providing flowers and amazing seed heads at the moment).  This is a great advertisement for Autumn planting over Spring for Hardy Annuals.  Finally the nice weed patch at the bottom should be Zinnia Sprite, so failed there as well!

I haven’t included a photo of Bed 4 as it’s not very attractive, mainly because the only colour should be provided by, yes you guessed it, the Zinnia Red which is so badly eaten (but hanging in there) that I don’t fancy it’s chances of survival.  The Sunflowers are coming along nicely, as are the Malope Trifida, Cosmos and Ammi Majus.  The Cerinthe Major is done but is producing seed for next year.  The Scabiosa never made it as the seeds didn’t germinate and I didn’t replace it with anything else.

Overall this period between the early summer flowers and all the Half Hardy Annuals is a bit sparce but there is still enough to fill a vase – I can’t keep up with picking the Sweet Peas climbing over the arches.