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.
Rock Cottage Year 