I posted the other day about the successes and failures on my cut flower patch this year. In this post I thought I’d share with you my plans for next year. I’m getting excited already!!
Sweet Williams at the plot
Back in July I sowed some Sweet Williams, Sweet Rocket and some Honesty. These are all biennials, so you sow one year, they put on some growth and then the following year they flower. I love biennials, you can sow them between July and September, at an otherwise quiet time of the year. You then plant them up where you want them to grow next year and then they sit there through the autumn and winter tantalising you to the prospect of what is to come. If you’ve never grown biennials before and you’re worried about the state they’re in after the winter, don’t. Mine looked pretty sorry for themselves after last winters snow and minus 16 degrees C but they soon perked up when spring came.
I’ve also planted some bulbs, some Anemone coronaria and some Gladiolus colvillei ‘The Bride’.
This year I definitely lacked enough filler flowers and foliage so my plan for next year is to improve this. I found Alchemilla mollis to be a brilliant filler. It’s lime green flowers contrasted beautifully with so many other flowers and it lasted well once cut. An added bonus is that it self seeds very freely so I am moving little plants that have self sown in the garden up to the allotment and I am edging all around one of the beds with Alchemilla. In the centre will be the early flowering Gladioli and once these finish flowering I will have some later flowering plants waiting in pots to go in.
Hardy Annuals in my cold frame
I have sitting in my cold frame a whole array of hardy annuals that I sowed back in September in the hope I will be able to get an early supply of flowers. These include Scabious, Nigella, Orlaya and Bupleurum. Although the mild autumn has meant they have put on more growth than I would have liked. I just hope they don’t succumb to botrytis. But there’s nothing really lost if they don’t make it, I’ll just sow another batch in March and have slightly later flowers.
My main aim is to make the space work as efficiently as possible. Any flowers really have to earn their place, which means they produce over a long period of time and have a good vase life. So with this in mind I won’t be growing any Calendula or Dahlias at the allotment. I love both but they just don’t last very long when cut. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a spot for them in my garden though. I’m trying some Larkspur next year and some annual Asters. The Zinnias I grew this year just flowered and flowered but it was a mix and some of the colours were difficult to use with other flowers so I think I will go for single mixes next year, there are some particularly beautiful colours in the Plants of Distinction seed catalogue along with a great choice of Antirrhinums. I will definitely be growing Didiscus ‘Blue Lace’ again, it took a while to get going but was so unusual.
Didiscus
And of course there will be Sweet peas. There vase life is not great but they produce so many flowers over such a long period and their scent is so amazing that they are a must. I had 3 teepees this year which was a good amount. There was a period when I had so many I couldn’t pick them fast enough and I was having to give them away at the allotment but nobody complained.
My netting support system with biennials waiting to grow up through it
I will also be extending my bean netting support system to a third bed. I only used it on 2 beds partly because of expense and partly because I thought the other plants (rudbeckias) would be strong enough to support themselves. And for most of the season they were but then we had quite a stormy patch at the start of September and the rain and heavy winds meant the plants flopped over and some stems broke. It’s always hard to resurrect plants after this has happened. Some I’m just going to bite the bullet and net the third bed.
Growing cut flowers this year gave me so much pleasure. I can’t wait to see what I can do next year. If anyone has any suggestions for great cut flowers let me know.
You seem so organised, everything is growing so well for you. Love the Didiscus – must try that one. If ever you need more Alchemilla mollis, I have plenty – it is a weed here – always pulling out seedlings, no matter how soon I cut it back.
Goodness you are a tidy gardener but it’s obviously paying off – I left my sweet williams to self-seed and they have done very successfully so that’s one job less next year.
Two very informative posts! I have only just started adding biennials and any information is of great use to me. Thank you for the warning regarding their post winter appearance, will be prepared now! I have Amni majus & Visnaga, Sweet William sooty, Hesperis Matronalis and a couple of others bubbling in seed trays and little pots. Too small to plant out, so will keep them in greenhouse until spring. Unless that is wrong?
I think they’ll be fine, especially since you’ve got them in a greenhouse. The Sweet William might flower a bit later than if they were in the ground now but that’s fine. I have some Sweet Williams in my garden that I grew last year and that flowered this year. Apparently if you cut back the flower stems after flowering and leave the plants you can get an even better display the following year. So I’ve given that a try and we shall see what happens next year. The Hesperis is also a short lived perennial apparently. I didn’t find this out until I’d dug out this years plants after they’d finished flowering. No great problem though as I had new plants to replace them but it is worth remembering for the future. I love the ‘Sooty’ variety of Sweet William.
I really like sitting virtually on the greenhouse heater with a mug of tea and a ‘Plants of Distinction’ catalogue. A highlight of winter!
That sounds good to me!
I like cornflowers and nigella which make good cut flowers. I also grow scarlet flax. It’s a family thing my mother and my grandfather always grew it and I’m carrying on the tradition. But it’s no good as a cut flower. Great post with lots of good ideas that I will pinch for next year…
Some happy and healthy looking babes there. I am tempted by didiscus too – such a glorious colour. I like alchemilla mollis but dare not risk letting the seed float over to neighbouring plots so keep it restricted to the garden :)
That’s an inspiring post. With the moving thing I might not do very well on the cutting garden next year, but its something I really want to apply myself to in the next garden. I love Ammi majus as a filler, but mostly tend to go around snipping bits off shrubs. In the future I would love to grow some foliage plants just for mixing in with flowers to act as a foil. That didiscus is going on my wishlist, it looks beautiful.
I just love your enthusiasm, and also so very well organised indeed. Your sweet williams look garden nursery perfect. I think Wallflower would also suit your gardening style.
How incredibly organised and foreward thinking you are. A lovely post though I’ve given up on Sweet Peas – unless insecticided(!) the sucking aphids gather in such quantitites bringing the dreaded mildew in ther wake. Your Didiscus is a new one on me – so pretty and would look pretty with a lemon scabious
Laura, that sounds a lovely combination. As for the aphids I squish, blast off with a hose or squirt with a garlic spray I make up. Seemed to work this year. I still had some aphids but this was fine, good food for other insects. As for wellies, I suppose they aren’t the safest of footwear but so far, touch wood, I haven’t had an accident yet. The problem with boots is it takes so long to undo the laces and invariably I’m dashing for the phone or desperately needing the loo so I need footwear that comes off really easily.
I have never tried to grow biennials, thanks for the mini tutorial. It’s smart of you to think ahead of what you want, and to eliminate those flowers that won’t meet those requirements. Something I need to do more!
I am very glad I visited- what an inspiring blog. I too hope to increase my cut flower beds on the allotment next year.
In answer to your question the nasturtiums lasted about four days-not a particularly brilliant return but ok for this time of year. I could have picked more had I been on the allotment but not going till sunday.
Sue
What a enjoyable post to read, and I look forward to seeing how you get on next year! xx