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By Mrs FM
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Growing Cut Flowers.
I think it is fair to say that prices for a lot of things have rocketed
since Covid. You can understand this to some extent as many Businesses
lost a lot of money through not being able to trade properly while covid
was active and it will probably take them a long time to recover
properly from it. So, when I decided to treat myself to a few Garden
Plants, some of which I was hoping to add to my Cut Flower Beds on my
Allotment, I wasn’t too surprised at the prices. One of the Plants that
I bought was a cultivated Monarda, or “Bee Balm,” which was a very
pretty colour. As I say it was expensive, in my opinion, for what it
was, but while driving home some pieces of its brittle stems, broke off
when it rolled around on the floor of my Car. I thought that they would
make excellent Cuttings and as a member of the Mint family, they should
root fairly easily. My specimen had short stems, but I saw one growing
in a garden with longer stems so it should be OK as a Cut Flower.
Elsewhere I dropped on a bargain where one retailer was having a bit of
a “Clear Out,” and I bought 2 Hostas for the same price! One had a
lovely, variegated, Gold and green leaf. It was late Summer when I
bought them and that is the time to look out for Bargains on Plants that
should come good for next year and that will give you a great display
for a fraction of the cost that they will be in the new Season.
A lot of people forget that Hostas can have attractive flowers, but they
aren’t actually any good as Cut Flowers. About this time somebody gave
me 2 big Hostas in great big tubs that they were clearing out as they
were re-organising their Garden. Most Gardeners like to divide
Herbaceous Perennials up in the Spring, at the height of the growing
Season, but they can also be done later in the Summer as long as there
is still some growing time left for them to recover. If there isn’t
time, they are liable to just rot when Winter comes. With this in mind,
I hastily decided to tip them out and split them up for our Autumn Plant
Sale. The Tubs had a lot of compost in that I mixed with some Allotment
Soil, before using it to pot up the divisions. I also decided to dig up
and divide a big, but different Hosta, out of my Garden that had a
lovely variegation on it.
With the Sale not far away, I did some divisions from a seaside Thrift
that I had bought which had lovely, pretty little pink flowers and a I
also bought a Heucherela from work that had very attractive foliage,
which was divided and added to my potting.
My spending spree went on to include a couple of cheapish, Herbaceous
Perennials from a local GC, that should go well for cutting. One was a
dark red flowered Helenium, or “Sneezeweed,” (I already had a lighter
orange one,) and a Gaura, or “Bee Blossom,” that I discovered is fairly
short lived. Like a lot of Plants it has been re-named and is now being
classified as part of the “Oenothera,” or “Evening Primrose,” family.
They were on a bit of an offer, but really were little more than rooted
cuttings, although, when they grow, both will divide. Several Plot
Holders already have their eyes on them hoping to get some divisions
when I do divide them!
Some other seasonal plants that have caught my attention recently, but
are not really suitable for cutting, are; Arum Pictum, the English
version, or Italicum, the Italian – and both are commonly called “Lords
& Ladies.” Both versions are fully hardy, suitable for naturalising and
have very ornamental, variegated leaves that appear throughout most of
the Winter. Colchicum Autumnale, which is a member of the lily family,
is another interesting Autuumn Bulb. The Flowers on this appear at the
end of Summer when there are no Leaves hence it’s common name of “Naked
Ladies.” The flowers are larger than a Crocus’s, but look very similar,
hence it’s other common name of “The Autumn Crocus.” It’s purple, or
pink flowers, come in shades through to white and should not be confused
with the Saffron Crocus, or Crocus Sativus. The Stamens of the Saffron
Crocus can be eaten, but all of the other varieties of Crocus are
poisonous, although some research is being done on the Crocus family for
Cancer treatments. The Stamens of the Saffron Crocus are used as a food
additive and sell for many Thousands of pounds per pound – a lot more
than the price of gold!
Hesperantha is one of my favourite flowers at this time of year and they
grow a bit like a thin leaved Iris, but have red flowers in the Autumn
and they naturalise very well with their spreading Rhizomes. I like to
plant things like these amongst my Fruit Trees along with various
Primroses that are also good for naturalising. One unusual Primula that
I have recently grown from a packet of seed is Primula Vialii – or “The
Miniature Red Hot Poker.” Unlike other Primulas it does like a damp,
shady spot, whereas most like sun baked grasslands.
This year I have put in some small Flower Beds on my Allotment, but I
haven’t grown any Annuals to fill them. Other Plot Holders often grow
things such as Cosmos, Zinnias, Sunflowers, Scabious and Sweet Peas for
cutting, but I decided to plant my Beds up with Perennials that I could
plant and then just leave in for years. Admittedly, I did put in some
Sweet Peas and Scabious, but they were perennial types, although the
Sweet Peas are short lived and will need replacing every few years.
I used to grow Gladiola for cutting which are also very popular with
other Plot Holders, but really you need to take them out for Winter,
which I think is a bit of a faff. The same is true for Ranunculus and
they are quite poisonous anyway. Other tender perennials are good old
Chrysanthemums, which I do grow every year and Dahlias that are also
very popular, which I don’t grow. Both do need digging out in late
Autumn to over winter them, but I find it easier to keep Chrysanth’s.
Crocosmias are another spectacular flower for cutting, but these can be
left in and will naturalise. The common yellow one can be found on sale
everywhere, but they also come in many shades of orange through to the
rich red of “Lucifer,”
If you are planting to encourage Wild-Life including the many types of
insects that may visit your Plot, the best plants tend to be wild, or
semi cultivated varieties. Most Native, or Naturalised Plants tend to be
tougher anyway surviving everything that nature can throw at them
whether it is a cold winter, or hot, dry summer, and our native insects
usually like them – much more than imports and indeed some cultivated
plants don’t attract any insects at all.
Yellow, Golden Rod flowers don’t last particularly long, but cut well
and will re-flower, although they seem to attract flies! Cultivated
Purple Loosestrife are quite spectacular as well with their spires of
mauve flowers and will also re-flower. Achillea, or Yarrow are another
underrated plant in my opinion and the white one can often be found
growing wild, but there is a taller, yellow one, not to be confused with
Poison Hemolck, (which smells badly) and a shorter red variety. The
yellow and white varieties can be very vigorous, but the red is much
more civilised!
Alchemilla Mollis is not one of my most favourite plants, but it is
loved by Flower Arrangers. If you want the semi-wild “Cottage Garden
look,” then Alchemilla is the plant for you, but be warned it will
spread and does need some controlling. Alliums will also spread over
time, seeding themselves down, but they are slower to naturalise and
easier to control. Again, Flower Arrangers love them though, with their
statuesque flowers and seed heads that are ideal for drying. Asters, or
Michaelmas Daisies seemed to go out of favour for a while, but are
re-gaining their popularity with some very prettily coloured types. I
did have a very tall one that would only have been of any use at the
back of a Border, but I have been able to replace it with a shorter one
of the same Blueish colour. I have also got a very pretty pink one that
is also quite short and doesn’t spread so much as it is not so vigorous.
In my opinion Alstroemerias are one of the prettiest cut flowers, but
the flowers continually shed their petals making them a bit of a
nuisance in a vase. They seem to be the “Plant of the moment,” though,
as they are offered by all the On-line companies, but you don’t see them
on sale in Garden Centres so much. I think that is because they seem to
be difficult to overwinter in pots and also, they are not easy to dig up
and move, although when you have a piece of root established it will
multiply up into a sizeable clump. Several times I have tried to dig up
roots for fellow Plot Holders and all I have got is a forkful of stems.
This is because the roots go down very deep like those of Bluebells. I
have got several colours now including a proper red one that also has
red leaves making it a bit different and quite colourful even when there
are no flowers on it, although they do seem to have a long flowering
season, and I also have a very pretty pink one.
Phlox come in a range of colours and I personally have a White, Pink and
Blue, but with these you have the bonus of a lovely scent as well. They
really do go well in a vase in the house and if cut regularly will keep
on flowering.
Delphiniums can be found in many colours including shades of Blue,
White, Mauve, Pink and there are even some with hints of reds and
yellow. They have tall spires of flowers, but Peonies are often short
stemmed with only a few varieties having flowers with longer stems
suitable for cutting. This can be true of other Plants and just because
one variety has long stemmed flowers you shouldn’t assume that all
varieties of the same plant do, so when buying them do have a good look
at the information on their labels and try to find them when they are in
flower. This is not difficult these days as Garden Centres only seem to
stock plants when they are most appealing, which is usually when they
are in flower! Another word of warning, don’t assume that all varieties
of the same plant are either, Hardy, or even that all are perennials, as
some may well be tender and need winter protection and some may even be
Annuals!
 
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