Growing flowers for cutting - even with a small garden
It is the right time of year for sowing seeds so it seems a good time to share a post on how to grow flowers for cutting in pots. I live in a City, and have a typical City garden i.e. small! At a guess, I would say it is about 5 x 6 metres in total. I long for a bigger garden, but they are virtually impossible to find City centre. One day perhaps.
We have 3 narrow flower beds which are about 2 metres long each. These contain perennials (plants that regrow every year) such as heuchera (great for foliage), verbena, Japanese anemones, hellebore, various bulbs, a jasmine and a honeysuckle. But really they are all about the roses, each bed contains 4 roses, I can’t remember all of the names, but I definitely have Juliet, Crown Princess Margareta and Hot Chocolate. I also have 3 roses in pots! Did I tell you I like roses?? So lets start with growing roses in pots…
The two things I have learnt from growing roses (in pots), is firstly they need a lot of water! If they don’t have enough, they will stop flowering, and they also need regular feeding, I use a seaweed based feed. But roses are incredibly robust, I kept a bare root one in a bucket for about 3 months because I didn’t have a pot for it, and it survived. If you continue to deadhead them and they are the right variety (look for repeat flowering), they will give you plenty of flowers starting from June all the way through the summer. I’m not an expert in pruning, but I did manage to kill a rose by pruning it too soon, so my advice would be, don’t prune them when they are under 2 years. old.
With regards to annual cut flowers, they really are very easy to grow. This year I will be growing these:
- Ammi majus
- Orlaya grandiflora
- Sweet peas in a variety of colours
- Nigella
- Cosmos
- Scabiosa (the same ones have been going for 3 years)
- Calendula
- Dahlia (I over winter my dahlias, which means I don’t dig them up each year, just cut them down and cover with leaves or cardboard to protect them, but it is relatively mild where I live)
I tend to grow all of my flowers for cutting from seed, such a cost effective and satisfying way of growing flowers. I plant them in a mixture of cell trays, shallow cardboard boxes lined with carrier bags and filled with soil, and toilet roll centres cut in half. I pop them all on radiators (which were only on to start with) in front of south facing windows, and it isn't long before they start to shoot. Each cut flower type obviously has a different germination time and varies on planting out times, but a good seed packet will tell you everything you need to know. Before planting out, I put them outside for a week to harden off. I never follow the planting guides with regards to distance and usually cram quite a few in a pot, depending on the size, leaving only a few inches between each plant if that. I also have single cosmos in very small terracotta pots, and a few tin cans with holes cut in the bottom for drainage. I think what I am saying is don’t be scared, just use what you’ve got and give it a go.
What I will say, is that if you have a small garden and are growing in pots, you may have to compromise a bit on colour in the garden and cutting the flowers, I always try and leave a few in bloom on the plant, but I do cut every morning too. This keeps me going with little vases scattered round the house. And again, with most of the above, the more you cut, the more they will flower.
One more thing before I go, I tend to buy my seeds from either Grace Alexander Flowers or Alma Proust. But be warned they both sell very quickly, so I would recommend going on the mailing lists to ensure you don’t miss out.
I think that’s it, there really isn’t much to it at all. A simple task that can bring so much pleasure throughout the summer. After all these years, I still enjoy my daily morning potter, cutting and deadheading and eagerly looking out for new shoots.
If there is anything else you would like to know, then do get in touch.
Emma x