Growing flowers

ariadna.bakhmatova

Dear gardeners, I have a section of my garden where I’m thinking of growing flowers, you can see it on the pic - the lower stretch of the soil. On the right I have a massive pine tree (not in the pic) which makes the soil dry but I’m going to enrich it. Do you think it’s a good idea to grow flowers here? And if so where do I start? Thinking of planting some autumn flower bulbs now. Which ones should I go for? Thank you on advance 

didyw

What a wonderful opportunity!  What are you planning for the upper stretch of soil?

Athelas

Are you thinking of dahlias?

Sarah Raven has a great selection of these. Have a look at the collections — some nice colour combinations there. You can use the collections for inspiration and get the plants elsewhere, from your local garden centre or a reputable online seller.

https://www.sarahraven.com/flowers/bulbs/new-bulbs?page=2

borgadr

You need to think about the orientation of the bed (ie how much direct sun it gets).  From the look of the shadows it doesn't look south facing. 

If it's a north facing fence, and/or the large pine casts a lot of shade, then you should consider flowers that flourish in part shade.  There are plenty of those (Japanese anemones, asters, aquilegias, etc etc) and the vendor websites all give guidance on this.  But if it's west-facing or east-facing it may be that it gets plenty of sun. "Full sun" generally means at least 6 hours a day.  Bear in mind that for two-thirds of the year the sun is lower than it is now!

ariadna.bakhmatova

didyw said:

What a wonderful opportunity!  What are you planning for the upper stretch of soil?

you can't prob see from the pic but i have already planned some shrubs there so it's already taken:)

ariadna.bakhmatova

Athelas said:

Are you thinking of dahlias?

Sarah Raven has a great selection of these. Have a look at the collections — some nice colour combinations there. You can use the collections for inspiration and get the plants elsewhere, from your local garden centre or a reputable online seller.

https://www.sarahraven.com/flowers/bulbs/new-bulbs?page=2

yes i thought that is one of the options. Are there any other ones i could consider? Looking for something that will bloom or give any foliage from Sept onwards

ariadna.bakhmatova

borgadr said:

You need to think about the orientation of the bed (ie how much direct sun it gets).  From the look of the shadows it doesn't look south facing. 

If it's a north facing fence, and/or the large pine casts a lot of shade, then you should consider flowers that flourish in part shade.  There are plenty of those (Japanese anemones, asters, aquilegias, etc etc) and the vendor websites all give guidance on this.  But if it's west-facing or east-facing it may be that it gets plenty of sun. "Full sun" generally means at least 6 hours a day.  Bear in mind that for two-thirds of the year the sun is lower than it is now!

on a nice sunny day this part gets the sun in the morning till around lunch time, so definitely part shade... 

ariadna.bakhmatova

ariadna.bakhmatova said:

Athelas said:

Are you thinking of dahlias?

Sarah Raven has a great selection of these. Have a look at the collections — some nice colour combinations there. You can use the collections for inspiration and get the plants elsewhere, from your local garden centre or a reputable online seller.

https://www.sarahraven.com/flowers/bulbs/new-bulbs?page=2

sorry about the silly question, when they say "1 tube", does that correspond to 1 future flower? So many nice options on Sarah Raven!

ariadna.bakhmatova

I just wanted to check; so if i'm looking to grow the below flowers, for blooming in autumn, i need to plant the bulbs now , correct? 
Japonese anenomes
Astrantia maxima
asters
aquilegias
dahlias