The 2022 Cutting Garden
CharlotteF
Posts: 337
in Plants
Wondered if anyone would like to join me for cut flower chat?
Thought I'd start it now as there's just about still time in parts of the country to sow hardy annuals to overwinter.
I've got most of my biennial plants in place now, just some extra foxgloves to go in the cutting patch once there's room (pink gin and cafe creme, delicious!).
I direct sowed some cerinthe this week but the rest of my hardy annuals are in plug trays waiting to go out. Most going in the cutting patch so I can fleece them. Some things get crammed into other beds but I might wait until early spring (valentines day ish) to plant those out.
I've been selling flowers locally this year to raise funds for a community organisation, and I'm determined to have more to sell next year, hence the out-of-character planning 😉
A pic of my most recent bouquet (last of this year I think) to kick us off...
Thought I'd start it now as there's just about still time in parts of the country to sow hardy annuals to overwinter.
I've got most of my biennial plants in place now, just some extra foxgloves to go in the cutting patch once there's room (pink gin and cafe creme, delicious!).
I direct sowed some cerinthe this week but the rest of my hardy annuals are in plug trays waiting to go out. Most going in the cutting patch so I can fleece them. Some things get crammed into other beds but I might wait until early spring (valentines day ish) to plant those out.
I've been selling flowers locally this year to raise funds for a community organisation, and I'm determined to have more to sell next year, hence the out-of-character planning 😉
A pic of my most recent bouquet (last of this year I think) to kick us off...
8
Posts
I've started noticing that some of my cosmos have self seeded so I've dug those up and potted them on and I've also taken some chrysanthemum cuttings, salvia, Veronica and some evergreen shrubs. I've also been busy collecting seeds from this years successful plants 😀
Cosmos are obviously very happy 😃 I've only had self seeded ones appear in spring before.
I’ve been so happy with my success at growing sunflowers for cut flowers this year that I’m going to try some other things next year too. Have had a weekly bunch of sunflowers in a vase here since end of July - and they are still coming. Not bad value for a couple of packs of seed.
There are a couple of community gardens near me but they are very different in approach. One has people who go in to help in a practical way, I think the produce is sold, the other one is run primarily by receiving donated plants, some of which are planted in the garden and some which you can help yourself to take and grow at home. There are volunteers who maintain the garden which really drips with crops every year. Either way it all helps the local community.
@Joyce Goldenlily I'd love a community garden here. The organisation I work with does family support, but if there were a space nearby gardening would be a lovely fit as we'd love to be able to bring more if the community together.
My cosmos (well, everything heat loving!) have also been very slow this year.
I moved house in January, downsized, both houses in Dordogne, France. I had a big garden at my last house that I created over 30 years. I had a cut flower bed and a greenhouse in the vegetable garden and I grew plants for selling when I opened my garden for charity with a scheme like the NGS, or held fund raising events for charities. I grew flowers for my 2 daughters' weddings.
My new garden is a complete blank canvas, apart from the vegetable garden, but that was overgrown with weeds. I've been making new borders and restoring old ones and I've cleared the veg garden and grown vegetables.
I spend quite a bit of time with 2nd OH at his house in Norfolk so now it's harder to grow from seed or have a cutting garden, but I'll follow your new thread with interest.
Yes having lots of plant babies to look after or crop from does make being away a bit of a wrench!
How did you find cosmos lemonade? I grew apricot lemonade this year and it stayed much smaller than expected, but that might have been because it was held back from being planted out for so long with the late frosts.
I have Verbena blimming everywhere - I do love it, but I have to do quite a bit of thinning. Cerinthe pops up too but never in the right place!