Kitchen Garden Forum

I'd like to grow a patch of flowers for cutting at the allotment this year, i've bought some sunflowers, but what else would people recommend? what about crysanthemums, are these from seeds or tubers and wheres a good place to get them mail order. i'm thinking anything at the garden centre would be overpriced.

mandy

Dahlias, helenium, rudbeckia, liatris spicata, good old gladioli, comos definitely, sweet peas and there just off the top of my head.

I introduced a few flowers last year and I must say that the Glads were spectacularly successful, earned me a lot of credit with S.W.M.B.O. They wernt' the mixed bag from stores but a dozen single species from the lottie shop, This year scented sweet peas and carnations are on the to try list.

Last year I bought three different coloured chrysanths in small pots from the garden centre and they flowered well. They weren't very expensive. This year I'm going to take cuttings from them. I did the same some years ago and ended up with masses.
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Granny

Those already mentioned plus cornflowers, scabious, antirrhinums,zinnias, pot marigolds, clary, tulips and daffs. I'm a bit of a cut flower fan and have three long beds dedicated to them. Also have a bad memory!

Hi WigBag,

Please do tell what does S.W.M.B.O. stand for

kind Regards

Kevin

Mrs Rumpole

Ayesha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_(novel)

Cut flowers from packets of annual seed are good, as a lot of them self seed for years to come, Centaurea(cornflower),Nigella(love in a mist)are good at self seeding, Cosmos,Larkspur,Aster and campanula are good cut flowers, Helicrysum(strawflower) and Statice can be dried for winter colour hope these help.
Bren

If you're doing dahlia, set some tubers in a pot of compost in gentle heat now. Take cuttings, dip in rooting powder and stick the edge of a pot.Most of them will take. You then pot those on and on and leave the parent dahlias to shoot. In late May/June put them all out. The parent dahlias will come first and the cuttings later and so you'll have a succession.It's much cheaper too!

thanks for that especially the tip abput the daliahs, i'm off to wilcos now to see whats there.

mandy

I always use Sarah Raven's books for advice on growing flowers. You could order them from the library.

She tells you what to grow together, how to get the best out of them and how to display them.

I didn't know until Friday that Sarah Raven has her own kitchen & garden seed catalogue, it just came through the post. half of it is dedicated to cut flowers. www.sarahraven.com
Hope this is of some use.

Yes - she has a good website too. If I'm honest, the only reason I didn't refer to it is because of her pricing!

I love sunflowers too. Last year I bought a big bouquet of sunflowers at a uk flowers company, kept the seeds and managed to get lots of little seedlings from that which are now growing in my garden.
Apart from the sunflowers I also grow dahlias, cornflowers and marigolds.