GeorGie’s tips for fillinG summer vases

Only flowers that the gardener likes should be grown. Growing from seed is cheap and creates lots of flowers. Successional planting provides summer-long interest. Trays of flowers such as sweet peas and cosmos are planted at regular intervals throughout the growing period. An early start can be made in a greenhouse. Dead-heading plants such as cosmos regularly, and picking sweet peas, encourages growth. When picking and arranging flowers, they should not be taken out of water for too long. Water in containers is changed daily. Cleaning vases daily prevents a build-up of bacteria. Snipping back stems each day keeps the flowers’ cellulose drinking straws fresh.