Blooming beauties a cut above
Many gardeners don’t just grow flowers for the garden but to cut and enjoy indoors too.
We asked some florists to choose three of their favourite blooms and how to grow them for cutting.
PEONIES
Rachel Siegfried of Green And Gorgeous (www. greenandgorgeousflowers.co.uk) said: “We are finding that the single peonies are really trendy in lemons and corals. Single varieties such as Coral Charm and Claire de Lune are particularly beautiful.”
Top tips: Always plant peonies shallow, never deep, literally just below the surface. You have to wait for three years until you can start picking from them. Pick your peonies at the “marshmallow stage” when the coloured buds are soft to the touch. That way, they’ll definitely open properly and have a good 10 days’ vase life.
SWEET PEAS
Gill Hodgson of Fieldhouse Flowers (www.fieldhouseflowers.co.uk), founder of Flowers From The Farm, said: “These are a classic for cutting but are plants that you can’t leave in the garden and forget. They need a bit of work.”
Top tips: Don’t plant them out too early as they do get checked by frost. Successionally sow them every four weeks, because sweet peas are only at their best for picking for about four weeks and then the stems go short and get pollen beetle. Take time to dead-head them and tie them in.
ALSTROEMERIA
Rachel said: “They may be deemed old- fashioned but brides love them,
especially the peach and lemon shades.”
Top tips: Plant them in a sheltered site, in part shade or full sun, any time between May and August in good soil with plenty of organic matter at the roots. Water regularly and stake all the taller forms to stop them collapsing in the wind. Pick them regularly to get successional waves of flowers.
LARKSPUR
Claire Brown, of Plant Passion (www.plantpassion.co.uk), said: “Everybody knows about delphiniums but they take longer to establish. Larkspur is the annual delphinium and is ready to pick earlier. People love them in mixed bunches of blues, pinks and whites. The stems are really thick so they last for ages because they can hold more water.”
Top tip: Take out the main stem and you get eight flowering stems.