Grow your own. . . flowers!
As 'Grow Your Own' shouldn’t be just about what you eat, we planted up a cut flower bed this month. Delightful as petrol station bouquets are, there is surely more enjoyment from flowers that are in season, very local and haven’t spent time sweating in cellophane.
We have focused on herbaceous perennials that are good for cutting and will stand up to our exposed location. Our cut flower season will start off in May with daffodils followed by alliums and throughout the summer with Achillea, Eryngium, asters and Echinacea. Plenty of the plants will also work for dried arrangements during the winter.
We began by improving an area of soil below our pumpkin mound with grit and green waste. The plants can be arranged in rows to allow for easier picking and maintenance but as we aren’t planning on harvesting with the intensity of a commercial operation we thought it should look just as good as elsewhere in the garden.
We’ve mulched the soil to help hold in the moisture, particularly important with the drying winds we experience down there. The only difference in its arrangement from an herbaceous border is the number of small paths to make it easier to reach all the flowers when in full growth.
I can’t claim to have much experience with flower arranging but fortunately one of the very helpful veg plot volunteers has offered to help once the flowers start blooming. It should really brighten up the shed next to the hanging garlic plats and pumpkins.