Archive | Cut flowers

A Year in British Cut Flowers

By greenandgorgeous on March 6, 2014 in Anemones, Cut flowers, Photography, Pruning

I had great fun last week with Clare West, a photographer who I met last year when she came on one of my growing courses. She had a rather good idea – to visit the farm once a month through the year and photograph all the seasonal jobs….

Take some stunning plant portraits….

And teach me a thing or two on how to use my camera.

‘A Year in Flowers’ had it’s first installment on her blog this week.

We are also planning to do some styled shoots this year, a very exciting prospect. I am planning the first one in the orchard, when it is in full blossom I hope. In the meantime it’s all about pruning hundreds of roses, pricking out thousands of seedlings and picking the odd Anemone.

Like this beautiful white Anemone with a green eye called an ‘Albino’. I pick early in the morning, next they are whisked off to the flower studio for trimming and bunching.

Next it’s into the greenhouse for some pricking out of Icelandic Poppies, talking to customers on the phone and stroking my dogs as much as possible, who always enjoy the heat mat meant for seedlings!

Finally we have to get back to the Rose pruning, as we have over 500 to get through at this time of year. This rounds off the day and I have some rather glorious red Anemones to take back into the house.

Rachel

Sweet Pea Grow Along – Part 2

By greenandgorgeous on February 11, 2014 in Cut flowers, Sweet Peas

Hello Everyone and welcome to the second instalment of our Grow Along.

Hopefully you now have your seeds, composts and deep pots or rootrainers at the ready.

Firstly, do not concern yourself with pre-soaking, chitting or scarifying your seeds. I find a really good watering in and a bit of warmth is enough to get your seeds germinating quickly.

Fill your pots with compost mixed with vermiculite, about 3 parts compost to 1 part vermiculite.

Using a dibber, pencil or any other pointy implement, dib a hole about 2.5cm/1 inch deep. Drop in your seed and give it a little prod to ensure it is at the bottom of the hole.

Fill in the holes and label with the variety and date before watering gently from above or soaking in a tray.

The next step is to find somewhere warm (and mouse free), if you have a heat mat or propagator that’s perfect. Otherwise try an airing cupboard or near a radiator. Don’t worry they won’t be there long – as soon as you see a shoot, move the pots into a cool, bright position.

At this point, cold and brigh conditions are what you want – I use an unheated greenhouse. Your aim is to grow stocky plants with lots of roots, so you can treat them mean. If it gets really cold (below minus 3-4 degrees C) they will need some protection, either turn on the greenhouse heater, cover them with horticultural fleece or bring them indoors.

Pinch out the growing tip when they have 3-4 pairs of leaves. This will encourage a side shoot to grow and create a bushy plant.

Keep your plants on the dry side during these winter months, I usually water them every couple of weeks.

Ground preparation is probably out of the question at the moment if your ground is as waterlogged as ours. So let’s get on to that with the next post.

Rachel Siegfried

Want to be a Flower Farmer?

By greenandgorgeous on December 30, 2013 in Cut flowers, Floristry Courses, Foxgloves, Peonies, roses

It is a question I asked myself seven years ago. I was hundred percent sure that the answer was Yes, but the next question led to a lot more uncertainty – how can I actually make a living growing cut flowers?

Over the years many people have attended the growing course I run with that question in mind. So I thought it was high time I came up with a day which is geared solely towards all those people on the brink of starting a cut flower business.

The weather has finally driven me inside so writing a new course is just the thing to keep me busy and thinking of flowers.

Flower Farming for Beginners will run on Sunday 16^th March here at Green and Gorgeous, there are only six places available so contact me if you would like more information about the day.

Whilst mulling over the content, I found these pictures taken by photographer Shannon Robinson last summer, which I think illustrate the words ‘flower farm’ beautifully.

Sweet Pea ‘Winter Sunshine’ varieties jostling for space in the polytunnel, the best choice for an early crop.

Delphinium ‘Pagan Purple’ a New Zealand hybrid, much stronger than their English counterparts.

An overwhelming amount of Peonies, we grow early and late varieties but the late Spring made them all come at once this year. Breathtakingly beautiful but also slightly painful!

My favourite outdoor Alstroemeria called ‘Friendship’, think beyond ‘garage forecourt’, these are far superior and so productive.

More New Zealand Delphiniums, the smokey lilac one is called ‘Sweethearts’, great for pedestals.

You have to have roses, well I do anyway, this one is ‘Just Joey’, huge coppery apricot blooms.

And finally, the striking Digitalis ‘Pam’s Choice’ – you can’t have too many foxgloves. I love the new summer flowering varieties so we can have foxgloves from June till August.

Rachel Siegfried