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Icelandic Poppies

By on May 27, 2013 in conditioning, Cut flowers, Poppies

I cannot let May come to an end without
a blog about my favourite flower of the month, the enigmatic
Icelandic Poppy. A flower that looks so delicate and ethereal that
any kind of vase life seems a far-fetched notion. Unlike other
members of its family, they can give you 5 -7 days of breathtaking
beauty in a vase.

 
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They also have a good 6 week flowering
period if you keep on top of the picking.

 

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 Once they have finished flowering, collect the seed and sow it fresh, sometime next month is ideal. This
will give you much better germination rates than buying it in, which
of course you will have to do initially.

I recommend Chiltern Seeds for a good
range of varieties of Papaver nudicaule. My favourites are 'Meadow
Pastels' for soft, muted shades of apricot, coral, cream and lemon –
great for weddings.

 

 
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If you want a bit more punch then
'Champagne Bubbles' fits the bill, with the most beautiful shade of
orange, salmon pink, daffodil yellow and white.

 

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 Pick the flowers just as they are
opening and sear the ends in boiling water for 20 seconds.

 

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I will be saving the seed off these next month and selling it fresh at our Saturday shop.

Rachel 

 

 

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Anemone crush

By on April 23, 2013 in Anemones, Cut flowers

I have always been a fan of the
anemone, partly because it is one of the first flowers to break the
drudgery of our winters. It's jewel-like colours and velvety centre
are both a welcome relief and a signal that it is time to step up the pace .

 

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They are also extremely productive,
unlike the tulip with it's solitary bloom per bulb, the anemone
generously produces up to ten flowers over a few weeks from it's
strange little corm.

We plant ours in the polytunnel during
late September/early October. It helps to soak them overnight and the
soil they are going into must be fertile, moist and weed free. They
are very hardy, especially the Jerusalem variety which can be planted
outside. If so, mulch well and look out for the voles, which love
eating the corms.

 

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This year their timeliness and
productivity has been even more appreciated with a new variety for us
called 'Galilee Pastels'. I have been trying to get my hands on these
for a few seasons as their soft, muted tones are perfect for our
wedding work. Well, they were well worth waiting for: ivory, creamy-green,
smokey lilac and pink…exquisite.

 

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The warm weather over the past few days
has them coming thick and fast so now is the time to experience them,
have a look at our 'Best of the Bunch'. They have an excellent vase
life, giving a good ten days.

 

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To All the Mums

By on March 10, 2013 in Anemones, Cut flowers, Polytunnels

Mother's Day is always rather
frustrating, especially when it comes early and the flowers are late.
A missed opportunity for British flower growers I think. If only we
could change it to a Sunday in June. 

Anyway, I decided to rise to the
challenge and create a bouquet with only what is flowering in our
cutting gardens, bearing in mind that I am lucky to have an unheated
polytunnel for some of our spring bulbs.

 

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The bouquet contains a beautiful
selection of hellebores with rich, intense colours (specially bred by
Hugh Nunn of Harvington Hellebores) these match up well to the jewel-like
anemones. For foliage, I had rosemary, arum leaf and pussy willow.

 

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 Rachel

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