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Promising Peonies and Poppies

By on April 25, 2011 in Cut flowers, Peonies, Poppies, Ranunculus

My ranunculus have been cooking in the oven of our polytunnel but whilst mourning their demise I have been considering the alternatives for our May weddings and 'ready to launch' mail order service. Fortunately the peonies and poppies are showing a lot of promise.

In fact I am amazed at the number of buds on my peonies which are only two years old, I have four varieties to choose from: Kansas, Festiva Maxima, Duchess de Nemours and Sarah Bernhardt. They have obviously enjoyed the cold winter and warm spring, so fingers crossed. I will pick them at the 'marshmallow stage' and combine them with my sweet peas, hesperis and mint for beautifully scented arrangements and bouquets.

 

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Now the poppies: Icelandic 'Meadow Pastels' …they are dreamy in lemons, apricots and creams. I can't believe how long they last in the vase, their petals look so delicate and tissue-like but even unseared I have had a good five days in this hot weather.

 

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Other flowers making an early apearance this year by a good three weeks include cornflowers, alliums, nigella, iris and delphiniums.

 

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All we need now is some gentle rain for about a week to water in all the recent plantings and encourage nice long stems.

RS

 

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Blink and you will miss them

By on April 8, 2011 in Cut flowers, Tulips

 

Phew, it feels like summer out there already and my tulips have all come up at once in the oven-like polytunnel. Early, mid and late season are all coloured up and popping. I love tulips and I think the varieties we offer are far more interesting than florist fare, but they do make me rather anxious. They are ready when they are ready and will not wait around for a farmers market at the weekend. Thankfully I used a good amount for Mother's Day last week.

 

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Where I have not been able to keep up with them, I will deadhead, lift and dry in the barn to replant in the Autumn.

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Rachel Siegfried

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In the Best 50 Florists!

By on February 20, 2011 in Cut flowers, dahlias

We all had a spring in our step this week after being listed in The Independent's 'Best 50 Florists'. We could not resist a link to the article on the homepage. It feels like quite an achievement after only three years in business and a validation that there is a growing movement towards using British grown, seasonal flowers.

I seem to be busier than ever, juggling course, wedding and mail order enquiries alongside all the jobs in the cutting garden.

 So I have just pricked out the first batch of stock seed, as you can see you have to look pretty closely to see the difference between the ones you want and those destined for the compost heap. As soon as they were in their plug trays I sowed another batch, successional sowing is key to keeping up a steady supply of gorgeousness!

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I had an extra large order of dahlia tubers arrive from Holland last week and immediately set about potting some of them up for propagation. I have put them on a heat mat in our new prop room (a converted stable) which will probably be dedicated solely to raising dahlia plants to sell and grow on to replace all the ones I optimistically left in the ground last autumn. I have ordered a high proportion of the Karma dahlia range this year, these were bred by the Dutch specifically for cut flower use. They are water lily shaped, with lovely long stems and an excellent vase life. Anyway, hopefully my potted tubers will be shooting in about a month and I can take about three basal cuttings from each, any more can exhaust the tuber as well as me the propagator!

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I picked my first bunch of anemones from the polytunnel yesterday, what a joy. They will be coming thick and fast soon, hopefully in time for Mothers Day.

 

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