Signs Of Spring

homeflower02/11/2020

We've had a very mild winter so far here in Norfolk and every day that I venture into the garden in the morning, cup of tea in hand, I notice a few more signs of spring.

cherry plum blossom — Cherry plum blossom displayed in a macrame wall hanger

The cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) is one of the first hedging plants to flower and the blossom is a pretty addition to the hedge and to a vase to bring into the house. The first tiny blue Scilla flowers are emerging from the soil. They are unusual in that the flowers emerge from the bare soil before the leaves do.

The pale yellow primroses, usually a herald of spring, have actually been flowering away merrily since about November. I have a few as edging plants in the cutting beds as they don't take up a lot of space and the flowers are useful in tiny spring arrangements, lasting really well as a cut flower.

Last year, I planted some Hellebores in the dahlia bed, figuring that as they enjoy a certain amount of shade, they wouldn't be too affected by being shaded out by the towering dahlias during the hot summer months. Once the dahlias are cut down after the first frosts, the Hellebores gain access to some weaker sunshine during the winter and spring. It's worked really well and they are all blooming away happily. They really help to create vibrancy and life in the cutting beds during these winter months. I now have 14 different varieties in the garden and couldn't resist purchasing a few more on a recent shopping expedition to try the same idea up at our allotment plot. I cut some, leave some to brighten up the garden and press some of the beautiful flower heads for picture and card making.

snowdrops and cyclamen — Snowdrops and cyclamen

I'm slowly adding to the clumps of snowdrops in the garden borders. These beautiful dainty flowers are a classic winter flower and there are a staggering number of varieties of snowdrops to grow. Mine are the common Galanthus nivalis supplemented by some double-flowered 'Flore Pleno' and the tall 'Elwesii'. I have invested in a November-flowering variety called 'Remember Remember' which I hope will clump up and justify the small fortune that I paid for a single bulb. I often pick just a few snowdrop flowers along with a few stems of colourful Cyclamen coum for miniature displays.

Winter

homeflower01/08/201801/08/2018

The festive trimmings have been taken down, the Christmas goodies have been gobbled up, the children are back at school and there is a way to go before spring. I have to confess that I do find January and February gloomy months and there aren't a lot of gardening jobs that need doing. Rather than sink into a pit of doom, I try to keep busy and do find a certain excitement in planning for the year ahead. There are some flowers that can be cut in the depths of winter, my favourite being Hellebores. These are stunning flowers and all the more useful for flowering in January and February. Once you have an established clump, you can cut a few blooms and enjoy their beauty up close.

Use these winter months to plan ahead - browse the numerous seed catalogues, clean your pots and tools in preparation for more busy periods and look back at what worked for you last year and what you can improve upon this year.

By spending a bit of time last autumn potting up spring bulbs, you may even have some pots of small bulbs like Crocus, Iris reticulata and Paperwhite Narcissi to bring into the house to cheer up the winter months. Seeing those little green shoots poking out of the surface is very encouraging on a cold, grey day.

Another way to banish the winter blues is to look back at pictures of your garden from the previous year and remind yourself of things to come. Just starting to peep up from under the soil are bulbs waiting to spring into action, perennials, that are no more than twiggy tufts at this time of year, will flower and bloom again and buds are forming on trees and shrubs, reminding us that they will once again be clothed in foliage and flowers.

Here's a review of just a few of the flowers I have grown in 2017. If you'd like to get the most out of your garden this year and have flowers to cut and bring inside, then please check back here for advice throughout the year or consider a 'Grow Your Own Cut Flowers' workshop to get the most out of your garden.

Tulips, Forget-me-nots and Euphorbia — Tulips, Forget-me-nots

Summer Flowers — Borage, Sweetpeas, Feverfew, Cornflowers and Ammi majus

Pressed flower art — Pressed Flower Picture

Cosmos, Scabious, Zinnias & Panicum grass

Dahlias with feverfew, statice and marigolds

cutting garden flowers — Summer flowers in the cutting garden

Pressed flower butterfly — Butterfly made from real pressed flowers and petals

Winter berries — Viburnum opulus berries

Cutting Garden Diary

homeflower11/24/2015

November in the cutting garden

It had been a rather rainy, but exceptionally mild, November here in Norfolk up until the weekend when we had a taste of real Winter weather - a sprinkling of snow and our first frost. Although the arrival of the first frost does spell the end to annuals like Ammi, Sunflowers and Cosmos, there are still a variety of flowers that you can bring into the house, from forced bulbs like Narcissi 'Paperwhite' to branches of Winter-flowering shrubs. As I write this, I can smell the heavenly scent of Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn'. The flowers are numerous and a pretty pink colour, and the scent is incredibly intense. I can smell them as soon as I enter the house. This is a great shrub to make room for in the garden.

Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' has a delicious scent and is a great shrub for flowers over Winter

I've had some lovely vases of flowers for most of November, including a late crop of Cornflowers, which sprang up, self-sown, and a late crop of the Ammi majus which I struggled to get to grow earlier in the season so the late batch were all the more welcome. My annual Chrysanthemum 'Polar Star' never really got off the ground and my Zinnias have been a big disappointment with only a few blooms to pick sporadically. The true stars for this time of year have been my Scabious - 'Black Cat' and 'Tall Double White' which actually look like they might survive the frost for a while longer. My Dahlias have, I confess, been a bit neglected in their pots, so didn't flower for quite as long as I'd hoped. I have now brought the pots into the potting shed where they will over-winter away from the frost. I will plant them out again, this time into their own cutting bed, which will be devoted to Tulips and Dahlias, where I think the larger varieties will fare better.

Skimmia and Roses — Skimmia, Roses, Scabiosa and Ammi

I've already got flowers on the Narcissi 'Paperwhite' bulbs that I potted up in October. They have a wonderful scent and are very tall and elegant. They need some form of support. I've used hazel twigs and tied in the flowering stems with jute twine to give a natural look.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been planting small bulbs (Irises, Snowdrops and Muscari) in some small decorative containers and terracotta pots, every week or so in the shelter of the potting shed. Once in flower, I will bring them into the house for an early Winter display. By planting in succession, I should ensure a continuous display of bulbs for a few months at a time when there are no annuals to pick. After flowering, they can be planted out into the garden borders for flowers next year.

My Amaryllis bulb, planted last month has a green shooting tip and I'm hoping it will be in flower by Christmas.

November is the best month for planting Tulips but you can go into December with their planting. At this time of year, retailers start slashing the cost of Spring-flowering bulbs so there are opportunities for grabbing some bargains. I've invested in some new varieties this year and what a huge variety of Tulip flowers there are! From elegant Lily-shaped flowers, double Peony-like flowers and showy, frilly Parrot versions. Go for your favourite colours but grow a range of shades and flower shapes to complement each other in the vase. I'm going for the red, frilly, Parrot-flowered 'Rococo', 'Blue Parrot' - a wavy, mauve-blue flower, 'Angelique' - a romantic, soft pink Peony variety and 'Showcase' which is a large, dark red, double form. I also have a blended mix of Tulips (varieties unstated!) in shades of white, pink and purple which were cheap in the supermarket. In the garden borders, I have the wonderful, and very popular, dark 'Queen of Night', alongside 'Exotic Emporer, 'Purissima' and 'Blue Amiable'. I mainly leave these for the garden display but can't resist cutting a few to bring inside. See my Pinterest page for pictures of all Tulips mentioned.

Follow Home Flower Garden's board Tulips on Pinterest

Hellebores start flowering in Winter and on into Spring and make lovely cut flowers. They don't last long in the vase so I usually have a few potted up and placed on the table in the courtyard outside my patio doors so that I can still enjoy them from afar. If you wait until the flower ages and the stem gets woody, you can cut the bloom and it will survive a lot longer in a vase than when fresh. Other sources of cut material include Winter-flowering shrubs such as Skimmia japonica, Viburnum tinus, Viburnum bodnantense, Witch Hazel and Daphne odora. Try to include at least one of these in the garden as they bring a welcome splash of colour, usually coupled with a lovely scent if you want to cut a branch or two to bring inside.

I'm looking forward to December now and the opportunity to make some Christmas wreaths with some evergreen foliage and berries from the garden, along with some natural, homemade decorations.