Decisions have been made and most of our seeds have now been ordered. Soon exciting packages will be arriving and sowing schedules will kick in.
The early bed is made up of sweet rocket, wallflowers and sweet Williams.
The biennials for this year are already planted and growing well.
Not enough sweet Williams germinated and so I have left last year's plants in place as in the past we have managed to flower them for more then one year.
Seeds for next year's plants have been ordered. I was disappointed with the wallflower colours last year but it was too late to change the varieties that I planted so for next spring I have ordered a variety called Fair Lady. I've also added some Bellis to my biennial list (although these often turn out to be perennial). Excuse the photos as they were taken off the computer screen.
Above also shown are some thunbergia that will probably be planted in tubs in the greenhouse and summerhouse.
I always like to tweak the annual bed - discarding some poorer performers. Last year these were some of the plants grown.
The godetia, cosmos and cornflowers lasted particularly well as cut flowers but I was disappointed with the ammi and gypsophila. The ammi dropped quickly when in a vase making quite a mess and the gypsohila hardly grew.
This year I will be growing the following - again photos are taken from the screen.
Some are new to me this year e.g. tithonia, asters, annual lupin, antirrhinum. lavatera and a creamy yellow cosmos.
I also like to try out different varieties of sweet peas. They are chosen firstly for good cut flowers, then good perfume and the good colour although some of the darker flowers creep in in spite of not having a really good perfume. It seems difficult to find dark colours with good perfume and the colours are really beautiful. This year's varieties are.
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Your blog looks like a Seed Merchant's catalogue today, Sue! A wonderful display.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I was quite surprised by how many there were I gathered them together, Mark and I haven't shown individual photographs of all the flowers that we grew last year.
DeleteWhat a beautiful variety--oh, it is going to be GLORIOUS!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for you. Well, heck-me too, cuz we all get to enjoy them when you treat us to pics this summer. Win win!!!
:)
I am hoping for lots of photo opportunities this summer, Sue watch this space :-)
DeleteYou grow some lovely flowers and it's great to be able to cut them for vases. An area on the plot is ideal for this as I know you're like me and don't like cutting flowers in the garden. I actually got my act together last year and sowed some sweet william and planted them in the garden so I've got those to look forward to this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm now thinking of whether I should grow some perennials as cut flowers on the plot, Jo maybe taking some bits from plants in the garden.
DeleteWell, Sue - what a bonanza of blooms ahead! If I had a plot, I'd like to grow flowers for cutting too especially with the bonus of bees and butterflies visiting. Posting your cut flower varieties must help others choosing too. It's no surprise to me at all that you have so many seed pkts - they breed don't they ;-) As with your veg and fruit growing, your allotment plot has to be an inspiration to fellow allotmenteers - keep it up :-)
ReplyDeleteI always think of butterflies and bees when choosing varieties but I suppose you had guessed that already.
DeleteWow !! I love all these beautiful flowers !! How nice to see such wonderful colors in the middle of winter !!
ReplyDeleteGreetings
If only they were flowering in the middle of winter Ela.
DeleteIt's exciting when the seeds are ordered isn't it. Time to take a deep breath before the madness begins. I'll probably be sowing tomatoes next month.
ReplyDeleteIt is CJ and we now have one of Martyn's large shoe boxes full - fortunately he is as bad as me for buying seeds. :-)
DeleteWhat a cheerful post to brighten up our day. I thought I had made my decisions for 2016 but now I'm going back to the drawing board after seeing these.
ReplyDeleteOh dear - sorry to put a spanner in the works, L
DeletePure eye candy...so cheering to see all these varieties on a grim cold day.xxx
ReplyDeleteGlad to add some cheer, Dina.
DeleteHow gorgeous to see all these lovely flowers reminding us of Spring and Summer. Just what one needs on a miserable day, thank you:)
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, sweffling.
DeleteVery impressive show of annuals Sue. Strangely enough my Sweet Williams also had very poor germination last year. We must both have been unlucky with the seeds we got.
ReplyDeleteI hope last year's sweet Williams revive to plug the gap, Alain
DeleteI am a great fan of Sweet Williams, Wallflowers and Sweet Rocket, they are always on my plant list. Have you tried the Sweet Pea, Cupani? Purple-magenta colour and scented.
ReplyDeleteI,have seen photos of Cupani, Brian it's an old variety isn't it but I've never grown it,
DeleteLove your collection of sweet peas, Sue. I have no lucky with it, I think our soil isn't good for sweet pea. I also liked godetia for cur flowers as well.
ReplyDeleteDo you sow the seeds direct, Nadezda? We sow ours in pots and plant out.
DeleteInterested to see you order dwarf sunflowers again - are they for the allotment or garden? I tried them for the first time last year and they failed to form flowers (although taller types produced plenty). Not sure what went wrong for them in a raised border in a small garden. Larkspur are a favourite allotment cut flower and I had good success from seed sown dahlias in a sheltered border and also on the allotment (they are very easy to grow & bees love the open flowers).
ReplyDeleteThe dwarf sunflowers have always flowered well for us S and D. Our site is very windy and so the taller varieties would suffer as well as me not being able to see the flowers or the bees browsing them. I am growing larkspur too from some seed that I bought last year at the moment it is in the freezer chilling.
DeleteWow that is an incredible variety! My garden plan includes a cutting flower bed, but I have a feeling that this is yet another addictive side of gardening and one bed will not be anywhere near enough :)
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Margaret area dedicated to them is expanding.
Deletemake my eyes blink-blink. So amazing and beautifyl bloomings
ReplyDeleteThank you Normala
DeleteA lovely selection Sue, I'm hoping to fit in a dedicated raised bed for growing a few flowers for the house. I hope by doing this it will ease my conscience over picking them x
ReplyDeleteIt's for the same reason that I am thinking of growing some perennials as cut flowers on the plot, Jo.
DeletePlanning is almost as fun as gardening itself. I love your choices. I am also starting to grow more annuals for cutting.
ReplyDeleteNow I just hope they perform as planned, Bonnie.
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