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Cut Flower Patch in Winter

jade.e.rileyjade.e.riley Posts: 5
in Plants
Hello, 

Next year I am planning on dedicating an area of my garden (10ft by 10ft) to grow cut flowers. The plan so far includes spring to autumn flowering bulbs as well as a range of annuals to ensure the best colour. 
However, I have realised that the patch will be very bare during winter and due to the placing in my garden, it will look very odd indeed having nothing but soil!
Of course I won't be the only one with this issue so I'm reaching out to experienced gardeners for some advice on what to do or what to plant to try and break up the big brown soil patch over winter. 

Thanks, 
Jade

Posts

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Grow some biennials like wall flowers, sweet rocket, or sweet williams. They won't be in flower over winter but they will be green. There's a daff called 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' which in my cold garden flowers in January if you want a little colour and flowers you can put in a vase.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    If you regularly keep up with the dead-heading of your annuals, some can last well into the Autumn, early Winter.  As raisingirl said plant biennials to ensure some greenery over the Winter months and you'll have lovely flowers in late Spring early Summer.
  • jade.e.rileyjade.e.riley Posts: 5
    Great, thanks for the advice. 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Autumn flowering stocks and wallflowers will flower into winter and start again in spring. You can go for leaf shape interest, rather than flowers - plants like hellebores and alchemilla mollis.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I would try to find room somewhere for a Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (corkscrew hazel) ... just a green shrub in the summer, but in the winter it'll give you wonderful twisted stems ... you'll only need maybe one, or three at the most, to give winter arrangements great structure.  Teasels will also give you great seedheads to dry and use in the winter, as will annual Honesty - Lunaria annua.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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