I'm growing some posh zinnia this year, Queen lime red and some cosmos xsenia and lemonade. I'm also growing dahlia bishops children and a sunset colour snapdragon with some electric blue larkspur and lime Nicotiana. Just need a bit more sun! A few blooms coming but it's taking its time with this weather.
Yes, my dahlias have been in buds on the edge for weeks and are refusing to pop. Thalictrum too.
My shrubby salvias work well as cut flowers - Blue Note and Bumble. They last for ages and don't collapse, though have short stems, on the whole. I find them good to add a little pop of strong colour to an arrangement.
I like Astrantias in arrangements and Alchemilla mollis for a filler. I’ve grown Euphorbia oblongata from seed which are also a lovely filler, and easy from seed.
Salvia Patens is another beauty if you like a real zingy blue and easy to grow from seed, mine are all in flower from sowing this year and will flower all summer long. They are a bit tender but I mulch them over winter and so far so good. my Dahlias are slow this year too but always worth the wait.
Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.
I was running an experiment with cut flowers. With a bunch of sunflowers and a bunch of snapdragons (bought). I
- trimmed the stem ends
- added flower food to the water
- half of both bunches I plunged in boiling water for 30 seconds. Half I didn't.
I wanted to see if the boiling water trick really makes a difference. I usually have cut flowers in the house, so it would make a difference to me.
After about a week the snap dragons are showing no real change. But the difference in the sets of sunflowers is quite dramatic. All the flowers are away from direct sun. Note the three on the left v the three on the right.
It will be interesting to see if using flower food makes a difference. Another trial. Perhaps sunflowers are a useful plant to use as the visual cues are quite clear as the go over.
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I am putting quite a few repeats of the rose this winter. I will use microrhizhal powder on some and none on the others and see if I can note a difference over the coming year. Next summer it would be interesting to do the same with water retaining crystals - with identical plants in pots next to each other and measured out water given. These trials wouldn't give definitive answers but it I would like to experiment.
What other plants have people here grown for cut flowers? I know some dahlias growers on the forum have had a tough time. I usually grow a wider array, but mostly this year's bunches have been dalhias and salvia. I hope to grow comsos for cutting again next year, and snap dragons.
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my Dahlias are slow this year too but always worth the wait.