What a difference a month makes! When I last wrote about the Cutting Garden in March, I was waiting for the first flowers to bloom.
A few weeks later and my Cutting Garden is overflowing with tulips – my own mini Keukenhof! Not only that, I also have a number of biennials coming into flower and autumn sown hardy annuals growing well, so it looks like I will have avoided the flowering gap that I had last year between my tulips and the February sown hardy annuals which do not flower before June.
I will post separately on the different varieties of tulips that I have grown – today I just want to enjoy the bounty! These tulips are a mix that I have purchased from the Gee Tee Bulb Company and Sarah Raven.
Even the rhubarb has exploded this month – pushing the top off my forcer and providing two harvests of beautiful pink stems already!
The Honesty that I planted out last autumn has started to flower. This is a new flower for me, so I will be interested to see how it does in a vase and how long it flowers for – I will report back next month.
If you have been following this series you might remember that I showed my Cutting Garden plans back in February. On these you could see the four large square beds that make up most of my growing area. As you look at the photos of the tulips above you can see how I plant them – about 5 bulbs deep in rows around the edges of these square beds. By planting around the perimeter in this way I can weed between the bulbs early in the season and then harvest the flowers without needing to walk on the beds. I tend to stick to planting in rows and blocks in the Cutting Garden as it makes it easier to harvest the flowers and replant areas that have gone over.
Looking at the same bed from a different angle, you can see that the centre is still empty. This space is reserved for dahlias, which will be planted out in early June. The four big beds have a box hedge edging and then the tulip borders. Inside the tulip borders I am building up a collection of David Austin roses that are interplanted with the hardy annuals grown in the greenhouse over winter. I hate to cut too many roses from my main garden, so am looking forward to having the freedom to pick freely from my favourite bushes in the Cutting Garden. That leaves the central area for the dahlias which will be planted in June. In two of the beds I have biennials in the centre which I will remove when it is time to plant out the dahlias. Once the tulips have died back or been lifted (I try to replant a section of each bed each year to ensure a good selection of flowers), I will overplant the edges of the beds with both hardy and half hardy annuals.
In amongst some of the tulips you can see a few buds of the allium Purple Sensation. I grow a lot of this beautiful purple ball in the main garden, but want to have some that I can cut without worrying about depleting my garden display.
The peonies are putting on growth very quickly. I am waiting for a few rainy days to soften the soil so that I can interplant them with my gladioli bulbs and then I will wind string around the wooden sticks to provide support for the heavy peony flowers and foliage.
These are the Sweet Rocket plants sown last autumn and ready to flower any day now. Again this is a new plant for me, so I am looking forward to seeing how they perform.
These larkspur plants were also sown last autumn, overwintered in the greenhouse and are now growing into good sized plants. I have planted out all my hardy annuals that were sown in the autumn and am making a start on the February sown hardy annuals, which are now being hardened off in the cold frames.
The sweet pea frame is ready with the jute netting support that I used last year. The jute netting is from Agriframes and is the best product I have come across for supporting sweet peas and the climbing bean and pea crop. You can see some weed fabric has been used to cover the soil under the frame. In past years I have had a huge problem with weeds germinating in this area and getting tangled up with the sweet peas. I tried this fabric last year and it solved the weed problem. The sweet peas are ready to be planted out, but I am a bit behind following last weeks wedding preparations – hopefully they will go in over the weekend.
Most of my half hardy annuals are now sown and are ready to be pricked out. I just have the zinnias and sunflowers left to sow. Last year it was May before I got around to sowing these and they performed very well in the late summer and autumn, so I am happy to wait a week or two yet. The important thing at this busy time of year is to pace yourself – there is no point in starting off more than you have time to care for and plant out. Also watch the last frost dates – I would rather wait an extra week or two to plant out my half hardy seedlings than risk losing my plants to a late frost. This has happened too often in the past for me to do it again. I now always wait until June to plant out anything tender, which would include half hardy annuals and dahlias. There will be plenty of biennial and annual flowers to follow the tulips this year, so I am in no hurry to rush the growing season.
Just before I finish I had to show you this photo from my greenhouse today – I have sweet peas!! My winter varieties from Owl’s Acre Sweet Peas are starting to flower and smell delicious. These are a good two months earlier than I have ever had sweet peas before, so well worth the effort.
Finally I have a lovely little book for this month’s Giveaway. Called ‘Some Flowers’ and written by Vita Sackville-West in 1937, this book has been recently republished by the National Trust and includes beautiful colour drawings by Graham Rust of all the plants described by Vita. A great resource for anyone who loves gardening, Vita describes the characteristics and growing preferences of 25 of her favourite plants. To enter the draw just leave a comment on this post. The draw is open to everyone and will be made on Monday evening just before I publish my ‘In A Vase On Monday’ post.
I love to hear about everyone else’s growing experiences, whether you have a dedicated cutting area, a spot in your garden beds, or just a few pots. If you are a blogger, please do think about writing a post and leave a link here. Otherwise just a comment to tell us all what is working, or not, with your cutting flowers – I look forward to hearing from you!
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How well your cutting garden is doing ! And I am loving your early sweet peas. The earliest I have ever picked sweet peas was June 12, and that was when we lived in the south of England, in Hertfordshire. Vita Sackville-West’s writing may be dated, but still hugely informative.
What a beautiful post! I have a tiny suburban garden which I love, and always take inspiration from your blog posts… I live in Kent and have visited Sissinghurst, my children love it too (especially the view from the tower!), I can imagine ‘Some Flowers’ will be a wonderful read…
I had sweet peas til the middle of September the year my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was able to take a bouquet to her each week while she was having treatment. They have never bloomed that late since. I am so impressed with your organization and your blossoms are all gorgeous. I look forward to your posts. They are an inspiration!
Your sister must have loved your weekly bunches of sweet peas Nancy – thank you for sharing your growing success in what must have been a very hard year for you.
Hi Julie – your Cutting Garden’s looking fabulous! Will you use all the flowers for your own home or are you providing blooms/bouquets for others?
I’m hoping to join in next month, by which time I should have planted out some of my many seedlings, both in my raised cutting beds and also in my neighbours’ walled garden, which they’ve kindly offered up again.
The flowers are mainly for my use Jen, although I am happy for friends and family to come and pick what they want. I hope that you can join in soon – I would love to see what you are growing (and how amazing to have a walled garden to use!).
This is just great…lovely pictures too!
Have a happy weekend,
Titti
I love your explosion of tulips – the same thing happened today in my garden – even during the day – when I walked around first thing this morning – many were still closed but a couple of hours later many had opened with a flourish! Mostly Sarah Raven purchases – all wonderful and handsome!
Hi,your garden is looking fantastic.I can’t believe you have sweetpeas flowering already! Do your tulips perform well every year? because I planted some in pots last year and they are very poor this year, even though they were fantastic last year. Sue xx
There are some varieties of tulips that flower well for many years as long as they are planted deeply in a well drained sunny site Sue. Many tulips are quite unreliable though and I have never had any success with tulips grown in pots – the bulbs always seem to split, so now I treat my potted bulbs as annuals.
This is just beautiful Julie, and how wonderful to have sweet peas in April. My tulips at the allotment are almost over, now the star is the apple blossom which smells divine. I have fat buds on the iris (do iris work as a cut flower? I suspect not because of their progressive flowering nature). Nigellla has self-seeded under the plum tree and is not far off flowering. My early spring sowings are only just germinating, the potted-up dahlia tubers haven’t moved and the sweet peas have hardly put on any growth since planting out a few weeks ago. At this rate I think I may be cutting roses before sweet peas. But I have high hopes from a wildflower patch sown a few weeks ago. No sign of any germination yet, but it has been so dry and quite chilly at night perhaps it is not surprising. I love Vita’s writing. Her grandson, Adam Nicholson, has been reading his book ” Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History” on Radio 4 extra this week. Worth catching up with on iplayer if you’re interested.
Thank you Homeslip – I have been meaning to read Adam’s book for some time now and you prompted me to order it – I am really enjoying it. I am not sure about the iris as I have not tried using mine as a cut flower yet – Christina at My Hesperides Garden has posted photos of her iris in flower arrangements, so it is worth having a look at her blog. My sweet peas outside are still quite small but I know that they will grow quickly once they start to move and I am very excited to have found buds on roses today!
I’m very impressed with your garden. It’s so beautiful and organized. I like the idea of having a main garden and a cutting garden. Was wondering what gardening zone you are. I’m in zone 4-5. I have four raised beds for vegetables and a few flower beds with perennials and shrubs. I will be growing Sweet Peas for the first time this year in pots. I sowed some seeds indoors in March and already transplanted seedlings outside with some wind protection. Might be too early, but I heard they are tough, so I’m hoping. I also direct sowed some Sweet Peas in a pot, but none came up yet. I also planted my first rose bush this year, very excited. Anyway, I think I’m writing too much. Love your photos on Instagram and here and our garden.
Julia
@idreaminflowers
Thank you Julia. We don’t really think of our gardens in zones here in the UK but a quick look suggests I am zone 8-9 if that helps. I hope your sweet peas are doing well and will keep my fingers crossed that you have rose flowers this year!! Some of the new bushes that I planted in March have buds already.
Well, of course, enter me in the drawing!
Your tulip color swaths are so pretty, both up close and at a distance. Dare I ask how many tulips you planted??? (Think I remember Mike saying to take it easy!) And the Sweet Peas: well, I can’t grow them here as it’s too warm, but oh I do love them.
Libby I dare not add then up!! There are certainly quite a few hundred going in every year.
The garden looks fantastic, and you have really done a great job in layout and maintenance. Of course the photos are amazing as well! What a pleasure it must be to stand back and enjoy the rewards of all your hard work.
I’m really enjoying your cutting garden as it moves along, I can’t wait to see even more of your arrangements.
It’s looking gorgeous Julie. I am especially taken with the honesty and look forward to seeing how you use it. Last weekend I planted out my sweetpeas, which I grew following your advice in January, so I am hoping to have sweetpeas in vases all summer (I went mad – 64 plants in a garden of 5x8m!) and I will share the results on my blog as they happen. Please enter me into the draw for this wonderful-sounding book!
I look forward to reading about your sweet peas Joanna – it sounds like you will be swimming in flowers!
I hope so Julie, and will keep you posted. But since the trees in the street have come into leaf, the light in the garden has diminished even more than I expected so I am not sure how the sweetpeas will fare.
I’ve been looking forward to this post to see how the garden is coming along. Just beautifully, judging from these photos. I’m impressed and inspired by how the beds are so well kept and how the whole enterprise (for want of a better word) is so well organised. Enjoying reading these posts. Thanks Julie.
Those white tulips are heavenly. I have a cutting patch in my garden https://resourcefulinsuburbia.wordpress.com/category/the-cutting-garden/ It’s my first year growing flowers for cutting, I’m enjoying it and learning lots!
Thank you for linking in Caroline – I have enjoyed browsing through your blog and hope you will join in again next time!
how organised you are! I am about to start a small cutting patch in my own garden and am now full of ideas and inspiration – thank you for sharing. I am fond of Vita Sackville-West’s writing and Sissinghurst Castle was a favourite place to visit when we lived in the south-east and I would love to be included in your giveaway.
Beautiful, Julie. Extraordinaire!
I have limited internet access so will come back when I can to read your post properly, but please do enter me in your draw – thanks. The link to my cutting bed post is here: https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/cutting-beds-from-battle-plan-to-art-installation/
Thank you Cathy for joining in again – I hope all was well with your seedlings on your return!! They were certainly well prepared for your absence.
You have your cutting green well organised, very impressive, with some good ideas to copy. I grow sweet rocket and would not be with out it now, similarly with honesty, especially the white variegated form,( seed from Chiltern Seeds) and a purple leaved form ‘Rosemary Verey’ which looks stunning now in flower. There are pictures on my blog.
I love your garden very much. Your tulips and the sweet pes are amazing! You do a great job.
Please enter me into the draw.
You’re tulips look amazing julie 🙂 I really love tulips I’ve got some in my small garden but definitely going to plant more this year – appeared in my in a vase on monday.
https://viewsfrommygardenbench.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/in-a-vase-on-monday-purple-and-yellow-tulips-with-berberis/
Fingers crossed more tomorrow
The book sounds lovely – I’d love to go to sissinghurst one day 🙂
Your photograph has reminded me that I must buy a terracotta rhubarb pot. My old plastic bucket did not do the trick this year!
Not much to tell right now although I am updating my veg and flowers tomorrow…what a beautiful book for a giveaway. I am just getting seeds sown outside and not in beds right now as I have to still construct mine. Soon the containers of flowers will be sown or planted out. Loving all your tulips.
I just planted some basil yesterday!
Your tulips look lovely! I grow tulips for the first year in my cutting garden and it really is a hit! Last year I ordered sweet peas at Owl’s Acre and I’ve also planted some winter varieties in my tunnel (normally only summer ones). Last week I could pick my first ones. What a lovely smell and the stems are longer than varieties from last summer. All our fruit trees are in blossom now. Viburnum opulus is starting to bloom but also full of aphids… And some early paeonies have big buds!
Love your garden and blog, really inspiring!!
Gorgeous as always Julie, and I look forward to reading the tulip post. for now I am off to read your wedding posts…..catching up with a cup of tea, whilst it warms up a little outside.
Your garden looks superb. Very inspirational blog. Thank you for sharing.
Having only ‘discovered’ your blog this week, I was fascinated to read about your beautiful cutting garden, which contains a wealth of inspirational advice and ideas! I feel I am still at the learning stage of gardening, although I have created a passable garden over the last 3 years. I’m not a blogger but have kept a detailed, illustrated journal. The book giveaway sounds delightful and one I’d love to add to my growing collection!
Now… back to your blog….
Welcome Alison – I am so pleased that you found your way here. I am sorry but the giveaway has taken place for April – my next Cutting Garden review will be on the last Friday in May and there will be another giveaway if you would like to join in. Your journal sounds fascinating – are your illustrations photographs or drawings?
Oh, silly me, I’d not realised that I was looking at a much earlier post!
Have just read your latest one and again it’s beautiful as well as being packed with ideas and information.
I would love to be able to say my journals contain my own illustrations but I did use my own photos and a very small amount of Clipart.