How to plan cut flower crops
No gaps, just great combinations all season long
I began my horticultural and design career in 2001.
Growing flowers all that time but only sowing a flower, to grow to cut, in 2015.
All seeds were started on the same day.
It was brilliant. Loads of germination. Success!
Then so much pricking out, potting on and transplanting. I ran out of room to keep them. I sold seedlings rather than flowers.
There were flowers, armfuls of flowers, but for about 6 weeks. Then nothing.
What went wrong?
Fast forward the next few years.
I learnt that there are plenty of times to sow a seed in a year, and they’ll produce flowers. Some are ‘come and cut again’. Some just flower once.
Sow others 4 times a year, and cut those almost continually.
Buckets of orlaya in early spring to arrange with ranunculus and anemone, sunflowers all summer long.
I developed a programme to sow and grow plants to create combinations of flowers for cutting and arranging from late March until the first frosts (and a little after!)
I call it planning in 4D. You see 3D growing to me is one plant one space in a bed. Like a shrub or a perennial. But annuals and biennials are not permanent occupiers of space. Beds can have 2 or 3 crops growing in a year. That’s 4D growing - adding the element of time.
It’s complex, fascinating and thrilling to plan your cut flowers like this.
Really like your use of the 4D concept here.