Growing Hyacinths in a vase of water is a traditional method, much loved by the Victorians. Seeing the bulb roots through the glass looks beautiful & is intriguing, especially for children. You can enjoy the fabulous, heady fragrance of the flowers indoors. And perhaps best of all, it’s easy to do! What you’ll need;
How to start your bulbs into growth; Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
After flowering... The hyacinth bulbs are exhausted after the effort of producing a flower in water only. Transplant bulbs into the garden after flowering. They may not flower well next year but will recover to produce small blooms in future years. Ready to try 'Something New'? Many bulbs will grow in water, just like Hyacinths. You could try Snowdrops, Crocus, Narcissi (especially the Miniature ones), even Amaryllis. Just use a different size jar, & have fun! Blog post by Rosie Gray, Galloway Flowers. Updated from her post first published here on 22/11/2016
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It's perfect weather for collecting my own seed this week - dry for several days now.
The seedheads on many easy to grow cut flowers are beginning to mature now & when dry, store well. This Orlaya, a favourite white umbellifer-shape flower is one I always collect. If the seed isn't really fresh, germination can be poor. But from my own seed, well used to growing conditions here in Scotland, I get good results. Each individual seed is like a little hedgehog (it splits in 2 along those cracks you see opening?) covered in hard bristles. It catches on anything that brushes past (my leggings, dog coats...) explaining why it can pop up in surprising places. But it's a 'good' weed to have! I'll sow some this week (that's what I mean by really fresh) for a light, airy froth of flowers in weddings next May & early June. Then another batch or 2 will be sown next Spring. Like everything, seed is shooting up in price so why not have a look around your patch & see what seeds you could collect for free? No chemicals, no air miles to transport long distance - just fresh seed for you, & perhaps to swap with friends. And a little beauty in your garden to look forward to in 2023... To learn more about growing cut flowers to fill your garden & home with beauty, join me at my next 'Cut Flowers From Your Garden ' workshop. Find all the details & Book Online Here Most of the plants grown here at the Flower Farm are grown by ourselves either from seed or cuttings. It keeps our costs low & often is the only way to obtain the best varieties for cut flowers.
Perhaps we want specific colours or tall, strong stems, or extra long vase life. Some varieties are better than others for these traits. This little Delphinium seedling may not look much here when pricked out in mid-March. But soon it'll be producing plenty of tall, frilly flower spikes. Growing from seed is exciting as I never know exactly the colour each plant will be. Every one is an original. I'll select the best & grown on for more stock in years to come. Will 80 be enough? Dreaming of your own Cut Flower Patch at home this Summer? Join me in April & I'll show you how to make it happen! All the details & Online Booking on the 'Cut Flowers From Your Garden' workshop page Here I'm often asked what prompted me to start the Flower Farm here near Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway.
Well, it was a bit of a long & winding road to be honest. I've always adored flowers, ever since I was a toddler really & especially our beautiful British Cottage Garden Flowers. Flowers were always in my life (I grew up next to a Peony Farm) but unable to see a career in horticulture, I kept it strictly outside work. But I grew flowers always, loved arranging them in a natural way to please me & slowly over time, they started to be noticed. The village flower arrangers wanted them, a few local florists too & so I started selling flowers on a very small scale when I lived in Wiltshire. A health scare gave me the jolt I needed to step it up. Nothing quite like a couple of MRI scans to get you thinking... Slowly a plan formed, we moved to Scotland nearer my partners parents & since 2015, making those plans happen. Growing Cottage Garden flowers in a sustainable way, & sharing their beauty & scent with others is such a special experience. And I'm always trying something new to grow each season, hoping to delight my Customers with them. It's physically tough at times, a huge learning curve & totally worth it. Whatever took me so long? Because on these short, dark days I'm missing my Dahlias... This is Dahlia 'Darkarin'.
The last couple of weeks have been hectic here, digging these Dahlia tubers out of their Summer beds before the cold weather begins.
All are now out of the ground, dried off & stored in a frost free place. It's a big job each year - all the Dahlia Tubers are health checked as we go. Some divide as we clean, others we'll divide in the Spring if necessary. When dried, the tubers are packed away & kept frost free until we start them off again. We started the season with approximately 600 tubers & we try to record as we go how many we have at the end. Some varieties are discarded as not great producers & I'll not grow them them again. A few were unhealthy so discarded. And then there are those I want to propagate so next year I'll have even more of a variety. How many will the total be for 2022? More than ever! I hope my crystal ball is working well so I have the favoured colours for next years weddings... What do you think that'll be? If you aren't a Gardener or a Flower Farmer, you might not be that impressed by this photo today... But this view of one of our compost heaps is pure Gold to me!
Last week, I posted a photo of a load of plant stems being carted off to the compost heap. This is what it turns into a year later. This heap could be riddled & spread on the beds now but I'll probably leave it until Spring. It'll break down just a little bit more & give plants a flying start. Composting is easy to do, improves soil quality & returns nutrients to the soil. It produces stronger, healthier plants, retains moisture & of course produces the best flowers. Over time those strong plants capture more carbon in the soil too. Promise I'll be back to posting the pretties later... First of my Iceland Poppies - what a shot of colour!
I'm hoping though the other plants will be in the pretty pastel shades of peach, pink ^ lemon pictured on the seed packet. Unlike most poppies, these are good for cutting. Our first batch of Sweet Peas are growing away well now - these little seedlings are destined for a cossetted life in the Polytunnel so we have them ready for our early summer brides. The next batch (a mere 500 seeds) were started last Sunday & will be planted out in the Cut Flower Farm beds when ready. Yes, I do love my Sweet Peas! If you would love to grow Sweet Peas next Summer, why not join me for the next 'Cut Flowers From Your Garden' workshop? All the details can be found here through the LINK After all the seed catalogue browsing on dark winter evenings, the careful choosing, list refining & ordering, the week has finally arrived when I begin sowing our cut flowers in earnest. My fingers have been itching for weeks to start, of course - it's so tempting as all those packets of potential arrive by post! In January, I sowed only more Sweet Peas (so my early Brides can enjoy them in bouquets), plus Antirrhinum & Cleome (these take ages to germinate). But experience has taught me to begin sowing cut flower seed before Valentines's Day (February 14th) is reckless. It's an arbitrary, easy to remember date, nothing magical happens on that date. Just that the days are getting a little longer, light levels & the temperature is rising. I still sow these early seeds under cover, often using the gentle heat of a propogator. My main seed sowing effort is in March & April. It'll be mid-March before I risk sowing seed in the ground. To do so earlier would waste the time & money - it'll simply rot. Still far too wet & cold here in South West Scotland. It's not that seed sown earlier under cover wouldn't germinate - treated well they should. But apart from the toughies (like Sweet Peas) the tiny plants need cossetting for so long before they can safely be planted outside. And for most of us, there simply isn't enough space to protect growing young plants well. Windowsills, greenhouse, polytunnel & cold frame space is at a premium in these early months of the year. In this house, even the bathroom shelves & airing cupboard are used for little trays of germinating seeds... But it's easier to provide warmth & protection from the wind than the good light essential to grow strong plants. Without this, seedlings stretch towards the light, growing on weak stems. It may seem frustrating to wait when we really want to get started. However, seed sown later frequently overtakes brethren from the same packet, sown earlier. The growing conditions are so much better, they romp away strongly. So begin with a few this week & build up into the coming months. I'll post some suggestions for what to sow & how in the coming weeks. But for now, preparing the space for the seed sowing frenzy is a good task for a cold, blowy day like this one. Wash up your trays, pots & propogator lids, wash down the greenhouse windows to let the light in. And for Valentine's Day tomorrow? Fingers crossed my beloved knows the way to my heart would be a gift of some extra greenhouse lights than a mass of Columbian grown red roses!
Step 2
Place the bulb somewhere cool & in low light conditions for about 10 weeks. I put mine in a frost-free greenhouse under the shelving. The bulbs must be kept frost-free. Refresh the water weekly & keep topped up to level described in step 1. Step 3 When a strong root & bud (approx. 2”/5cms) has formed, bring the vase into a lighter (not bright sunshine) & cool place indoors. The leaves will ‘green up’ & after 3-4 days can be moved to a brighter place, for example a windowsill. If leaves begin growing too fast compared to the bud, return to a cooler position. Keep away from temperature extremes – draughts & hot places (such as close to a radiator). Step 4 As the flower opens, move to somewhere you’ll enjoy the intoxicating fragrance. Turn the vase a little each day so they don’t lean towards the sun. A north facing windowsill is perfect. Flowers will typically last up to 2 weeks. Different cultivars will grow at different speeds. If you want flowers for Christmas, aim to start your bulbs off by September 24th – but it isn’t an exact science. After flowering The hyacinth bulbs are exhausted after the effort of producing a flower in water only. Transplant bulbs into the garden after flowering. They may not flower well next year but will recover to produce small blooms in future years. |
AuthorRosie Gray of Galloway Flowers. Cut Flower Grower & Florist near Castle Douglas, in South West Scotland. Using 100% Flowers & Foliage grown in British Isles, all year round. Archives
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