Cut Flowers: Prepare the ground, sow seed, nurture, harvest, fill your vases

Slow Flowers Journal’s book maven recommends

Cut Flowers by Celestina Robertson
Cut Flowers: Prepare the ground, sow the seed, nurture, harvest, fill your vases (Bloom Gardener’s Guide)
Celestina Robertson, author | Frances Lincoln, publisher | 160 pages | $18.00

Small but powerful. Diminutive, this fantastic paperback is loaded with great information, encouragement, and insights for flower farmers and floral artists everywhere. Cut Flowers’ subtitle can be your mantra: “Prepare the ground, sow the seed, nurture, harvest, fill your vases.”

Celestina Robertson, author
Celestina Robertson, author

As the founder of the artisan flower farm, Forever Green Flower Company, based in Norfolk, England, Celestina Robertson combines her two passions: art and gardening. She embraces the idea that “…making a planting plan is like painting a space with plants. By growing flowers, you bring the outside indoors, staying in tune with the seasons and the natural world. “

She notes characteristics of a good cut flower:

  • Hydration: a good “cut” flower must be able to take up water
  • Vase life: longer is better
  • Stem length: avoid compact types
  • Growth habit: straighter stems are easier to work with
  • Scent: elusive but transformative to an entire arrangement
  • Love: growing what you love is self-explanatory

She reviews the tenets of good floral design: structure, which may involve foliage from woody plants; focal and supporting flowers; plus adding in the “fillers, texture and airy elements.” It is also good to note seasonal flowers always look like they belong together.

Anemone x hybrida, Digitalis purpurea, Scabiosa, and Gladiolus murielae (amazingly fragrant).
A monochrome palette and interesting flower shapes combine in this
group that includes Anemone × hybrida (Japanese anenome), Digitalis purpurea
‘Bondana’ (foxglove ‘Bondana’) and Gladiolus murielae (abyssinian gladiolus)

Next, assess the shape of the space you will be working with and select the plants. Your plan should take into consideration the “aspect” of the site as it relates to the sun’s movement in the sky, as well as exposure to the elements, soil conditions, and drainage issues. 

A good rule of thumb is to dedicate one-third of your growing space to focal flowers and two-thirds to fillers and foliage. She recommends taking notes and creating a recipe book throughout the year.   

This arrangement uses a large vintage confit pot with a wide neck to display the
soft, pastel blooms of late spring. In such a large vessel it is necessary to use both
a kenzen or frog and a chicken wire armature to hold the stems in place.
• Secure a weighted kenzan or pin frog
in the base of the vessel.
• Cut and fold a piece of chicken wire
into a rough ball shape, making sure
you have two layers for the stems
to pass through. Push this into the
vessel so it is wedged about half way
down the container. Fill the vessel
with water.
Secure a weighted kenzan or pin frog in the base of the vessel. Cut and fold a piece of chicken wire into a rough ball shape, making sure you have two layers for the stems to pass through. Push this into the vessel so it is wedged about half way down the container. Fill the vessel with water.

Celestina addresses essential tasks for each season:
Spring involves the preparation of the garden beds and all aspects of sowing seeds. There are branches to be pruned and coaxed for displays.
Summer will have you sowing more seeds, transplanting plugs, deadheading other flowers, and doing the “Chelsea Chop.” The timing of irrigation and creating supporting structures will keep you busy when you aren’t harvesting summer blooms.
Autumn is full of deep rich colors, seedheads, ornamental grasses, and dahlias.
There’s even a how-to for drying flowers and prepping the garden for
winter.

Compact but complete, comprehensive, and informative, Cut Flowers is a valuable handbook for anyone contemplating a career in flower farming and floral artistry.         

Mary Ann Newcomer

Scribe-Scout-Speaker A daughter of the American west, with great grandparents who homesteaded in Idaho, I tagged along with my grandmother and grandfather as they gardened in the tiny town of Latah, Washington, just across the Idaho state line. I have developed a fierce passion for all things GARDEN. I grow, scout, and write about gardens. My expertise is in the Intermountain West, but I have written for Rocky Mountain Gardening, Country Gardens, MaryJane’s Farm, Fine Gardening, Leaf Magazine, the American Gardener, and newspapers across the region. I’ve designed public, private, and commercial landscapes, and gardens for flower shows. I love encouraging gardeners to get down and dirty. When not tending to my garden, I volunteer my time weeding or planting or doing garden design work at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise.

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Slow Flowers Journal is brought to you by SlowFlowers.com. Slow Flowers is an award-winning online directory created to help consumers find florists, studio designers, wedding and event planners, supermarket flower departments and flower farmers that supply American grown flowers. Founded in 2014, the site has grown to 850 members across the U.S.

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