A cutting garden...
Yellow Gladioli
What's the nicest garden activity to do first thing on a summer's morning? Take a cane basket and wander around picking flowers for the house. So many to choose from, so many different colours. My whole garden becomes, in effect, a cutting garden.
Gathering flowers for the house from my garden needs mental and physical strength. I usually have to struggle past over-grown greenery, or push through blocked paths and over-planted borders. I also have to ignore, for example, the roses that need dead-heading, the Delphiniums which need staking, and so on. Not to mention the weeds that need weeding, and the prunus suckers which need chopping out...
David Austin roses...
Having run the gauntlet of garden maintenance (specifically, the lack thereof), I often arrive in the house with the roses missing half their petals. Some of my favourite David Austins (like yellow Graham Thomas) do this. One day later and my kitchen bench can be covered in fallen petals. Don't ever sneeze near a vase of David Austin roses!
One day this past summer I decided to fill the house with colour themed displays. The bathroom was pink : Gladioli, spiky Dahlias, summer Phlox (which smelt peculiar), and a cluster of Kate Shepard roses (no smell). The hallway was orange-yellow and white, with Ligularias, orange Alstroemerias, and Shasta daises (which smelt like cat pee). The living area was red : a huge vase full of Crimson Cascade roses (no smell). Had a good idea. Bought a room freshener called 'French Rose', and sprayed it near the phlox, the red roses, and the Shasta daisies. This was not my brightest moment - my house smelt like a well-cleaned public toilet. Ooops.
The prettiest foliage in my garden begs to be included, to be cut and popped in a vase. But here again some understanding is required. Adding bronze fennel to Compassion roses might have looked great, but the smell wasn't. Then one day I put fern leaves in a dinner table vase of dahlias. I thought they looked beautiful - bringing the green of nature into the house, and all that. The ferns quickly dripped an indiscrete layer of brown spores all over the table cloth. Oops again.
New Hydrangeas
I've always wondered about the suitability of certain flowers for the house. For example, are hydrangeas supposed to last in a vase? Because the ones I pick never, ever do. So I asked Ms Google. Eek! An alum dip, or a dip in boiling water, a diagonal cut - easy as! My second question concerns dahlias. I have many dahlias in my garden, flowering from summer on until the first frosts of winter. Are dahlias considered good cut flowers? Because I'm not sure they smell very nice inside. Aha! According to Ms Google florists say yes! My nose must be the problem here.
So what flowers should be in a cutting garden?
Just in case I ever decide to created a dedicated cutting garden, I asked Ms Google again (she's such a know-it-all) what she'd recommend. Top of the search list, here are her top ten flowers for cutting :
1. Cosmos
2. Dahlias
3. Roses
4. Alchemilla Mollis (?)
5. Sweet Peas
6. Lagurus Ovatus (hare's-tail grass)
7. Rudbeckia
8. Achillea
9. Zinnias
10. Eryngium.
Interesting that dahlias are in second place, before roses. And no place for three of my favourites, Gladioli, Delphiniums, and Peonies. I guess it all comes down to personal choice, the amount of florist there is in a home gardener, and the sensitivity of the nose!