What a busy few weeks it has been! We have had lots of visitors, school activities and the amazing Tweedlove biking festival, not to mention lots of gardening and flowers to arrange too! I have finally found a moment to stop, sit down with a cuppa and let you now what has been happening in the cutting garden recently.
Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to Gardening Scotland and help promote British Flowers on the Flowers from the Farm stand. Flowers from the Farm is a network of flower growers across Britain who are working towards a common goal, putting locally grown flowers back into vases in peoples homes across the country. There are about 200 of us who are members and this is growing all the time. At Gardening Scotland we met with so much enthusiasm and interest from members of the public and organisations such as the Royal Horticultural Society. I also got to meet many other fellow growers from across Scotland, which was a great chance to make new friends and share our love of British Flowers.
Back at home in the cutting garden things have not been so easy with a few blustery days and nights to contend with. Luckily after watching the weather forecast I went out and did some extra staking and made sure the tunnels were really well pegged down. I think this staking really helped and although the sweet william are looking a bit battered the rest of the flowers have come through it unscathed! Now all we need is some more sunshine to help all the flowers catch up, which are several weeks behind last year now.
On a more positive note there are things flowering in the garden! The alliums are just bursting through, the lilac is flowering and I have some calendula in the fleece tunnels. The phacelia, nigella, corncockle and cornflowers look like they will be making an appearance any day now with their buds just ready to open. The hesperis must be the star of the show this week though and will be making its way into a few jam jars on Friday!
Alliums in the garden
The first calendula and lilac
This weeks star of the show the beautiful Hesperis
My dahlias have come on well in the conservatory and now it is June and the last frosts are hopefully past, it is time to plant them out. I will stake these well and hope that they survive any attack from the slugs! It is my first year growing these lovely flowers and I am excited to see everyones reaction to them.
Dahlias ready to get planted out
I have planted out the peonies in the garden but as it is their first year I am not expecting flowers whilst they put down roots and grow foliage.
The scented flower border is coming on with the delphiniums, lavender and phlox now planted out. The hydrangeas I put out too early and they have succumbed a bit to the frost. I had thought maybe they had died but there are signs of new growth coming back now. I must remember next year not to plant out any new perennials until June as the weather is just too unpredictable in Scotland!
Last week it was great to be able to use some new flowers in my jam jar posies for the garden gate stall. My favourite had to be the briza grass which reflects the light  as it moves in the breeze and adds something that little bit different to the arrangements. I will definitely be growing more of this.
Briza grass in last weeks jam jar posies
The next few weeks will be busy while I continue to plant out the remaining annuals, stake the plants and start sewing the biennials for next year. British Flowers Week is in 2 weeks time and we are hoping that people will come along and support homegrown flowers. There may just be a few lonely bouquets to find too!
I will leave you this week with a picture of our rhododendrons which are looking spectacular at the garden gate. Have a great week and happy gardening!
