Other jobs for the Autumn include planting Spring bulbs. We tend to wait till November before planting our tulips which go into trenches about 25cm deep. It’s time too for sowing hardy annuals and lifting your favourite dahlias after a frost for propagation in early Spring.’ Rosebie Morton, The Real Flower Company I make paper pots, from old newspaper, or kitchen roll tubes are ideal. Sweet peas like a deep pot to establish their roots and dislike root disturbance – plant the sweet pea and pot when mature enough means a happy plant and less work for you too.’ Sarah Diligent, Floribunda Rose Gladiolus ‘The Bride’ Its pure-white starry flowers should overcome any anti-gladdie prejudice. Also try acid-green ‘Evergreen’ and orangey-brown ‘Bimbo’ With their short stems they may not be an obvious choice, however Muscari or grape hyacinths make great little table arrangements! Their form contrasts well with other blooms and the blue varieties shout spring when teamed with pinks and yellows. A classic cut flower, long-adored for its long-lasting blooms, luxurious, silky petals and delicate fragrance. Another plus is that Paeonia is a long-living and very low maintenance hardy perennial that will offer more blooms year on year.

And there’s lots of ivy with berries, autumn foliage, hips and evergreen loveliness around the garden as a whole. But I have ambitious plans for next year in my cutting garden. On the list already are zinnias, ranunculus, more roses, more dahlias, lots of tulips. I have taken cuttings of salvia and potted up lots of self-seeded lady’s mantle creeping its way beyond the flower beds. To really build on this year, I could do with some expert ideas and tips, so I decided to ask for help from one or two inspirational women growers I happen to know… New Improved Online Store Be secure knowing the fresh flowers that we are known for are still being artfully arranged I would definitely include Winchester Cathedral on my list of roses to grow for cutting. It’s a lovely clear white rose; sweetly scented, it produces lots of rosette-like blooms with pink tinged buds opening to pure white and it flowers all summer.Growing the flowers is only half the battle – as I learned, the hard way. My poppies were a disaster as cut flowers because no sooner had I cut and put them into water than they’d promptly wilt and flop. I wanted some helpful ideas for creating sustainable and lasting arrangements using the flowers I grow, so I asked Sarah Diligent of Floribunda Rose to share her top 3 tips.

Lunaria annua (honesty) A/Bi: purple flowers, attractive seed pods; (L. annua var. albiflora gas white flowers) If growing flowers for business or for an event, you should make sure that you have a wide range of contrasting flower forms and some fillers that compliment larger single feature blooms, such as Achillea or Gypsophila.You may want to grow for scent —there is no sweeter smell than that of a freshy-cut flower that you have grown yourself! Even the most fragrant flowers start to lose their scent once cut. Freshness is key to a highly fragrant bouquet, and growing your own is the best way to ensure they’re as fresh as possible. Annuals: the initial outlay of buying seeds is less than when buying perennials e.g. sunflowers, cosmos, cornflower and larkspur. They have to be sown every year, but this can be an opportunity to try new or different plants.Limited flowering seasons can be extended by sowing in autumn or propagating plants in a greenhouse. Garden designer Hannah Miles-Watson, inspired by Blooming Green, also grows an array of seasonal flowers from her cut flower farm in Benenden and holds bespoke workshops on a range of topics, including starting a cutting garden. For anyone starting their own cutting garden there are lots of books. Some of my favourites are The Cut Flower Patch By Louise Curley, In Bloom by Clare Nolan and The Flower Garden by Clare Foster and Sabina Ruber. Georgia Miles, The Sussex Flower School Most cut flowers are sun-lovers, but a few tolerant tolerate shade (e.g. Solomon's seal, Acanthus spinosus and heuchera).

If you are growing tall plants which may become top heavy, such as dahlias or lilies, it’s worth putting something in to support them and ensure they stay upright through the season. The most effective way is to create a grid with twine between canes which are pushed firmly into the soil around the edge of the cutting patch at a spacing of around 20-30cm. The twine should be tied to the canes at each end of the areas to create a grid support. It is much easier to include a support for your plants to grow through than to support each plant once it is already fully grown. Top cut flowers to grow I love to watch the busy eco system at work – so many butterflies, bees, ladybirds and naturally healthy plants. Is there anything better? Choose a position that is generally sunny most of the time. Plants need the sun to create blooms, and a shady spot will limit the number of cut flowers produced. Ideally, you will need a patch that is in full sun for at least 6 hours on most days. That said, there are some varieties which prefer to grow in shade and you could assign a separate space for those. The Cutting Garden (growing and arranging flowers) by Sarah Raven (Frances Lincoln Ltd. 1996,ISBN 0-7112-1047-0)Antirrhinum Highly recommended is the double-flowered Madame Butterfly range. The Potomac Series copes well with heat. Buy plugs, as seed is unreliable There are so many things I got wrong this year… planting rows too close together, not taking into account the height plants would grow to and where they’d create shade. Not giving plants sturdy enough stakes to cling to when the wind really whipped up. Planting too densely because I didn’t want to waste any seedlings if I didn’t have to… to name just a few. But… of all the flowers I have grown this year, the café au lait dahlias have been my hands-down favourites. They are still giving me 10 or so dinner plate-sized flowers a week. I must have had over 100 flowers so far and all just from 9 bulbs. They are big, blowsy and utterly beautiful.