Hi, I’m Lizzie, the founder of The Rose Press Garden, which is making gardening modern, fun and easy. Step by Step guides and ‘How To’ videos showing you how simple it can be growing gorgeous flowers from seed. Inspiration, advice and a gardening community where there are no silly questions!
The lovely Charlotte has asked me to share some top tips to create flowers throughout the seasons to match your gorgeous Charlotte Noar mugs.
Campanula- Campanulas come in all different shapes and sizes. All have beautiful, usually blue, flowers, and most are attractive to pollinators. These flowers don’t mind a bit of shade, so are suitable for dark corners or small gardens overlooked by walls and fences. Most campanulas grow naturally on chalky grasslands and woodland edges. Campanulas require moist but well-drained soil – they don’t like to sit in damp wet places. Deadhead spent blooms to prolong flowering. Taller species can be cut back in autumn.
Daffodil- Daffodil bulbs are planted in Autumn (usually September and October) for a glorious display in March and April. Most people think of the traditional yellow daffodil- but why not mix in some other varieties into your pots, borders or window boxes. Here are a few of my favourite: Tete tete, Rip Van winkle, Thalia
Make sure you deadhead spent flowers so that the energy goes back into the bulb as the foliage dies back, rather than putting its energy into a seed head. Daffodils will come back year after year.
Forget Me Nots - Often sown to remember loved ones, these gorgeous little flowers can transform flower borders into a mass of pale blue in late Spring and early Summer. I recently discovered these also come in Pink too! Forget-me-not plants love high humidity and moisture so often grow near brooks and streams and other bodies of water. The perennial forget-me-not flower spreads easily, freely self-seeding for more of the wildflower to grow and bloom in shady spots where the tiny seeds may fall. Forget-me-not plants grow best in a damp, shady area, but can adapt to full sun. Forget-me-not flower care is super easy, as with most native wildflowers, simply cut back after they have finished flowering.
Iris - in Charlotte’s mug she features the Yellow flag iris, which was inspired by her childhood home where there was a stream. These flowers love water so ensure you have the right location to plant them. This iris is an herbaceous perennial forming an amazing show which can grow up to 1.5m in height, with bright yellow flowers up to 10cm in width, in mid and late summer. These are real showstoppers, but will take over spaces, so plant cautiously!
If you don’t have a good water source in your garden like a stream or pond then you could try a Bearded Iris, which is one of the most popular irises to grow in our gardens. It has sword shaped foliage and absolutely incredible blooms from May to June. They are an amazing addition to sunny borders. Each bloom is made up of large outer and inner petals, known as ruffs and falls, respectively. Bearded iris are so called because of the hairs growing along the centre of the falls.
Grow bearded iris in moist but well-drained soil in full sun. Make sure the rhizome is sitting above soil level and gets sun for most of the day – this will ensure it flowers reliably. Divide clumps every three years to prevent congestion and to ensure they have enough room.
Roses- Roses are incredible and so diverse. There are shrub roses, climbers and ramblers and often we can have a mix of each in our gardens. Shrub roses are brilliant in borders or containers, climbing roses are great over porches or archways. Rambling roses should be planted with caution- these grow at a rapid rate so are great for covering large walls or pergola structures. Roses can be planted as pot roses, or as bare root roses (usually bare roots are cheaper!). Ensure you deadhead spent blooms and feed well as roses like to have lots of nutrients to thrive.
Sweet Pea- Sweet Peas are not only absolutely beautiful, but they’re real hard workers in the garden, meaning you get plenty of flowers. Plus they are brilliant for climbing up structures, supports ot trellis so they don’t take up too much space in small gardens. Sweet Peas are known for their incredible scent too- so place them either in a border or container near to where you will sit so that you can enjoy the scent. Sweet Peas can be sown from September through to May for flowers in the Summer. When they’re about 10cm tall you can pinch them to create branching and even more flowers. Ensure you keep cutting the flowers to encourage even more. Sweet Peas also thrive when fed weekly with a seaweed feed mix that you can add to your watering cans.
Growing your own garden can be easy and fun. Come join me on Instagram @therosepressgarden for inspiration and tips, or find out more to shop on www.therosepressgarden.com
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