Blue and white cutting garden collection
- Position: Full sun
- Soil: Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: Fast
- Flowering period: June to September
- Hardiness: Fully hardy
Introducing our exquisite cottage garden inspired cut flower collection, curated for the discerning gardener and florist.
The collection contains one packet of seeds for each of the plants listed below. Each packet comes with its own specific sowing instructions.
- Centaurea cyanus ‘Blue Ball': A double-flowering form of the traditional bright blue cornflower, ‘Double Blue’ performs wonderfully as a cottage garden annual and as a cut flower in as little as 10 to 12 weeks from a spring sowing. Grows to 1m.
- Nigella damascena ‘Miss Jekyll’: Sky-blue, disc-like flowers appear on upright stems clothed in wispy-tipped foliage from midsummer. This easy to grow annual well-drained border. Ideal for the novice or young gardener, the blooms make excellent cut or dried flowers. Grows to 45cm.
- Ammi majus : Dainty white flowerheads that look like lacework are born in summer and seem to hover in a frothy haze above the finely cut, green foliage. The flowers are often used by florists to add a ethereal, romantic feel to bouquets, and they can last up to 10 days after being cut. Grows to 1m.
- Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Purity’: This popular, pure white annual cosmos makes a great filler plant for a sunny, moist but well-drained border. Dead-head 'Purity' regularly and you'll have a succession of graceful, pure white, saucer-shaped flowers up to 10cm (4in) in diameter from June to October. Grows to 1.2m.
- Consolida regalis ‘Fancy Purple Picotee’: An elegant and eye-catching well-branched hardy annual, with ferny, palmate mid-green leaves, and spikes of pale purple blooms edged with a darker purple. 'Fancy Purple Picotee' is a beautiful and easy to grow larkspur for the border, providing colour throughout the summer as well as wonderful flowers for cutting which last a long time in water. Grows to 1.2m.
Seedlings should be potted up and grow on under glass until all risk of frost has passed and they can be planted outside in a well-prepared bed. Pinch out the growing tips to encourage bushier growth, and feed at regular intervals throughout summer with a high-potash fertiliser. Taller plants may need supporting with brushwood stems in exposed positions.