For the longest vase life cut Larkspur (Delphinium consolida) when one-third of the blossoms are open. Larkspur also makes a great dried flower.

Much the same as my previous videos on Harvesting Orlaya Grandiflora, Ammi majus and Wild Carrot or Daucus carota are from the same family of plants

Snapdragons are geotropic which means they are influenced by gravity.

If conditioned at an angle, even in complete darkness the tips of the flowers will bend skywards and fix in that position.

Arrange-A-Long

Part One – Cutting and Conditioning
Part Two – Making an Arrangement

The first Orlaya grandiflora flowers are just beginning to emerge.

This early in the season you want to cherry pick those stems that are fully open but without any sign of pollen drop.

Stems will feel firm to the touch while underdeveloped buds will feel soft and bendy under your fingers, avoid these stems for now because they will likely wilt after picking.

Very late flowering plants such as Sedum can be cut back in May (around the time of the ‘Chelsea Flower Show’) to produce shorter bushier plants that will then not require staking.

Sedum cuttings can be easily rooted in water.

The bulbs are over so we are swapping out the pots in Neil’s homemade patio containers with Dahlias that are best suited to pots.

Cutting and conditioning Sweet Rocket (Hesperis matronalis aka Dame’s Rocket, Dame’s Violet).

Spring Tour of the garden and a chance to catch up with the Autumn Jump Starter Plants

Sowing of Courgette, Climbing French Beans and Runner Beans for the Garden and patio pots

Panicum Frosted Explosion is an amazing as garden decoration as well as a cut flower foliage filler for late summer until the frosts.

China Asters
Callistephus chinensis

Zinnias are tender plants native to Mexico and as a result resent cold wet conditions.

Avoid frost at all costs. This video will explain how to achieve the best results.

Orach (Atriplex hortensis) perfect for dramatic garden decoration especially towards the end of Summer and Autumn. The tender leaves can be eaten just like spinach or leave plants to develop seed pods to use as cut flowers.

Kitchen Garden update plus starting Cucumbers for planting in the greenhouse or in patio pots

Wrinkled Cress is the perfect quick foliage filler for your bouquets and arrangements. In this video I give you a whistle stop tour from sowing and growing through to harvesting.

In this video I explain different sowing techniques, successional sowing and answer your questions at the end

How to sow and grow Amaranthus for cut flowers as well as dramatic garden decoration

How to sow and grow Helichrysum.

Flowers will bloom until the frosts taking the place of earlier flowering hardy annual plants.

Flowers can be used both fresh or dried for everlasting flowers.

How to sow and grow one of the worlds favourite garden plants, Cosmos bipinnatus for armfuls of blooms and dramatic garden display this Summer.

When and how should you pick Ranunculus and what is the Marshmallow stage?

Fast growing and easy for the beginner.

Wonderful used fresh in bouquets and arrangements, filling in all those awkward gaps, Statice can be dried for everlasting flowers.

Tomatoes need to be kept above 5C so you may need to sow and grow them indoors initially. To help prevent leggy seedlings (leggy Linda’s) you can create a simple foil reflector.

How we support our Sweet Pea’s and protect the blooms from rain and adverse weather conditions.

One of the first foliage fillers to be ready in my garden and the last still standing in November! This perennial, once established, will give you bucket loads of stems and needs very little care and attention. Fresh green foliage early in the season and stems with delicate flowers later in summer.

Carnations ‘Dianthus caryophyllus’, technically a tender perennial. Carnations are best grown as an annual. They dislike damp conditions so are unsuitable for Autumn Jump Starting. Sown in late winter gives them not only the time and but also lower temperatures at the young plant stage to achieve strong bushy growth.

Late Winter is the perfect time to sow Rudbeckia hirta for blooms from later in Summer until the frosts.

Pinching Snapdragons Late Winter is the perfect time to sow a 2nd round of Snapdragons, they will bloom slightly later than the Autumn Jump Starter Snapdragons which should now be ready for pinching to create more bouquet sized stems. Full how to and why in this video.

How to sow and grow your own Eucalyptus

From sowing and successful germination all the way thru to flowering, harvesting blooms and arranging.

Malope trifida and Stock (matthiola incana) part 1 sowing seeds for successful germination. You can follow along in real time by following me on Instagram
@zoewoodwardgardening

The annual scabious (scabiosa atropurpurea) is a supreme cut flower! I like to sow late winter for best results

Late Winter 2nd Sowing of Anemone and Ranunculus Corms For busy gardeners you can now plan ahead with our Grow-A-Long Handbooks. It contains technical growing information including plant heights and spacing, what to pinch and when, key dates to help you plan for the growing season ahead, and a sowing schedule.

The best time to sow Sweetpeas is in the Autumn but you also have a short window in late winter. In this video I explain why it’s best not to sow any later than the end of February.

Soil Science
In these videos we will discuss Soil PH, Soil Structure, Soil Horizons, Planting and Composting.

Leaves turning yellow for no apparent reason? Your plants could be suffer from ‘Cold Shock’.

In this video I’m going to demonstrate how to make a simple buttonhole using flowers you have grown yourself from your garden.

My list of essential kit is also available in the handbooks with pages you can print and take it shopping. In these videos I will also take you through each item and explain the use.

In this video I will explain what a seed is which will help you understand why we need to store them carefully in a cool dry place.

How to make your own cold frames

Shopping List
VC Corrugated Roof Sheets

Length : 2m Width : 762mm

Frame 850mm x 350mm Pressure treated wood (Total needed approx. 6.5M)

Back legs 2 x 500mm

Front legs 2 x 400mm these are shorter so rain will run off

Extra support baton 25mm x 35mm (total wood 2.8M)

100mm screws

Roof fixings will cover any screws in the roof

Drying Strawflowers and wiring.

It is better to wire flowers fresh and then dry them, they are easier and less fragile.

Convert your ‘Leggy Linda’ seedlings into new plants by taking Sweet Pea cuttings.

Leggy Seedlings is the most common problem when starting seeds is too little light.

Dahlia Hall of Fame, the very best Dahlias to grow as cut Flowers for Flower arranging, Weddings and Events

Is there any flower in the world more beautiful than a Peony?

Herbaceous Peonies are the most well known type of peony and probably the most converted Wedding Flower ever! Not a single stem is wasted.

Here are my top tips on how to grow Herbaceous Peonies.

Wire Hoop Plant Supports.It can be expensive and tricky to adequately support a whole cut flower garden, here are some plant supports you can make yourself…

Flower Frames
Our own ‘invention’ these double Plant Staking with Cold Frames and extend our season here in the Chiltern Hills right on the Buckinghamshire / Bedfordshire border…

In order to have a season long display rather than one big bonanza, you should plant bulbs with a variety of flowering times.