Higgledy Garden
  • About Higgledy Garden
  • The Higgledy Garden Shop
  • Ben’s Blog
  • Growing Guides
  • Seed Sowing Guide
  •  
0
Your cart is empty. Go to Shop.

Growing Cornflowers From Seed.

Cornflowers on the boat garden as we motor down the Great River Ouse.

The Higgledy clan are not new to this growing flowers on boats malarky. Reginald Clonkton-Higgledy, the famous Victorian Nazi hunter grew swathes of annual flowers on his armoured narrowboat, The Hesperis. He would patrol the River Ouse while deadheading and often made himself rather dashing flower crowns while keeping a watchful eye out for hun. There is no doubt that like many of the Higgledys, he was well ahead of his time.

Now I have grown perhaps a dozen or more varieties of flowers this season. My boat Casper has been a wonderful host to the garden. It must be said that a chap must never be without Cornflowers in his cutting patch, it is simply unthinkable to have a summer without these willowy beasts swaying about and making the world a better place. It puts a spring in a fellow’s step and a warble in his whistle.

I opted for Cornflower ‘Blue Ball‘ as this season’s Cornflower of choice. In East Anglia, where Reginald would hunt his yet unformed enemies, ‘Blue Ball’ was grown extensively for the cut flower market due to it being delightfully reliable from seed, a great cropper with heaps of flowers and the fact that that the Great British public adored them. Sadly this industry was all but destroyed by cheap imports flown in from Kenya and Columbia but we are of course seeing a resurgence in flower farms which are much smaller and more resilient than their 1970’s cousins. There is a new hope.

Calendula with Cornflowers ‘Black Ball’…thx to Karina for sending this one.

I grew three ‘Blue Ball’ plants on the boat but in hindsight that was too many. I have had perhaps hundreds of blooms just from these three and I would have been better off to have one of each of my three favourite varieties. The other two being ‘Black Ball‘ and ‘Classic Romantic‘. ‘Black Ball’ is neither black nor is it a ball but it makes up for this shortfall by being a splendid offering to the universe in a deep plum colour. It is perhaps the most grown up and sophisticated of the Cornflower trio that I grow in my gardens. Like ‘Blue Ball’ he is robust and has strong stems that make him perfect for the vase. I often display ‘Black Ball’ with simple ‘Indian Prince‘ Calendula. Like many things in the world, simplicity is usually the key to a happy heart.

Thx to Kathy Kay for sending this pic…wonderful display….634 extra points to you.

‘Classic Romantic’, is a frosty, silvery pink. This colour is generally not my vibe but once I grew it I understood it had its place in the Higgledy portfolio. Pinks look less gushy when displayed in the vase with greys, dark blues and citrus greens. Nicotiana ‘Lime Green’ is brilliant with pinks. Add some wild grasses to appeal to the tiger in you and bingo, you’ve got a full page in Country Living and Monty is ringing you up begging for guidance.

Thx Rosy Bows for this pic. This is wonderful…and the Cornflowers ‘Classic Romantic’ look totally smashing.

All of these varieties can be easily dried and will keep their colour if it is done properly. Dried cornflowers keep their colour really rather well and there is something ‘farmhousey’ and comforting about a bunch of hanging cornflowers. Also if you grow your own cornflowers you may find you have a glut that you can’t use…especially if you are a miserable old hermit with no friends. So drying will give you flowers for the winter when most British blooms are a fading memory.

My method is to harvest the flowers early, just before they come into flower. Take about twenty stems and tie them into a loose bunch. Hang the bunch up in cool dark place that has some ventilation. Let them get on with it for a month.

Don’t forget drying some flower heads for confetti. If you don’t crumble off all the petals they still retain a good bit of mass so you can lob them from a good distance and award yourself extra points if you get one to rest on the bride’s cleavage. (Sorry Amanda, I just couldn’t help it. I’m sorry Gary didn’t see the funny side but then I don’t think you should have married someone who drives a Jaffa orange Ford Fiesta.)

Tips For Growing Cornflowers From Seed.

Cornflowers are hardy annuals. They can be sown directly into the soil from April to May or they can be sown in late summer for flowering the following year. Late August or early September is my favourite time to do this.

If sowing directly into the soil I would recommend leaving a gap of a foot between rows. Sow the seeds in straight lines. Make a shallow drill with a stick, just a few millimetres deep and water this drill before you sow your seeds. Watering first helps prevent your seeds from being washed away by watering afterwards. Don’t bury your seeds too deeply, a light covering is all they need. They are seeds, not moles.

Blue Boy Cornflower Seedling
Cornflower Seedling

Seedlings can be transplanted, just take care to take as much soil as you can when moving them and when you’ve replanted them give them a good drink of water. Perhaps sing them a sweet folk song as you do it.

They can also be sown into pots for planting out later. There are great advantages to this. The biggest advantage being that you don’t have to weed around tiny seedlings. Native weeds will always grow faster than your flower seedlings. I sow in three-inch square pots from early April and then plant them out in about mid-May.

I space my plants to about a foot apart. If you can find yourself some good quality mulch after you plant them you will stave off the weeds and by the time any weeds get through the mulch, your plants will be big enough to outcompete them.

When it comes to harvesting you may find the flowers come thick and fast. Keep picking the flowers and the plant will keep producing more. This is why sometimes consider not having too many plants, Deadheading cornflowers is faffy. I harvest flowers after the morning dew has dried off. If I know I will be harvesting the next day I give the bed a jolly good watering before my evening Chinzano.

I hope you give Cornflowers a go in your cutting patches if you haven’t already.

If you have any questions you can find me on FaceBook, Twitter and you will see heaps of photos of flowers, the boat garden and Flash on Instagram.

Kind regards

Higgers & Flash

Flash and I cruising up the Wicken Lode at the weekend.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
Biennial Flowers For Your Cutting Patch. The Sowing Of Hardy Annual Flowers In Spring.

Fresh posts!

  • The No Faff Method For Growing Sweet Peas. Part 1. Sowing.
  • No Dig. Can’t Dig Won’t Dig. Couch Grass Special.
  • Kings and Queens of our Little Kingdoms
  • The Sap is Rising.
  • Why Higgledy is limiting available stock to 75k packets per year.

Sign up for the newsletter!

Once every two months, I send subscribers a discount code or an offer for a heavily discounted bundle of seeds. You won't get inundated with emails... I'm far too lazy for that sort of caper.

Possibly old and musty

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
© Higgledy Garden 2020
site by santa ana limited
Privacy Policy

Join Us

Once every two months, I send subscribers a discount code or an offer for a heavily discounted bundle of seeds. You won't get inundated with emails... I'm far too lazy for that sort of caper.

Join the chat on social media

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter