Some resilient and reliable annuals for your cutting garden
Phew we have made it through. We have got to the end of another growing season but boy oh boy it has been a challenging one. October, or early November if we are lucky, is the turning point for me when my cut flower garden is coming to a natural end exhausted itself from performing week in week out and providing me with bunches of blooms. It has to be said that I’m also pretty exhausted by this time and ready to slow down a little bit. I have started clearing the beds and making space for next years flowers but I don’t rush it, just fit it in as and when the weather is good. Fortunately we have had a dry spell for a few days and its been wonderful. I lost my gardening mojo a bit at the end of the summer and its taken its time to come back so I just set myself one garden job last week which was to cut down the tomatoes in the greenhouse and that led to tidying the greenhouse, then another job and another and now I’m back in love with my garden.
But though things are slowing down autumn is also an important time for planning for next year, I have already sown some hardy annuals for earlier flowering next year and now is also a good time to sow sweet peas. Its worth noting that we have some new sweet pea varieties this year. There are bulbs to plant and I also like to get a batch of Ranunculus started now. But its much less frantic now than that busy time in the spring and I take my time and enjoy being able to potter about in the garden and the potting shed making the most of the autumn sunshine. Jed likes to join me in there as its the sunniest spot in the garden in the afternoon.
But it is also a good time to look back and see how things have been whilst its all fresh in your mind is there anything that you wouldn’t grow again or on the flip side what was the real star this year. It has been a very challenging weather year, a very prolonged cold spring which was also very wet. A soggy, grey summer with not a huge amount of sunshine and not even a real respite of the weather in the autumn which has also been very beset by heavy downpours. And then 2024 has got to be crowned the year of the slug oh my goodness they have been everywhere and it has really been a bit of a battle. Some flowers have not fared well, those that like sunshine and warmth have struggled in my garden, most notably the Zinnias which in previous years have been good. Every year I try and find a more sunny spot for them but where I put them this year is now a bit shaded by a beech hedge so will try again next year. But other things like Sweet peas have loved this cool damp weather and flowered so much longer than in previous years. Its fair to say in gardening that you win some and you lose some, which is why its good to grow a bit of a variety of things. However, despite everything the weather has thrown at us, I’ve still had a colourful cutting batch and plenty to cut and arrange.
I’ve just been helping design a cut flower garden and its made me think about the varieties that are very reliable. There are a number of annuals that are just a bit more bomb-proof than others and these are varieties that I just love to grow every year. Salvia ‘Oxford Blue’ is one of my favourite filler flowers, its still flowering in my garden at the beginning of November. I think of it as a real unsung hero of the cutflower garden. Quietly getting on with things in the background. Once established it doesn’t seem to be troubled by slugs, the more you pick the more it flowers and it lasts a long time in the vase. Its fabulous mixer with vibrant shades or more pastel tones.
Another annual I’ve still been picking late into October is Nicotiana ‘Sensation’. Again Nicotiana is one of the varieties that is less loved by slugs once established and again is another good cut-and-come again cut flower. The seed is tiny and you think it will be ages before you get a good sturdy plant but once germinated and pricked out into their only little pot they race away and soon develop into a good looking plant ready to go in your garden. It has coped with the heavy downpours that we have had through the summer but I’ve also found it very drought tolerant in summers where that has been an issue.
Cornflowers for me are just perfect for a cutting garden. They are such reliable flowers, come in a lovely range of colours from pure blue (Cornflower ‘Blue Ball’) to almost black (Cornflower ‘Black Ball’), you can sow them in the autumn for early flowering next year and they add a delightful natural vibe to your bouquets. Easy to sow and tough cookies in the garden.
For a bit of froth then you can’t beat Ammi majus or Ammi visnaga, I’ve taken more to using the latter in recent years. I just love the foliage on it and the flowers are slightly smaller and easier to incorporate into arrangements. Again both are pretty slug resilient, and can be sown in autumn for earlier flowering and more robust plants. I use it in nearly all my arrangements in the summer months.
One annual that has really surprised me over the last couple of years as to how reliable it is, is Amaranthus Red. It always looked to me so unusual and exotic that I just assumed that it would be a diva to grow but not a bit of it. This is a half hardy annual and has to be planted out once the risk of frosts has passed but once planted and growing it grows fast and tall. It needs to be staked but other than that there is hardly any maintenance to do apart from picking those dramatic drooping flowers that look divine in an arrangement. Its drought tolerant but also has coped with the wet summer this year. I’ve still got a couple of plants at the end of one of the raised beds in my cutting patch looking good. So its long flowering. I grew the green form this year too but don’t think you can beat the deep red flowers for combining with Dahlias and Sunflowers.
Finally no cut flower garden of mine is complete without Cosmos, they are just one of the best for sheer volume of flowers per plant and for a mighty cut and come again crop. Mine got a little bit nibbled this year by slugs which is unusual but once established they grow big and have such a presence in the garden or cut flower patch. They are also pretty drought tolerant too (I know that hasn’t been relevant this year!). As most people know I love ‘Apricotta’ but they are all stars for me. We have a couple of new varieties as well this year ‘Double Click Cranberries’ and ‘Xsenia’. 
So those are just a few of my favourite more resilient and reliable annual flowers, but there are other things that we can do to make the plants a bit more resilient. Well in terms of slugs, one thing is to grow your plants on a bit to a decent size before planting out in your garden. I tend to sow most things in pots or trays rather than sowing directly into the soil. This is more because I’ve only got a fairly small plot and just grow a few plants of lots of things so I can control things better if growing in pots. Slotting new things in as some things go over. I will prick them out individually into pots and get them growing well and well rooted before planting. Especially things like Zinnias and Sunflowers that are slug magnets in bad years. The stronger and healthier the plant the more likely it is to withstand any slug or pest damage. But it also pays to be vigilent on first planting and going out on slug patrols in the evening and removing any pesky critters to the compost heap or how ever you choose to despatch these creatures. Use good peat-free compost for sowing and potting on and keep them weed free especially once planted in the garden. They don’t want competition for growing space or nutrients. I have used Strulch a bit this year to mulch the raised beds, this keeps in moisture, suppresses weeds and also protects your young plants from slugs.
There are also plenty of varieties that are good and reliable for sowing directly, such as Calendula, Borage, Nigella, Daucus carota, Eschscholzia, Briza maxima and Nasturtiums. Ben sows lots of his directly and has great success. If you are sowing directly, here is a blog post by Ben on what he’s been doing to take on the slugs on his plots. These are good plants to establish in your garden as they are also good self seeders so that you only have to sow them once and they tend to come back of their own accord every year, making life a lot easier for you. This is what I’m trying to establish in my cut flower garden too.
So just a few of my favourites that I’ve found to be pretty weather-resistent and less susceptible to slugs (once established) and just brilliant for cutting, being productive as well as pretty. What more could you ask for in a plant.
Higgledy Anne
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