Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
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A cross between a Flower Farm and an English Country Garden there will always be something that you have never seen before. A Flower Farmers blog delivers news, hints, and tips from Swan Cottage Flowers to help you grow your own cut flowers.
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
Dahlia Season
Lifting and Storing Dahlias
Over Wintering Dahlia’s in the Ground
Dahlia Gall Crown Gall and Leafy Gall
Lifting Dahlia’s in the Spring
Dividing Dahlias
Dividing Huge Dahlias
Dahlia Tubers Finding the ‘eyes’
Starting Dahlias in pots, here are the pot sizes I use
It can be very easy to overwater you Dahlias, especially when waking tubers up.
How to take Dahlia Cutting’s
An update on our Dahlia Cuttings
‘Pinching Dahlias’
Planting Out and Staking Dahlias
Simple way to check for spent blooms when deadheading Dahlias
Dahlia’s tend wilt it’s leaves to slow down transpir ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
Malope trifida Grow-A-Long
Late Winter is the perfect time to sow Malope.
Plants grow too quickly from an Autumn sowing and dislike languishing in cold compost trays so we will delay sowing until late winter when the light levels return.
Sow one seed per cell. Chilling seeds for 2-3 weeks before sowing really helps speed up germination. I pre-chilled the January seed shop seeds, so if you ordered from us you are good to go!
Cover seeds lightly with compost.
Spring Grow-A-Long
Spring Grow-A-Long Handbook 2023
£5.99
Add to basket
Late Winter Sowing
Anemone & Ranunculus Handbook 202 ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
Stocks (Matthiola incana) Grow-A-Long
This Weekend we will be sowing our Stocks (both ‘Pot’ and ‘Cut Flower’ varieties) In this video I will explain about sowing and growing including doing a 2nd sowing in 3 weeks time!
Here are the full videos on Stock Selection I mentioned.
About half your stock plants will be singles and half the plants will produce double blooms so grow twice as many as you need.
We will have a go at selecting out the single stock plants to increase the odds of doubles.
Not all stocks are suitable for selecting. In this video we will select stocks that are effected by c ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
It’s a new season, keep up to date with the Grow-A-Long here
There is a cold spell coming so, stay tuned we might have to move things around a bit.
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I have also included the last of the late Winter sowings jus to keep things simple.
22ND February 2023
Agrostemma githagos late Winter 2nd sowing
Agrostemma grows quickly from a late Winter sowing giving you plants about a month later than those grown from an Autumn Jump Start.
They are a bit shorter, but in my opinion plenty tall enough to be worth the effort, more details in the video.
For the original ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
The story so far
Introduction to Anemones & Ranunculus as Cut Flowers
Anemones and Ranunculus Flowering Schedule
Grow-A-Long Part 1 How to grow Ranunculus
Grow-A-Long Part 2 How to grow Anemones
Ranunculus (Harvesting Flowers ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
Larkspur have a delicate root system so I thought you’d appreciate an extended video tutorial.
Wondering if you can do a cheeky late sowing?
Love
Zoe x ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
In these videos we will discuss Soil PH, Soil Structure and Soil Horizons. All three have an impact on the plants you can grow in your soil.
Soil PH
Before investing in your garden it’s important to check you soil conditions to check to see which plants will not only grow but will thrive. In this video I explain soil pH and how you can check and test.
Stay tuned for the next instalment coming up shortly ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
We deciding what seeds we can sow and when, we must first consider the plants photoperiod requirements as well as other factors such as hardiness.
There is no need to worry as part of the Grow-A-Long I have this all covered for you and there are notes about the individual varieties in the Handbook ..read more
Swan Cottage Flowers Blog
1y ago
Heat Mats are my favourite piece of gardening equipment, they take your growing to a new level and cut down seed germination time, perfect for the impatient gardener.
Seedlings don’t stay on heat mats once germinated so you don’t need lots of space, a small unit will be enough for most home gardeners.
In the greenhouse if you are lucky enough to have electric they create a frost free environment saving the need to take tender seedling inside during late frosts ..read more