Grow your own wedding bouquet

More than a quarter of Irish marriages take place during July-August. I say this because those same two months also happen to be among the most floriferous in the Irish gardening year, with a multitude of plants in full and beauteous bloom. Yet how many of us marrieds can say that any Irish-grown flowers featured in our wedding bouquets, buttonholes or table arrangements? The answer is very few.

The times, though, they are a-changing. So much so, in fact, that not only are more and more Irish brides-to-be specifying the use of seasonal Irish-grown flowers but many also want to have a personal hand in growing them. If this includes you, or someone close to you, then here are some useful tips to help you on your way.

Let’s start with the timescale. If your wedding takes place this coming summer, then concentrate on growing a selection of fast-growing, long-flowering, floriferous annuals, all of which can be raised from seed sown between now and early April. Examples include the white-flowering Orlaya grandiflora, Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga – all hardy annuals whose floaty, umbelliferous, long-stemmed flowers are great fillers in any bouquet or arrangement.

The half-hardy annual phlox, Phlox drummondii is also excellent: in particular, look out for the variety known as P Crème Brûlée, with dense clusters of flower-heads in shades of faded pink, peach and clotted cream. Continuing that peachy tone – a fashionable bridal shade that a gardening friend once memorably described to me as being “the colour of old ladies’ knickers”- is Scabiosa atropurpurea Fata Morgana, whose slender-stemmed, bobble-shaped flowers are produced in profusion from July to the first frosts. This species of easy-to-grow hardy annual comes in a profusion of different colours, so if you’re looking for deeper, more jewel-like tones, try Scabiosa Beaujolais Bonnets (dark pink/wine), Burgundy Beau (violet-purple) or Tall Double Red. All of these will flower from July until the first frosts. Another easy-to-grow hardy annual is Love-in-a-mist (Nigella), which comes in pretty shades of blue (Miss Jekyll), white (N African Bride) and even pink (N Rosy Hues).

Romantic summer wedding flowers should also include some sweet pea, the hardy, sweetly perfumed annual easily raised from seed sown at this time of year. For flower-size, length of stem and ease of cultivation, concentrate on the Spencer-types, recommended varieties of which include Jilly (cream), Champagne Bubbles, Mollie Rilstone (cream-pink), Our Harry (violet-blue) and Windsor (maroon). Remember that sweet pea plants are always slow to flower from a spring sowing, so sow seed as soon as you can.

Another free-flowering stalwart is cosmos, the tall, long-flowering half-hardy annual with feathery foliage and daisy-shaped blooms (that have featured in many a bridal bouquet. Outstanding varieties include the delightful Rosetta and the newly introduced Apollo White, which excelled in last year’s RHS trials.

For a little drama, add some amaranthus, another half-hardy annual whose chenille-like dangling flower tassels combine well with almost all other blooms. Seed of green and red-flowering varieties are widely available, but I’m a big fan of the faded peach-rust tones of Amaranthus Coral Fountain.

Finally, although they are not annuals but half-hardy perennials, dahlias are another must-grow late summer cut flower that can be raised from spring-planted tubers – see last week’s column for detailed advice on growing them as well as suggestions for the best varieties for cutting.

Dahlias aside, all of the annuals I have mentioned are best sown with gentle heat (ideally an electric propagator) and under some sort of cover (glasshouse, polytunnel, sunny windowsill/porch/conservatory), making sure to use a good quality seed compost. Once they have produced their first set of true leaves, prick seedlings out into cell trays (24s) or root trainers (best for sweet pea and tap-rooted plants) to grow on under cover, before transplanting them into the garden/allotment as young plants. While hardy annuals will tolerate light frost, half-hardy annuals won’t. So as a rule, delay sowing the latter until later in the season (mid-March to early April) to avoid nursing the young plants under cover for too lengthy a period.

To guarantee plenty of cutting material and ease of harvesting, grow your wedding flowers in much the same way as you would vegetables. So, in grid formation, in an open but sheltered, sunny site with weed-free, fertile, moisture-retentive (but free-draining) soil enriched with a little organic fertiliser and some seaweed powder. Make sure to leave enough space between the rows so that that you can pick with relative ease. For ease of maintenance, it is also well worth considering the use of a weed-suppressant fabric that you can peg down and cut/burn holes into at the recommended planting distances.

Remember that taller varieties will need support in the shape of netting or staking while all will need regular deadheading and careful protection against slugs/snails. However the result of your labours will be seasonal, sustainable wedding flowers grown with your own fair hands.

(Recommended seed suppliers include mrmiddleton.com, seedaholic.com, chilternseeds.co.uk, sarahraven.co.uk, owlacreseeds.co.uk and floretflowers.com)

  This Week In The Garden

The unusually mild weather of recent months means that slugs are continuing to cause plenty of damage to garden plants (slugs typically become active at temperatures above 5 degrees). To reduce the risk of further damage this spring and help prevent an increase in your garden’s slug population, now is a good time to give beds and borders a gentle tidy-up by removing dead/rotting vegetation from around the base of plants and lightly hoeing any bare soil to expose any slugs or slug eggs for birds to eat. Tiny, spherical and grey/transparent, slug eggs are typically found in small clusters close to the soil surface and near the base of plants or the bottoms of plant pots.

The milder than usual winter has also resulted in perennials beginning to show signs of early growth. Once this happens, it’s a good time to divide many species of late-summer flowering perennials, especially any well-established clumps that show signs of congestion and decreased vigour or which have become infested with weeds. Suitable species include Actaea, Japanese anemones, Crocosmia, Sedum, Aconitum and asters.

Use a garden fork or spade to lift the entire clump place it on a sheet of strong plastic, and then use either two garden forks or a large, sharp knife (even a small saw if required) to gently prise/cut the clump in half. Divide these up again as required into smaller sections (each at least as large as your fist), discarding any especially woody sections. Replant immediately and water well.

Start chitting seed potatoes by putting the tubers in a shallow cardboard box or empty egg carton and then placing them somewhere cool, bright and frost free for several weeks to encourage the “eyes” (the tubers’ dormant buds) to start sprouting. First-early and second-early varieties of potato particularly benefit from this method, leading to earlier crops.

Dates For Your Diary:

Today, 10am-4pm, tomorrow (Sunday, February 5th, 10am-4pm), Flowers in Winter, Walled Garden, Mutton Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, a special weekend at Mount Venus Nursery celebrating the best seasonal blooms with a glass of hot punch and plant sales, mountvenusnursery.com; Wednesday, February 8th, at 8pm, Airfield Estate, Dundrum, Dublin 14, Pretty & Productive Gardening, a talk by Airfield kitchen garden's head gardener Kitty Scully on behalf of the RHSI (members free, students €5, non-members €10, rhsi.ie.

Friday, February 17th, 3pm-Sunday, February 19th, 3pm, Establishing a Cut-Flower Business, Anamadu Fields, Kilnagroass, Co Leitrim, a weekend-long intensive course given by organic flower growers Kealin and Ciarán Beattie of Leitrim Flowers, covering all aspects of growing seasonal Irish cut flowers for market/events, €260 including lunch/refreshments, leitrimflowers.ie; Saturday, February 25th, An Introduction to Garden Design with Ingrid Smyth, Altamont Walled Garden, Ballon, Co Carlow, a one-day course covering all aspects of design, including site survey, planting and drawing up a to-scale design, €65 including lunch/refreshments. To book email sales@altamontplants.com or call 087-982 2135.