Required Reading: ‘The Cut Flower Sourcebook: Exceptional Perennials And Woody Plants for Cutting’ – Gardenista

How did we become so disconnected with the natural world? Perhaps it has to do with having too much choice. Even in a place like England, with its enviably long growing season and perfect conditions for gardening, people choose not to grow their own fruit, vegetables, and flowers, buying them instead from a supermarket. And yet with flowering material, gardens and hedgerows are much more interesting, if only we could make the connection.

The Cut Flower Sourcebook lives up to its promise, offering invaluable advice for anyone beginning to grow their own plants for cutting, as well as prospective flower farmers. The author, Rachel Siegfried, is a grower and florist who uses the seasons’ parameters as a spur to creativity. With her partner Ashley Pearson, she started Green and Gorgeous Flowers in Oxfordshire, England, 15 years ago, doing innovative (yet quite traditional) things like selling at the farm gate on Saturday mornings. Now there are many more competitors, but hers is the cool, level-headed voice, demonstrating that beauty can also be found in slow-growing and permanent plants, reducing work and environmental damage.

“Trees and shrubs are the foundation of our planting on the flower farm,” says Rachel. They act as a structural foil for the flowers, in a parallel role to the one that these “woody cuts” play in an arrangement. They are also vital for shelter, along with cutting hedges. “One of your first jobs will be to establish the direction of the most damaging winds and plan a shelter belt for fast-growing woody cuts to protect your planting,” she advises. Deciduous trees and shrubs planted as hedges have an advantage over evergreens because of their blossom, autumn color and berries. Native crab apple, Rosa glauca, Viburnum opulus, native spindle and hawthorn all grow on the farm.

Rachel’s advice is to plan a cutting garden that is separate, visually and practically, with perennials growing in blocks of crops. Plant choices should depend on what you are able to grow, rather than what you want to grow. But it’s not all hard work: There is shopping to do, at plant fairs and nurseries. “It is so worthwhile to seek out these places and all their treasures if you want to create a difference in your work.” Rachel buys in small quantities so that she can trial everything before bulking it up.

Narcissi last for years and, like perennials, shrubs, and trees, do not require a lot of input. She calls this “growing with natural ease.”Almost half of the book is given over to a plant directory, which is as engaging and matter-of-fact as the initial narrative.

Peonies are prized as long-lived, hardy plants, despite their short flowering time. Rachel suggests growing a selection, with blooms beginning in late spring through to  midsummer. The plant directory advises on times to cut for the longest vase life, and in the case of voluptuous, extravagant peonies, it’s “at the marshmallow stage.”