It’s easy to grow your own flowers from seed. Here’s beautiful flowers, growing information & seed collections for gifts.
COUNTRY GARDEN SEED SHOP
Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride'
Gaura 'The Bride' has lovely long elegant stems smothered with white starry flowers. It's excellent in the garden flowering for months on end and it's lovely for cutting too. Gaura flowers start off pink in bud then open to sparking white. Excellent for wildlife. Attracts Bees, Butterflies and Ladybirds. Excellent Cut Flower.
Gaura are brilliant plants for beginners because they are very easy to grow and super productive giving you an excellent show in the garden and masses of flowers for picking. They are perennial in sheltered gardens especially if you can provide protection from wet winter weather. Cut the stems and foliage back after flowering (either in autumn or spring), give them a good mulch of organic matter and they'll regrow to flower again next year. Most of us here in the UK will need to treat them as Half Hardy Annuals and sow them each spring.
| Genus | Gaura lindheimeri |
| Variety | The Bride |
| Plant Type | Tender Perennial. Grown as Half Hardy Annual. Cut Flower. |
| Height & Spread | 90cm tall x 45cm wide (3 feet tall x 18 inches wide) |
| Sow Seeds | Sow seeds in Jan/Feb or early spring indoors. Lightly cover seeds with compost. At 13-16°C Gaura will germinate in 14-30 days. Allow seedlings to grow until well established then pot on into 9cm pots and grow on until it's warm outdoors. Alternatively sow undercover in August-September and overwinter indoors. |
| Plant Out | Plant out after the last frosts from May onwards. Once plants are established they are hardy all year round to minus 5°C. In cold areas it's best to treat Gaura as Half Hardy Annuals and sow seeds each spring. |
| Conditions Required | Gaura prefers fertile, moist but well drained soil and a sunny spot. They will also grow in dappled shade and tolerate poor soil conditions. Water thoroughly in dry spells. |
| Flower Production | Takes 14 weeks from sowing seeds to flowering. Masses of blooms produced for a good 4-5 months from June to November. Deadhead and feed regularly to keep the flowers going. |
| Picking | For cut flowers pick regularly to encourage repeat flowering. It's best to pick early in the morning or in the cool evening and stand them in deep water for a few hours before arranging. Cut flowers last 7-10 days in a vase. |
| Planting Combinations | Gaura are lovely flowers to grow. You will be amazed at how many flowers are produced. They make a great show on their own and with other long flowering summer perennials and half hardy annuals such as Dahlias. |