In the cutting garden annual flowers are in full production now churning out blooms on a daily basis. It’s like a production line. Annuals are programmed to reproduce by setting seed. Then they die. To prevent them from setting seed you need to pick all the flowers. The more you pick, the more will grow. And that’s brilliant. But there’s another group of plants that are also good for cutting.
Perennials are jolly useful too. It’s quite likely that some of the plants you already have in your garden will make brilliant cut flowers.
In my view Sea Hollies or Eryngiums are some of the most useful perennials you can grow. They are quite hardy and provide a lovely contrast in terms of form and colour to many other summer flowering plants. There are more than 250 Eryngiums you could grow but here are two of my favourites that are widely available.
Eryngium alpinum has large blue tinged egg shaped flowers. They grow to about 75-90cm/ two and a half to three feet tall. Originally from the Balkans these plants prefer a sunny spot in that magic spot…moist but free draining soil.
If you’ve not grow Eryngiums before I heartily recommend them. Give them a whirl and you’ll be able to enjoy them in your garden and cut them for the house. What’s more the bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects will love you forever!
Do you know what this Bee is?
Thanks for reading. Gillian 🙂