Hello, I'm Roz Chandler from Field Gate Flowers. You are listening to the Cut Flower Podcast. This is for you if you want to learn more about growing your own cut flowers. We'll cover loads of subjects. Things like setting a patch, your soil, manure and compost, seeds and germination, perennials, and biannuals, foliage and so much more. We'll have some exciting guests along the way. Thank you very much for listening.

Happy Sunday, it's just coming up Sunday evening. And I thought I talked about the top ten foliages you could grow in your cutting patch. Now, honestly, I started with the idea of ten. And I soon got to fourteen. And then I added another one, fifteen. I'm sure there are lots more but these are my top. I stopped at fifteen. So perhaps you want to message me with any additions you'd like to add. I have a Facebook group called The Cut Flower Collective. And I did ask the members earlier today, what was their favourite foliages? So that's great. I've got those and I've included some of those.

What we've found over recent years is a trend in weddings, in particular to add more and more foliage. Lots of weddings of just being green and white, with no additional colours. I think the idea of bringing the outside in and being very natural, started with Kate and Will’s wedding and has continued. People want the natural beauty of foliage and honestly, this shouldn't be underestimated. So a couple of top tips. Three top tips about growing foliage. 

Number one, grow more than you think you'll ever need and keep adding to it annually. I can't tell you how much foliage we use. Number two, foliage can take many years to mature such as Eucalyptus. I mean Eucalyptus is a tree and you're normally buying it as a small plant. So just plan that one in. It's not instant. And number three, grow foliage that will take you through the whole of the year. So plan to always have foliage from January to December.

Like I say, I asked my group if they wanted to share their top foliages. And they did and they're included in my list. So we'll start with one really that we've only really discovered in the last couple of years. 

Myrtle. This featured highly in people's choice of foliages in the group. It is new to us on the farm, and we grant started growing it in pots last year. It's a Mediterranean plant, so it doesn't like the cold or frost or extreme temperatures. We put ours in a sheltered Mediterranean garden that we've got at the back of the house. I have to say the fragrance is beautiful. The flowers are beautiful. Obviously this plant symbolises love, which is why it's been used in wedding bouquets for many centuries. And after Megan and Harry's wedding, you couldn't buy plants. You couldn't go online and get hold of Myrtle. So is my recommendation to have a look at that. And I'm sure there are more plants you can actually buy now.

In number two, is Ninebark. I think you might call this Common Red Bark. Common Ninebark. Anyway, this is a favourite of ours here at Field Gate. We love the deep red leaves, and it just adds something to all the arrangements. We found it as a very long season and we were still cutting it in early November. It does take five to ten years to reach its maximum height, so I suggest you put it in quick. We have been growing it probably here for about five years. And it's now I would say five foot, if that gives you an idea.

Number three, Vibernum Tinus or Tinus I think it's pronounced. My pronunciation of some of these plants is really not that good. So you'll have to forgive me for that. I'm really not very good at Latin names either. I can remember them but I can't pronounce them. So I have a little book to help me on Latin names but you know, I'm quite happy with the communal garden names. So do forgive me. So this one is an amazing shrub that gives you different colours in different seasons. It's an evergreen, so it just keeps on giving. We use it in spring as green foliage and at Christmas, we have the little red and white flowers. We're using that and Christmas reefs. So it is value in the winter and it is value early on in the year. And when the flowers finish, you're rewarded with blackberries that actually look really good with hydrangeas. So just bear that one in mind. So there are lots of varieties of Vibernum but this one for Vibernum Tinus is my favourite.

Going on to number four. Bells of Ireland as its common name. This one's a little tricky to grow. You're meant to put seeds in the freezer. And this year, I actually forgot to put them in the freezer and put them straight out. And last year I put them in the freezer and left them in the freezer. So that's probably why it doesn't work for me. It has lovely apple green spikes, and it's great for summer and autumn arranging.

In fifth position is Briza Maximus. Now this is a grass and I would really really, what could I say I really recommend that you start to look at all the grasses. We add loads to our arrangements, it just start to texture and flow. This one we do grow. But there are lots actually out in the fields, which are just native. I mean, I counted one day twelve different species of grasses. So I recommend you do have a look around. But this one has very long stems. Has tiny hung green flowers, which to me look like raindrops. So have a go. It is frustrating when you're cutting it if I was really honest, because obviously cutting each stem takes quite a lot of time and you doesn't look like you've got very much for it after quite a period of cutting. But if you can, if you can keep going with it, you will be rewarded. 

Number six, Euphorbia Abagata. It’s a favourite for florists this one. It is an acid green and add so much to an arrangement. Be careful though, because the sap is an irritant. It's a white SAP. So I recommend that you pick it with gloves on. Some of us here don't have any problem with it and others do as an irritant. So recommend that you just put gloves on.

Number seven, halfway there. Snowberries. Really, we only started to grow this this year. I think up till now I've always thought of this as a kind of shrub that you get in car parks. Oh I shouldn't really say that. But actually, it's small dense clusters of bell-shaped white flowers at the end of branches. And then the autumn, the flowers are replaced by white berries. So it's a really great foliage. The berries are the feature of the shrub and then obviously and that's great in the winter. So I would add that to the list and actually today I've just ordered some more.

So in seventh position, which shouldn't be forgotten, of course is Eucalyptus. Of course, a list of foliage wouldn't be right without Eucalyptus. For me, there's only one supply for you Eucalyptus in the UK. I would go to the UK’s largest grower which is Grafton Nurseries. This is headed up by the wonderful Hilary Collins who I did meet, was fortunate meeting last year at the Flowers From The Farm conference. Now Hilary is a font of all knowledge and is more than happy to share that knowledge with you, I have to say it's not easy to grow, or should I say it's not easy to prune and cut back but who has written a book called cut foliage book, Fantastic Foliage and How To Farm It. So I would recommend that one. Obviously Eucalyptus is essential for florist. Certainly if you do weddings. It grows well in the UK but does like a sheltered spot. They will grow quite fast. The roots are big. But just remember this is a tree. This isn't a shrub. There are easier ways to cut it back obviously and they call that pollarding it. I learned that from Hillary. And as they get bigger, the lease will change from small and round to long cesents. So Eucalyptus actually is quite complicated and there are so many different varieties. But actually, we couldn't live without them here at Field Gate. So I recommend that you have a look at Eucalyptus.

So in eighth position, so we're over halfway now. This one, all of us have gotten in our gardens. It’s called Ivy, of course. It's been mentioned in the group and I probably would have forgotten it if it hadn't been. But here at Field Gate, we are a lover of Ivy. We use it of course in all our winter reefs and arrangements. This year we did online reef courses and we mailed out across the UK, all of our foliage and all of the components for a reef and part of that was Ivy. It's prolific in gardens and walls and in my husband keeps wanting to cut it all down. It drives me nuts. So if you can keep your husband or your partner or whoever from stop cutting it, then Ivy is an absolute must.

Number nine, Pittosporum. This is an evergreen and we love it. Honestly, it's got to be one of our favourites. There are loads and loads of varieties of Pittosporum. We like the variegated varieties. We like the purple variety called Tom Thumb. It's slow to grow but if you can find space, we recommend you put it in. It will grow anywhere that's not in full shade. And it hates cold winds, a bit like me. It has nice straight stems, and it looks great in an arrangement, so we recommend you have a look at that one. But have a look at your particular soil, your particular climate, how much shelter you've got, and then decide on which Pittosporum but I definitely wouldn't leave it out.

Number eleven, the dusty Miller plant, which is an interesting foliage. dusty Miller reminds me of Windy Miller. Now was this a 1960s TV programme. I can't even remember. Something beginning with C. Anyway if someone would put me out of my misery and tell me  where Dusty Miller came from that will be great. Actually, it's Windy Miller. Anyway, Dusty Miller, Windy Miller. But anyway, this is a silvery grey colour foliage. We've got it in the tunnels. And that takes us through the winter, which we find fabulous. But that's not necessary. You can grow this outside too.

Number 12, Mimosa. This one's quite an unusual one. It’s the fluffy yellow flowers found during spring. It's widely grown across the whole of the UK and there are hundreds and hundreds of different species. Some are grown in greenhouses, some in the garden. These don't like wind. No, these don't like cold wind. They don't mind wind, but they hate the cold. Again a bit like me. 

Number 13 is Apollinaire Mollusk. This is often overlooked by gardeners. It’s s an unpretentious Lady's Mantle, is what its other name is. It's extremely useful foliage. We grow a lot of it. It’s acid green in colour. It's just great actually. I would recommend you all grow that.

Number fourteen and I've been a bit cheeky here because I've put a few in under number fourteen because I was sort of thinking oh, well, never mind. So this is Herbs, which is a very general category. We're growing here, sage, rosemary, lots of different types of mints and deal. Now for me, dill is a magnificent herb. It gives your great beautiful display at the top, very long stems. We add mint to an awful lot of what we do. There’s lots of lots of different varieties. So we can look at the different colours of green. But again, it just makes everything smell so amazing. Rosemary, again, obviously for its scent but also for its foliage. Sage is obviously a smaller plant and smaller in terms of its usage really because it's actually not a tall plant, so you can't put it in lots of long arrangements.

So somebody said can I have a number fifteen. Somebody came in and said late entry on my Cut Flower Collective group and put in Skimmia. So that's another one. So if I've missed any, I wonder if you pop over to my Facebook group, which is called the Cut Flower Collective and let me know which ones I've missed. Because I think I have a lot in here but I know there are loads more that I'd be really interested to know what you think. So that's it on a Sunday evening for me. I hope you've enjoyed learning more about foliage and I look forward to seeing you over in our Facebook group.

Thank you for listening. This has been the Cut Flower Podcast. Please do join us on our Facebook group, The Cut Flower Collective for lots more hints and tips. Thank you.